Our Company Scientists Hate the Product Brochure

Dear Mrs. Newton,

I worked my fingers to the bone over a brochure for a new medical product. It is gorgeous, I brought it in under budget and our customers love it. The marketing department is pleased as punch, but our scientific staff is up in arms about it. One guy even complained to the vice president that the brochure misrepresented our product. What's their beef?

Fuming in Four Colors

Dear FFC,

I am assuming your copy cleared the regulatory department in your company and that the brochure's small print contains accurate, detailed technical information, specifications and references. However, your headline and body copy have to be brief, punchy and eye-catching. Often the process of abbreviating and focusing a message on a target market, leaves important aspects of the product story on the cutting room floor. The omitted facts may be of the utmost importance to the scientists who developed the product. Moreover, advertising and marketing materials often rely on appeals that are, in part, emotional even in industrial and professional markets. Scientists who have worked on a product for years can become angry when their baby is presented to the world, not with facts, but with flamboyance. You should reach out to your scientific colleagues and listen to their objections. Once you understand the issue, you can develop and communicate some data of your own. Your sales team may be a big help here. Take the time to show the scientists your ad campaign was based on data carefully gathered from the marketplace.