A picture is worth a thousand words. We’ve heard that said often and indeed it is a tried-and-tested maxim of traditional marketing. As such savvy marketers are beginning to pay much more attention to the info-graphical presentation of content in their marketing campaigns, sales kits and business proposals. In case of marketing complex solutions or conveying technical data to a non-tech savvy audience, infographics can and often do play a really major role.

1. Anol Bhattacharya
Infographics for Marketing & Communication

2. Infographics for Marketing & Communication
Introduction
A picture is worth a thousand words. We’ve heard that said often and indeed it is a tried-and-tested maxim of traditional
marketing. As such savvy marketers are beginning to pay much more attention to the info-graphical presentation of content in
their marketing campaigns, sales kits and business proposals. In case of marketing complex solutions or conveying technical
data to a non-tech savvy audience, infographics can and often do play a really major role. According to ‘Artist with an MBA’,
Cliff Atkinson, designed and used properly, infographics can:
I. Help a prospective client understand a concept quickly.
II. Show respect for the viewer's visual sophistication.
III. Serve as an elegant visual interface to your quality content.
IV. Motivate readers to dive into the text to find out more.
V. Show you care to craft a compelling visual story out of your content, rather than use a cookie cutter approach.
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We think in pictures.
“

3. Infographics for Marketing & Communication
Switzerland
8
$2,019bnUBS
19
$1,209bn
Credit Suisse Group
Italy
13
$1,504bn
UniCredit
26
$843bn
Intesa San Paolo
China
20
$1,189bn
ICBC
24
$903bn
China Construction
Bank Corporation
28
$828bn
Agricultural Bank
of China
29
$820bn
Bank of China
Spain
17
$1,344bn
Santander Central Hispano
33
$739bn
BBV Argentaria
UK
Now owned by
Lloyds
1
$3,808bnRoyal Bank of Scotland
4
$2,459bnBarclays
5
$2,354bnHSBC
18
$1,336bn
HBOS
35
$708bn
Lloyds
US
Now owned by
Wells Fargo
7
$2,188bnCitigroup
10
$1,716bnBank of America
12
$1,562bn
JP Morgan Chase
32
$783bn
Wachovia Corporation
43
$575bn
Wells Fargo
Japan
9
$1,818bnMitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
14
$1,495bn
Mizuho Financial Group
22
$1,073bn
Sumitomo Mitsui
Financial Group
45
$528bn
Norinchukin Bank
France
3
$2,494bnBNP Paribas
6
$2,268bnCrédit Agricole Group
11
$1,578bn
Société Générale
31
$815bn
Crédit Mutuel
38
$638bn
Groupe Caisse
d'Epargne
47
$514bn
Groupe Banques
Populaires
Germany
2
$2,974bnDeutsche Bank
23
$908bn
Commerzbank
34
$736bn
Dresdner Bank
37
$653bn
Landesbank Baden-
Württemberg
39
$635bn
DZ Bank
40
$612bn
Bayerische
Landesbank
41
$589bn
Hypo Real
Estate Holding
49
$422bn
WestLB
Australia
42
$585bn
National
Australia Bank
48
$444bn
Commonwealth
Bank Group
50
$419bn
ANZ Banking
Group
15
$1,463bn
ING Bank
27
$840bn
Rabobank Group
Netherlands
21
$1,129bn
Fortis Bank
25
$890bn
Dexia
46
$523bn
KBC Group
Belgium
44
$573bn
Nordea Group
Sweden
36
$660bn
Danske Bank
Denmark
30
$816bn
Nordea Bank Norge
Norway
16
$1,391bn
Banca Româneasca
Romania
$24.4bn
-34%
$26.5bn
-32%
$36.1bn
-11%
$6.1bn
-86%
$14.2bn
-77%
$6.2bn
-71%
$61.3bn
-43%
$22.9bn
-36%
$14.8bn
-71%
$104.2bn
-41%
$20.4bn
-91%
$14.6bn
-86%
$51.4bn
-81%
$108.5bn
-37%
$21.4bn
-86%
$73.4bn
-47%
Co-op
Owned by
Nordea Group
Owned by
National Bank
of Greece
Co-op
$25.3bn
-46%
$30.8bn
-47%
$4.9bn
-90%
$6.3bn
-84%
State-owned
$112.4bn
-32%
$134.6bn
-40%$178bn
-33%
$42.7bn
-44%
$5.4bn
-78%
Mutual
Co-op
Co-op
$27.7bn
-48%
$4.5bn
-82%
$3.1bn
-62%
$34.7bn
-53%
$27.3bn
-66%
$36.9bn
-24%
$34.1bn
-47%
$26.4bn
-56%
$0.6bn
-93%
State-owned
State-
owned
Now owned by
Commerzbank
$25.1bn
-48%
$32.1bn
-53%$60.2bn
-51%
What does this show?
Assets are predominantly debts
owed to the bank, such as
mortgages. Liabilities in banking
are money they owe to clients,
such as deposit accounts. This
shows which banks are sitting on
the largest loan books – and the
contrast with their dwindling
stock market values
The world's top 50 banks -
and the institutions that
no longer exist
Ranked by The Banker magazine, based on latest assets figures
1
$bn
SOURCES: THE BANKER, THOMSON REUTERS
Rank
Assets
Market value now and
% change over 12 months
Infographics by guardian.co.uk
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4. Infographics for Marketing & Communication
What is an Infographic?
Infographics are a visual representation of information and
most probably the oldest communication content designed by
human beings. From the time of Egyptian Hieroglyphics the
journey of Infographics began as a means to visually
communicate a complex concept, document events or tell
stories.
Modern Infographics started off as visual elements such as
charts, maps, or diagrams that aid comprehension of a given
text-based content. Today – in the context of marketing, we
can also include process diagrams, concept maps, visual
narratives, simulations etc. under Infographics.
Infographics are used where
complex information needs to be
explained quickly and clearly.
They can present a rich amount
of information without
intimidating you.
Illustration about russian sportsmans total fees in 2007 year. Mariya
Sharapova (tennis) is 19 mln dollars, Andrew Kirilenko (basketball) is 12
and Nikolay Habibulin (Hockey) 6.
Infographics by Maximus Chatsky »
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5. Infographics for Marketing & Communication
We think in pictures.
Words are abstract representations of form, keeping the context intact.
Examples of Infographics
Napoleon’s March to Russia
Map by Charles Joseph Minard, one of the most celebrated Infographics from early 19th century, portrays the losses suffered
by Napoleon’s army in the Russian campaign of 1812. Beginning at the Polish-Russian border, the thick band shows the size of
the army at each position. The path of Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow in the bitterly cold winter is depicted by the dark lower
band, which is tied to temperature and time scales.
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6. Infographics for Marketing & Communication
Edward Tufte, identifies six separate variables that are captured in the map.
I. The line width continuously indicates the size of the army.
II. The line shows the latitude of the army as it moved.
III. The line shows the longitude of the army as it moved.
IV. The direction that the army was traveling, are distinguished by colors, tan for advance and black for retreat.
V. The location of the army with respect to certain dates.
VI. The temperature along the path of retreat
Étienne-Jules Marey first called notice to this dramatic depiction of the terrible fate of Napoleon's army in the Russian
campaign, saying it “defies the pen of the historian in its brutal eloquence”. Edward Tufte says it “may well be the best
statistical graphic ever drawn” and uses it as a prime example in The Visual Display of Quantitative Information.
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7. Infographics for Marketing & Communication
We think in pictures.
Words are abstract representations of form, keeping the context intact.
Examples of Infographics
XPLANE : Showing the value of a connected health ecosystem
When Microsoft launched a new health application platform, HealthVault, it faced the issue of having to communicate what it
was in a concise and understandable way. Microsoft HealthVault allows consumers to better manage and control their health
information by connecting all members of the healthcare ecosystem: consumers, pharmacies, hospitals, healthcare providers,
employers, devices and other resources. The integrated health application platform allows consumers to collect, store and
share data that would otherwise reside in disparate systems.
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8. Infographics for Marketing & Communication
We think in pictures.
Words are abstract representations of form, keeping the context intact.
Microsoft needed to communicate the value proposition of HealthVault in a way that was understandable to the healthcare
community.
XPLANE created a value proposition map showing the interactions of an integrated ecosystem where consumers, pharmacies,
hospitals, healthcare providers, employers, devices and other resources are all connected in a creative and visually engaging
way. XPLANE visually represented HealthVault as a data platform that supports multiple applications so health information
can be shared with caregivers, physicians and family. The Microsoft HealthVault map was rolled out at the Healthcare
Information and Management Systems Society (HIMMS) 2008 Annual Conference & Exhibition where it was enthusiastically
received by attendees and fellow exhibitors.
Download the complete case study from XPLANE site.
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9. Infographics for Marketing & Communication
We think in pictures.
Words are abstract representations of form, keeping the context intact.Infographics by Juan Pablo Bravo »
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10. Infographics for Marketing & Communication
Infographics by Tony Park »
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11. Infographics for Marketing & Communication
Resume Infographics by Michael Anderson
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12. Infographics for Marketing & Communication
Infographic design 101
Three main questions need to be answered before making any
information graphics: Why? How? Does it Work? Making good
information graphics consists of facilitating the understanding
of complexity.
The Infographic discussed below is a project done by GetIT
(that’s us!) for Cisco Systems, Inc. The Infographic is on Cisco
Connected Learning infrastructure i.e., Cisco Network
Infrastructure Solution for Universities – and the main
objective is to provide required information to different levels
of decision makers from universities and literally bring them on
the ‘same page’.
Although this Infographic is one-dimensional, without any
step-by-step procedure and cause/effect scenario – we hope
that it has achieved its purpose. We also learned a lot from the
process of development.
Let us articulate the process we went through in developing this
infographic.
Three main questions need to
be answered before making
any information graphics:
Why? How? Does it Work?
Making good information
graphics consists of facilitating
the understanding of
complexity.
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14. Infographics for Marketing & Communication
I. Collection: Collection of all the raw information for the
infographics – such as PowerPoint slides, white papers,
face-to-face interviews (multiple sessions), network
diagrams etc.
II. Identifying the objectives: Who is the target audience?
What’s their range of technical knowledge? What are their
main pain points? What do we want to highlight to them?
Its great if you can sketch a persona.
III. Classification: Grouping the infrastructures into physical
spaces – in this case into the buildings.
IV. Blueprinting: Time to draw each building’s individual
groups (pencil sketch) with the technical details.
V. Space planning: Basically - putting together a collage, i.e.,
sticking together different A-4 size papers photocopies of
the individual groups.
VI. Planning the Interrelations between the groups.
VII. Go digital: time to draw the infographic on the computer;
we used Freehand and Flash. Any Vector graphics editor
should do the job.
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15. Infographics for Marketing & Communication
X. Optimizing detail: Add in the useful detail, get rid of the extras, balance between aesthetics and usability.
XI. Labeling: Copywriting and inserting the labels, tricky part – need to be specific and clear, yet short.
XII. Coloring and Typography: Effective typography is not only for corporate identity or enrichment of visual
appearance, it also helps you to represent the bound emotions of your graphics.
Varying the colors, reducing the saturation of what is less important and increasing it for the most relevant
data, modifying the typography, the size of fonts, eliminating everything that doesn’t contribute to showing
and clarifying the data (irrelevant grids, redundant data, and unnecessary labels) without losing relevant
information sometimes provides surprisingly improved results.
VIII. Integration: The purpose of any infographic is to bring everyone on the same page and tell a complete story.
Integration of different elements to tell a coherent story is the most vital step of the creation of an infographic.
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16. Infographics for Marketing & Communication
We think in pictures.
Words are abstract representations of form, keeping the context intact.Infographics : Good Magazine »
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17. Infographics for Marketing & Communication
As we mentioned, there are different types of infographics. For organizations
another very useful format of infographic is depicting a process flow. Sometimes
those are very complex – especially the multi-dimensional ones. There are few
additional considerations for creating those types of infographics.
Establishing Context, multi-dimensional and interrelations of the
dimensions: The problem of multi-dimensional infographics are that they can
easily lose the context by information overload and loosely established
relationship of different elements. Planning out the space mapping with just
pencil and paper helps.
Establishing Causality: in a non-multimedia infographics it’s the toughest
part, but the soul of a process or procedure flow infographics is cause and effect.
Few more Steps for Creating an Infographic
Where to go from here?
Used properly, infographics can help a great deal to market complex solutions
or products which are difficult to articulate. Besides print, infographics are also
taking shape in several different formats, such as interactive narratives, visual
explainer and other digital formats.
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18. Infographics for Marketing & Communication
We think in pictures.
Words are abstract representations of form, keeping the context intact.Infographics with motion and interactivity - storyboard by Rafaël Macho »
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19. REFERENCES
I. Information graphics – Wikipedia
II. Edward Tufte: Posters and Graph Paper
III. Alberto Cairo’s website: infographics, design and visual journalism
IV. Nigel Holmes
V. John Information Graphics
VI. NiXLOG | INFOGRAPHICS
VII. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward R. Tufte
VIII.Designing Infographics by Eric K. Meyer
IX. Interactive Visual Explainers-A Simple Classification by Maish Nichani & Venkat Rajamanickam
ABOUT GETITCOMMS
We are a boutique outfit focused on using new media solutions to help hi-tech and
telco business share business knowledge.
You tell us what you want to communicate and what resources you have currently.
We listen to your objectives, and develop and implement best-fit solutions using
our awareness of how people pick-up, incorporate and share new knowledge.
Whether in the context of marketing initiatives, customer and partner awareness
programs, learning and development, or sales support – the end goal remains
getting the message across with speed, accuracy and impact.
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