ESRC Society Today

Leaflets can be useful to promote specific activities and events. They have a short shelf life so tend to be most useful for marketing specific activities such as conferences or publications rather than conveying information you want readers to retain long term. Remember that leaflets inserted into other publications may never get any further than the person who first opens the envelope. Make sure you always include contact details and reply slips on leaflets and code them so you can evaluate who is responding.

Leaflet example 1 (Urban Living) (PDF, 213Kb) - Leaflet example 2 (Communications Toolkit) (PDF, 229Kb)

Posters can also be useful to promote specific activities and events, but remember that you are relying on your target audience having the space and interest to actually display your poster. Many posters never make it onto a wall or languish on notice boards beneath more recent notices. Only use them if they serve a specific purpose in relation to your target audience. Always include contact details on posters.

Poster example (Britain's Youth) (PDF, 216Kb)

ESRC provides every new programme/centre with a large banner branded with the ESRC logo, to use for events. For more information, contact comms@esrc.ac.uk. If you want to produce other publicity banners, it is worth using the ESRC one as a guide. 

Banner example 1 (RELU) (PDF, 35Kb) - Banner example 2 (SSW 2003) (PDF, 47Kb)

Booklets can be a good alternative to larger publications, particularly when providing summary information. The same rules apply to the production of booklets as any other publication - they need to be well written and designed and appropriate to the target audience. Avoid the temptation to cram too much information into a booklet or to lower the production values - this often results in the booklet being difficult to read and can portray a negative image. 

Booklet example (SSW 2003 programme) (PDF, 232Kb)

Brochures are most often used to promote the overall corporate aims of an organisation or to highlight a specific initiative. Production values are usually high. They can be particularly useful when launching a new research programme. The key to success is to include enough information to make the brochure something a reader might want to keep, without overloading it with detail. It is particularly important to include key contacts. 

Brochure example (Creativity) (PDF, 201Kb)

It is often useful to have a general purpose, branded folder available for publicity. You can use these for events or to send out packages of specific information, for example Word-generated briefings, to key audiences. Remember that you can use the space available on the folder itself to communicate key messages and facts and figures about your research. Some folders also include a space for a business card to be inserted to follow up any contacts.

You will need a supply of basic stationery - letterheads, fax sheets and compliments slips - and business cards for key people. Again, remember that you have some space (for example on the reverse of business cards) to communicate key messages and facts and figures about your research. Remember that you should follow the ESRC guidelines on the design of programme and centre stationery.

Many projects produce newsletters to keep internal and external audiences informed about their activities. Think about the frequency of any newsletter and whether you actually have enough interesting material to fill it regularly. It is better to produce a more infrequent but highly relevant newsletter than to send out monthly updates which contain little real news. Production values of newsletters are important. Avoid the self-generated versions with poor layout and images that can look like school magazines. If newsletters are an important part of your communication strategy, it would be worth employing professional designers and writers to produce them. 

Electronic newsletters are cheaper to produce but the same principles about the quality of the content and production apply. You can find more on the appropriateness of electronic formats in the section on choosing a format.

You may want to produce regular briefings and summaries of your research. If so, it is worth developing a standard format for these and employing the services of professional copywriters to ensure that complex technical information is communicated in the most accessible way. In particular, it is worth developing agreed terminology and a consistent approach to charts and graphics so that the briefings have a common 'look and feel'. If you plan to produce a series of briefings, it may be worth sending your target audience a simple, branded binder for filing them.

You may want to produce a range of publications as part of your strategy. The key to successful publications is good copywriting, careful editing and proof reading, creative design and high quality printing. You will find advice elsewhere in this module and in the section on branding on many of these points. 

Publication example 1 (Towards a better map) (PDF, 1Mb) - Publication example 2 (Nanotechnology) (PDF, 53Kb)

You may have a requirement to produce an annual report or you may decide this is a useful way of summarising a year's work to your key audiences. It is probably fair to say that annual reports are the least read of most published documents, yet take up a disproportionate amount of time and energy for those actually producing them. Think hard about whether you need to produce one, and if so, in what format. It may be that a Word document, sent to a small number of key people, is all that is needed to satisfy formal requirements. You can then save the time and money to spend on more targeted publications. If you do produce an annual report, apply the usual rules of good copywriting and design. In particular, avoid too much jargon, introspection and boring photographs of people within the research project.

Websites are an increasingly important part of most communication strategies. There is a module dedicated to how to create and maintain websites and how to write for the web.

CD ROMs are often used to simulate web-based technology in a portable format. Just as websites should never simply be an 'online brochure', so CD ROMs should be more than simply a collection of documents and some poor quality graphics and video clips crammed onto a CD. Think about the purpose of a CD ROM and if, when and why your target audience would use one. You will almost certainly need specialist help to produce one. And remember, unlike websites, once CDs are produced you cannot easily update them.

Videos can be a useful and innovative way of getting your message across, but they must be appropriate for the target audience. They are a relatively expensive way of reaching an audience and rely on specific opportunities to view them. If you do decide to produce one you should invest the time and money to do it properly and avoid producing the typical 'dull corporate video'. Bear in mind that high profile audiences can sometimes find them patronising, preferring to hear key information face-to-face from a peer than from a 'talking head' on a screen.

Well written, targeted press releases can make a big contribution to your communication strategy. More information about media relations can be found here. 

Press release example 1 (PDF, 116Kb) - Press release example 2 (PDF, 175Kb)

You may want to send out regular, targeted letters as part of your communication strategy. This can be a relatively cost-effective way of reaching audiences and you can achieve a much more direct tone of voice. Direct mail letters should be personalised and should be short and to the point, with strong opening and concluding paragraphs.

You may want to take out advertising to promote events, publications or to recruit researchers. It is worth developing a template advert to use in these circumstances, which is clearly branded with your logo, strapline and any key messages. Any advert should include a code so you can trace where respondents saw it. Avoid the temptation to take out general space in publications in response to 'cold calling' from advertising sales staff unless you can be sure it is cost effective and supports your communication objectives.

It is useful to develop a standard set of PowerPoint slides which can be used and adapted for publicity purposes. You can find more advice on this in the branding module in the section on presentations.

You may be tempted to produce a range of promotional devices such as pens, mugs and mouse mats as part of your communications strategy. These can be useful in promoting visibility but are relatively expensive and can be seen as frivolous and irrelevant. Think carefully about whether this is the best use of your communications budget.