Tracy's blog 10: reactions to technical marketing documents

I’ve
read your reactions to, and questions about, the Technical Marketing Presentation Project,
and after spending these past few hours thinking about them, here
are some responses. These are designed not only to answer questions that have been raised, but also to guide project planning and research.

First, as many of you have pointed out, this project offers more opportunities for creativity than does the White Paper Project. Groups may work with whatever kinds of products they'd like, and may also choose whichever type of document -- flyer, brochure, booklet, postcard, etc. -- they'd like.

That said, I should mention that the document type you choose to work with needs to "fit" the product, what you're communicating about that product, and your target audience. For instance, a flyer likely won't provide nearly enough space to cover marketing-style prose, technical definitions/descriptions, images, features descriptions, and technical specifications necessary to present a vehicle. And a multi-page booklet would probably be "too much" for the comparatively limited discussion associated with an entry-level cell phone.

Also, as is mentioned in the list of requirements for this project, the document needs to "look, feel, and read" as if it could have been produced by that manufacturer, for that document. While you don't have to have extensive document design experience to complete a professional-looking document, you do need to write and design your document in a way that comes across attractively and professionally. You are more than welcome to use document templates in Adobe InDesign or Microsoft Publisher to accomplish this goal.

In addition, one of you had mentioned the need for research -- would you have enough time and knowledge necessary to effectively complete this task? Yes, you will. Visit the product manufacturer's website. Find a few product reviews from independent reviewers; cnet.com and Consumer Reports are excellent sources for this kind of information. You can also do a Yahoo or Google search, with the name of your product and "review" as keywords.

A couple of you asked about the
purpose of multiple drafts and peer review for what seems to be a
pretty straightforward project. For one thing, we’re
doing multiple drafts because this is a writing-intensive course that
relies heavily on process, as well as product – and professional
writing projects of all kinds, in the classroom and in the workplace,
involve drafting, review, and revision. For another, peer reviewers will serve as representatives of your target audience. They’ll have a better idea than will you about how audiences will react to your your document.

One of you asked what kind of audience should be
targeted for this project – since it appears that we’re not targeting
technically-oriented audiences. This depends entirely on your product. Again, product manufacturer websites can offer valuable clues.

FYI: Students tend to do very well
with this last project because it allows for creativity, as well as for
a certain degree of shaping of information that’s already been
gathered. What’s important here are issues related to
framing information in a way that meets the needs of the technical
marketing genre, as well as those of target audiences with varying
reasons for accessing and/or acting on information. This
project is certainly challenging, particularly when it comes to
producing a product that meets the needs of the environment in which
it’s presented: a conference or trade show, whose attendees are constantly coming and going. But
overall, it’s a good way to extend concepts learned in Projects 1 and
2, and a relatively pressure-free way to end the semester.