I was reading editor Andrew Davies’ interesting blog  on the relevance or otherwise of product brochures and, in my opinion, with some notable exceptions, I have yet to see a brochure that forms an integral part of a complete marketing strategy. 

My experience is that most manufacturers produce brochures because that is what people do. They have no real idea who they are for or indeed what they are supposed to achieve. 

Andrew asks about their relevance in today's marketplace and, for me, I am a firm believer in them. Remember there are two distinct retailer groups - chains and independents. Generally, the chains can afford to produce their own as they have the economies of scale and do not keep pace with development as frequently as independents. I do not know of one independent that does their own, as they generally have neither the expertise nor the money to do so. 

So, for me, there is real value in the manufacturers producing a high quality brochure for the consumption of consumers but distributed to retailers. My belief is that it should focus on the benefits of the product while being a source of design inspiration too. 

Ideally, all brochures should also have all dimensions and options listed so that consumers can, if they wish, look to see if their choice will work in their envisaged environment. The reason I do not feel the internet will ever replace them is that when one has been to speak to people or done a design, they have to see/experience the qualitative side that a well-designed brochure can deliver - leaving it with them reinforces one's choices and facilitates ownership. 

Unless you happen to be a good photographer and regularly print high-quality pictures, nothing inspires and reinforces in quite the same way as a good brochure. Further, the resolution of the PDF files produced by most manufacturers are too poor to print as you end up like pixelated pictures in yet another complete misunderstanding of technology, they simply cannot get their minds around the fact that resolution for screens is 72dpi while decent printing needs 200dpi or more. 

Don't you just love progress?