#99 from R&D Innovator Volume 3, Number 5          May 1994

FORUM—from our readers

Advertising Within the Company: No Longer Wasting Time

I work in a small research group of a very successful company.  The company isn’t known for innovative research, and our group seemed to be more a token of our supposed innovativeness than a real asset.  Most upper managers didn't want to be bothered to understand the science and technology behind their conservative products.  They seemed to think that, if they had a research department, somehow, someday, something would develop from it.  But because of their ignorance about research, they didn't have the foggiest idea of how to manage us.

We are all well-paid, with good facilities, equipment and technical help.  Because management had little interest in us, we had scanty supervision.  What bothered me was that we could get away with almost anything:  Several people in my group spent at least a third of each day reading the newspaper or jabbering about politics.  When our highest supervisor visited (he was based in another city, and had no understanding of science), he felt more comfortable talking politics than research.

While some of the group seemed to enjoy this lack of direction and freedom from pressure, most of us had the unsettling realization that we were not really contributing to the company.  I thought about putting together a brochure that explained our capabilities, and distributing it throughout the company.  I hoped it would spark interest in us, that somebody would find us specific problems to work on, and that we would become more important to the company--and maybe immune to future cutbacks.

We had a hard time designing a brochure that would grab the attention of busy people who didn't seem to care about science.  In our discussions, we couldn't come to an agreement.  How could we show our stuff without technical jargon?  Should we use color?  Should we use diagrams or pictures of our equipment?  Pictures of us?

Fortunately, a friend who worked in a public relations company recommended that we hire an outside firm to assemble the brochure, and we decided to spend a few thousand dollars, a tiny percentage of our budget, on a brochure. We worked with the company and found that getting them to understand what we were doing, and could be doing, was the most difficult part of all.  They kept asking questions until they'd reduced the description of our department from what they called "techno-babble" to what we called "baby talk."

Finally, the eye-catching, four-color brochure was printed and distributed.  We expected dozens of inquiries the first week, and I was upset when not a single one came in--not by phone, not by e-mail, not by fax, and not by corporate mail.  Had we wasted our time?  Was no one interested in our capabilities?   How much longer would the corporation pay for something that nobody used?

Two weeks later, the responses finally began streaming in, so our brochure really did attract interest!  More important, it also stimulated others in the company to use us.  We get frequent calls for advice; we get suggestions on how we can help the company be more innovative; and people even visit our lab!  I think almost everyone feels that the brochure is the main reason we are now more productive corporate citizens.  The job is more fun, even though we get much less time to read the newspaper and talk politics.

We've got too much to do--finally!

Anonymous