A Future for Brochures?

Michael Streat
Director, EduGlobal Communications

Back in the Year 2000 a good many people, myself included, were predicting that the brochure would cease to be used for international education marketing within two years.  Ten years later, and the humble brochure remains an important part of the international education marketer’s tool kit.  However, as young people all over the world engage with services and products via social media and smart phones, and as e-readers start to emerge, it raises the question as to whether brochures will remain part of the mix in the foreseeable future.

A Transformation

Certainly brochures have adapted over the past 10 years to the changing environment.  Whereas in 2000 they contained a lot of detailed course information – many columns of fine, black print that was quickly out of date – today they take on a more magazine-style containing engaging pictures of life at the institution.  This reflects the fact that the web is a superior place to store and access detailed course information, and that print media, especially magazines, is still the preferred means for transmitting (and receiving) the look and feel of big brands.

Tentative Customisation

Institutions today are also far more likely to customise brochures for major markets such as China, recognising that the people who make the final decision, parents, prefer to be able to read about the service their children are about to receive.  However, there is a limit to the extent that high quality print media can be customised for particular markets, with China being one of the few where this is economical.

The Value of the Stability

With all the recent changes in behaviour and technology, the brochure remains a viable marketing platform precisely because of its stability. Since international education marketing remains dependent on representative agents to create a cost-effective global sales net, institutions rely on brochures (and to a lesser extent posters and other merchandising items) to create a tangible presence in their agent network.  This presence is crucial because agents have many institution clients, and it is easy for an institution to be overlooked by both student and counsellor if they’re not represented in the agent’s office by their brochure.  The good news is that once an institution’s brochure arrives at the agent’s office, it tends to stick around, which suggests that for as long as agents are the key to international student recruitment, brochures will continue to be required to play this important role.