White Paper Pundit

Mention the term “government white paper” and the words “creative”, “engaging”, “effective” and “colorful” aren’t typically used in the same sentence. In fact if you’ve ever had the misfortune of reading a U.S. Government white paper for a research project, you’ve probably realized that little has changed since the medium’s inception in 1922, almost 90 years ago!

A recent email message that I received from Apryl Parcher with White Paper Insider after her review of a recently published U.S. government white paper echoes what most people feel when they read one of these boring tomes: “My eyes glazed over after the first 3 paragraphs”.

Unfortunately, like a lot of things the government has attempted in the services category, pubic communications isn’t one of their strong points. If the purpose of a white paper is to deliver critical messages in an effective fashion to a target audience, then U.S. Government white papers have a long way to go to live up to that standard.

But don’t let U.S. white papers be the only measure of what can be done with government communications. All we need to do is look to at British government white papers as a model for what can be accomplished in this country.

Take a look at the two white papers below. The first is from the British Government on the subject of consumer debt and credit entitled, “A Better Deal for Consumers: Delivering Real Help Now and Change for the Future.”

As you can see from this white paper, it is designed from the start to grab reader attention, which is especially important given its consumer oriented subject. Enclosed are some of the elements that makes this white paper more engaging with their readers:

1. A colorful cover design.

2. Different fonts for titles, headers, and content text.

3. Photographs of the white paper authors.

4. Photographs, and colored shading at the start of each section.

5. Shaded text boxes to highlight important bottom-line statements.

6. A ‘Next Steps’ section that uses tables to present a timeline of activities and a ‘call-to-action’.

Besides being more visually engaging, this white paper does a good job targeting the consumer audience. Knowing that anything looking like a boring ‘all-text’ research document will probably be sent to the desktop recycle bin, the British have used design in this white paper to grab and hold reader attention that ultimately results in a greater desire to read it.

Now let’s compare the U.K. Government white paper to a recently published U.S. Government white paper entitled, “Financial Regulatory Reform: A New Foundation.” Here is what is wrong with this white paper, and why its format makes it difficult for readers to become engaged with its key messages.

1. A mono-font (one single font) orientation, Times New Roman, which gives the white paper an ‘administrative’ look and feel.

2. A lack of text formatting other than bold, italics, and underline.

3. A lack of any graphics, design, or color (other than the front cover).

4. A lack of shaded text boxes or callouts to draw attention to bottom-line messages.

5. A lack of section dividers that provide visual pauses for the reader.

6. A repetitive flow of information that quickly generates reader boredom.

7. The absence of any Concluding Summary or ‘call-to-action’ for the ‘skim reader’.

Since government programs seems to be an increasing part of today’s news, it would seem like a natural tactic to take a tip from our counterparts across the pond and revisit the way that the white paper medium is being used to convey critical messages to the general public.

If the U.S. Government were to use color, design, and formatting in their white papers in a similar fashion, I think that a greater portion of U.S. citizens would be reading them, and as a result, be better informed with many of today’s important public issues.

Cindy King, an expert in cross-cultural and international business marketing has a very interesting blog post related to this issue entitled, “European versus American White Paper Marketing“, where she compares how cultural differences between U.S. and European marketers translate into vast differences in white paper marketing and the presentation of business information.

But for God’s sake someone please tell Timothy Geithner to change the Times New Roman font!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 10:16 am and is filed under Design & Format, WP Examples, WP Marketing, White Paper Types. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.