The Connecticut Development Authority (CDA) provides debt financing and investment capital to help businesses in Connecticut grow. They have a variety of loan programs. Their challenge was two-fold: they wanted to upgrade the presentation of their various brochures which had previously been printed on an in-house laser printer, and they wanted to extend their reach beyond organizations that were already in their database.
Solution
They came to New England Business Media’s Custom Publishing division because they were already aware of the quality of our work through the Hartford Business Journal and by attending our events. They also recognized the Hartford Business Journal’s audience is primarily made up of small to medium sized businesses in the Central Connecticut region; a prime target for their services. We produce a tri-fold brochure to introduce the Hartford Business Journal readers to the various loan programs offered by Connecticut Development Authority. This introductory brochure was inserted in the Hartford Business Journal and provided Connecticut Development Authority with professional brochures for distribution to potential customers.
Content
The compact tri-fold format made the brochure easy to distribute. The content was presented in bullet format which generated interest in CDA and compelled business owners to pick up the phone for more information. The introductory brochure was designed as the first in a series. We created a design and color template as branding for CDA that was carried throughout all brochures. We included images that business owners could identify with such as a city street under redevelopment. The image and content in subsequent brochures was easily changed to reflect the particular program, but the CDA branding remained constant creating the continuity for the brochure series and a recognizable branding for CDA.
Success
The first brochure that ran in the Hartford Business Journal achieved its mission of creating awareness of the various loan programs available through the CDA. The CDA came back to us to create a second brochure about a particular program. That brochure was distributed through the CDA's regular channels and proved so successful that they came back to us for a second printing. Currently, there is a third brochure under consideration.