The Mrs. and I just got back from a walk in our neighborhood. On the ground near every mailbox was a CD-ROM in a plastic bag. “I assume they were lying on the ground because you can’t legally put things in a mailbox unless you work for the USPS.” Turns out it’s the 2008-2009 UNC-Chapel Hill campus directory. I assume from my limited sample they’ve given them to every postal address in Chapel Hill.
It’s definitely a step in the right direction over the paper phone book-style directories they used to print and distribute the same way. But I couldn’t help wondering why they don’t just eliminate the distribution step and rely on their web directory? If they’ve already decided to forsake non-computer users, how much more of an incremental step is it to assume that people with computers – especially in this town – have Internet access?
I’ve struggled with a similar question at various previous companies; When do you stop printing your collateral and just rely on your Web site and other electronic resources? The answer, so far, has always come down to the same thing: The sales folks like to be able to put something tangible in customers’ hands.
Besides, if you don’t have a company magazine, what will you leave lying on tables in your waiting areas? Laptops?
Actually, why not?