Is the brochure dead?

Is the web killing every form of communication, even the brochure?

Jakob Nielsen provides a guest column in the latest BtoB Magazine, where he continues to rail on B2B websites lagging behind B2C usability, content, and hints at the death of the brochure.

"When we test users on b-to-b sites, they tell us that they expect the same level of simplicity and polish as they are accustomed to in their personal shopping; after all, when you are spending $10,000 on a business purchase, you expect to get service that is at least as good as when you are buying a $6 paperback on Amazon."

He goes on, alluding to points made in his article last year (my review here) that B2B sites need content that supports the purchasing cycle, specifically suggesting an 'advocate toolkit'. Then he makes a more dramatic statement:

"Suppliers must change their communication strategy and develop content for the Web first, and print second-if at all. The days of repurposing printed brochures as lumpy and unpleasant PDF files must come to an end."

I agree that print comes second, but lets not kill it altogether. I develop content for the web first because this gets the new product information out the quickest, and is most flexible for doing so. This also has the benefit of editing/experience so the brochure becomes easier to do. And all the content in the brochure should also be available (usually in pieces) somewhere in the website.

However, I think the brochure (print or PDF) still is a needed tool, especially for capital equipment. Less useful, and less used, but obligatory (much like trade shows). It frames the product in a complete, total message that can be hard to do on the web. And it somehow gives substance to a product that most of the time the customer isn't going to see or touch before buying. And this makes it indispensable as part of the 'advocate toolkit' that Nielsen says is needed.