A brochure and a pamphlet, is there a difference between the two and which one between the two is the best to use, are widely asked questions by people trying to decide what means of grey literature to use to communicate to a targeted group of persons.

Companies, churches, businesses, organizations, countries, use these two to create awareness, hence many clients who want either a pamphlet or a brochure are usually not sure, and are mostly confused by which one between the two they need, since they are both viewed as informative paper documents used as advertisement pieces.

The difference between these two is really in the details and the message that one wants to put across, basically what the person is looking to communicate to either the general public or a specific type of clientele.

It depends on the amount of information intended to be put down on paper, and how you wish to plan this information, for instance will there be titles and subtitles, details following diagrams and pictures, tables, graphs and such.

Pamphlets

Pamphlets are nothing new, they have been there since the 18th century, where they were used to spread information and influence the public and institutions. They are more permanent and very influential, thus were mostly used politically to communicate to the public and overthrow institutions thus were considered as very dangerous.

Below are some clear specifications of a pamphlet.

• They are two set-ups for a pamphlet. Single sheet and multi sheet. Single sheet are not bound but multi sheets are bound either by staples or other binding objects, and appear as books.
• They are mainly used for educative and informative purposes, but this is not to say that they cannot be used in advertisement. However, not usually because advertisement is supposed to be brief and to the point, and pamphlets are very detailed.
• They will contain anything from political campaigns and protest, family planning, church meetings to kitchen appliances.

• They are used as catalogs, manuals, reference materials, basically any place where the person wants to give detailed information, a pamphlet will be best suited.

• You can put a lot on a pamphlet, for example a table of contents, titles subtitles, images, descriptions of those images, references, graphs among others.
• You don’t have to use high quality paper on a pamphlet, or use up a lot of colour on it. It doesn’t have to be loud.
• They are passed to the public by hand or are packaged together with appliances.

Brochures

Brochures were not used as much and as significantly in the 18th century as pamphlets. They are more recent, and are mostly for advertisement.

Below are some clear specifications.

• They are brief and summarized and are mainly for introduction to a product, company, service, activity, hotel, organization, entertainment among others. They are usually followed up by another type of advertisement to close the deal. The reason they are brief is mainly because the audience intended, is not looking to read into a lot of details.
• They usually are created from single sheets and folded to form bifolds (a single sheet printed on both sides and folded in half), trifolds (a single sheet printed on both sides and folded into thirds), etc.
• They use high quality paper, are loud and take up a lot of colour. They have to be appealing to attract the intended clientele, since most brochures are placed in brochure racks near tourist attractions. This way one can notice the brochure from the rack and pick it up to take a look at it.

Sharing is caring!