People fall in love with them in childhood and that love can last forever. They're revered as sources of wisdom and great stories. People value them as gifts and rarely throw them away. They are stored in our living rooms and workspaces and looked at again and again for years and years. We are talking, of course, about books. With qualities like these, you'd think they would be the communications medium of choice. But companies rarely commission them. Are they missing out?
As you may or may not have been aware, April 23rd was World Book
Day. An annual celebration of reading and publishing, it shows that despite
mounting competition for our time and attention, there is still something about
books that captivates us.
In fact, no other medium is revered in quite the same
way. It’s probably a childhood thing. We’re almost pre-programmed to associate
books with wonder, thoroughness and expertise. Therefore, when we pick up a
book, we do so in a positive frame of mind. We expect to put it down a better
person.
So, you would have thought that companies, with their many different communications needs, would be attracted to books. They are used to gather together reference, such as brand guidelines and company histories. But as persuasive tools or elements in campaigns, they are rather rare. Why so?
