Reading Response 7
5:00 Appeal to Emotions: (+) Christmas is a very sentimental season and especially a time for giving. I think our group does an excellent job at encouraging people to give back to their community in some small way whether its money or time by appealing to their heart.
4:00 Be Professional: (+) I think our brochure design appears simple but not cheap. We did use pictures that the organization gave us that were obviously not professionally taken photos, but I think the natural side, and the honesty that those pictures portray only helps in the brochures appeal.
3:40 Be Personal: (+) The brochure is personal and focuses not on CFRC but more on giving back to the community.
3:00 Achieve Readability: (+) Our brochure design is pleasing to the eye and does include bullet points, boxes, and graphics to improve readability.
2:30 Speak the Language: (+) This is something that the group really tried to focus on considering the diverse audience. I believe we achieved our goal quit well.
2:00 Lead with Benefits: (-) We do not lead with the benefits. Maybe after reading this we should rearrange stuff so that we explain what the Christmas Day Dinner is before we ask people to volunteer.
1:20 Have a Single Message: (+) Our message I think is pretty obvious, “Give back to your community by volunteering at the Christmas Day Dinner Event or help prepare for it with the CFRC.” I think we make that point very effectively by explaining all the different ways to volunteer and specifically state why you should volunteer.
0:50 Focus on a Product or Service: (+) I think this goes along with having a single message. Our message is service. The brochure is very focused on service and gives lots of information concerning how to go about achieving this service, it answers how, why, when, and more.
0:20 Make an Action Call: (+) The action that our brochure encourages people to take is to fill out the attached box with their contact information and choose which activity they would like to do to volunteer. It also encourages people to donate by monetary means as well by sending in a check, cash, or credit card information on that sheet with the contact information to the addressed written above it.
I only have 1 (-) and the rest pluses. Overall, I think we kept it focused, simple, and productive by keeping the goals of the brochure in mind as well as the audience. I do not think people will be throwing it in the trash. The one (-) sign I gave I will address at the next revision step.
Comments
Group Reply
I agree with most of the points you have made and I feel that our group has been pretty consistent in analyzing our brochure. This is good because I think we are all on the same page. I think as you stated that in our situation that the clip art and pictures that were given to use go along well with our brochure and do not make it unprofessional. I also feel that our brochure is very personal and is written in a language that our audience is capable of understanding. I can see where it would be beneficial to us to lead with benefits and explain more of what the Christmas Dinner is before asking for people to volunteer. This can also make it more personal and show that we also care about the people that put in the time to volunteer. I think our group has a pretty good brochure so far but can use this activity to help make some changes to make our brochure more effective.
Reply
I agree with your ratings. Originally I gave us all plusses, but I think you have a good point about leading with the benefits. It might be a good idea to talk about the Christmas Day Dinner first. However, I don’t think we did a bad job with what we have currently. As I stated in my reading response, I think leading with information about the organization and what the reader can gain from volunteering is just as effective as starting out with information about the Christmas Day Dinner. Like you, I am interested to see what our feedback from the organization is going to be like. Hopefully positive!!
Group Reply
I think you have made some good points about our brochure. In my reading response I gave a few more minuses, but some of what you said has made me rethink them. I had a minus for "Be Personal" mainly because I thought the color did not personally connect the reader with Christmas. But I do agree that our brochure focuses on the community. I thought we did lead with benefits, however I see your point about rearranging parts to explain the Christmas Dinner more. If the reader understands how good this event is for the community, they will be more inclined to help. I'm glad we are on the same page for almost everything, that should help for the final revision.