How do you buy in 2012 ? ipad, PC, Mac, android, E-reader, smartphone, tablet, internet enabled TV – or dare we say it via the humble leaflet or brochure ?

The ever increasing array of clever devices is changing the way we live at an astonishing rate. And of course a debate has been raging for quite some time as to whether we are witnessing the demise of printed material as more and more marketing is done electronically.

Without a doubt we would agree that having an online presence is crucial for arguably any business type. But we do not think that this means there isn’t still a place for printed material. We think there is and ask yourself the question - do you still read printed material ? We are sure that you do and that you do so on a daily basis and so do your customers. To illustrate the case here are a couple of case studies of recent promotional campaigns we have carried out for clients which clearly show how printed material can enhance a marketing promotion.

Lochcarron of Scotland – the genuine article
Lochcarron of Scotland are the world’s leading manufacturer of tartan and this 5 star Visitor Attraction in Selkirk blend their rich manufacturing heritage with retail. The adjacent Visitor Centre has over 700 fabrics in stock and is a showcase for the finished article as well as superb textiles, knitwear, gifts and café.

Lochcarron wanted to let local people know that this world class shopping experience was for them too. Bright Light Marketing decided that the best way to get this message out to a wider audience was via a highly targeted Royal Mail door drop. The Royal Mail is an ideal way to get your communications and messages out to a selected audience. In the case of Lochcarron they wanted to send a Spring newsletter to potential customers who lived in the vicinity of their central Scottish Borders base. The spring newsletter was full of new product ranges for Spring into Summer and included monitoring mechanisms so that the campaign could be properly measured too. This campaign was carried out alongside a social media campaign on Facebook and Twitter and this has generated a strong increase in new customers to the Visitor Centre as a result.

The company also do a lot of work with the international Travel Trade and are once again attending the premier Travel Trade event Expo. To fully capture the Lochcarron experience and tell the story, a bespoke Travel Trade guide has just been printed which will be used at Expo and beyond. The Travel Trade Guide incorporates real tartan swatches and blends archive material, photography and fact finding information into a brochure which will be kept and used by the international Travel Trade industry to place direct business with the company.


The Tontine Hotel in Peebles also regularly use printed material as a key part of their marketing promotions. And for their spring campaign this year they sent out a direct mail postcard to their customer database with “101 reasons” to visit Peebles and the Tweed Valley this spring. And yes all 101 reasons were included on the postcard. This again was done alongside a similar campaign on their Facebook and Twitter campaign giving customers and potential customers on a regular basis reasons to visit the Tontine Hotel and Peebles. To date bookings have been very encouraging for this campaign and feedback really positive from customers. Many customers comment that they look out for the postcards in the post from the Tontine and then book their break as a result. The Tontine Hotel closely monitor their marketing promotions and know on average for each direct mail campaign they do carry out - for each &1 they spend on the campaign they will get &10 back in actual business.

So next time you are looking at your own marketing don’t just dismiss print as yesterday’s tool! Print can, if executed properly, be very targeted and effective and more importantly can bring you additional business not just from existing customers but as a way of raising awareness and creating business with new customers too.