Why You Should Still Consider a Printed Newsletter

We just received the Doctors Without Borders newsletter http://tinyurl.com/c3umro in the mail, and I’m impressed by a number of things:

1. Because it’s one of the few printed newsletters I still receive, it really stood out. So many organizations are moving away from printed pieces, which may be a bad call. In the world of marketing, one of the best things you can do is to do the thing that others are not doing.
2. Digital simply can’t replace the tactile experience of holding a newsletter in your hand and flipping through it. There is a visceral experience to print that helps us remember in different ways.
3. Doctors Without Borders has incredible imagery, and they use it to tell a story. The phrase, a picture is worth a thousand words, really is true.
4. It passes the “I’m too busy to read test”. At Mission Minded, we put all of our publications to this test. If you can’t flip though a document in 15 seconds and understand what’s being said by headlines and photos alone, than the piece isn’t doing its job.

One other note: Doctors Without Borders also digitally distributes their newsletter on Issuu (www.issuu.com). I hadn’t seen this site in action before, but I’m impressed with it’s ability to show publications on line.

Zach