Re: Design

Just who, exactly, is Dr. Direct, and why is Tim Scott, vice-president of business development for Brooks Instrument, a Pennsylvania-based manufacturing company, his biggest booster? The unlikely pairing of Scott, a real-life engineer, and Dr. Direct, a whimsical comic-strip superhero, is at the heart of a grassroots marketing campaign that’s garnering a lot of attention in a traditionally low-profile industry.

The fictitious character — who is always accompanied by his trusty sidekicks, an edgy parrot and a brainy dog — is being used by Brooks Instrument to publicize the Quantim precision mass flow controller, a product the company considers the most innovative in its 56-year history. The surprising campaign — as well as the process Brooks used to create it — sheds light on how small businesses with little marketing background can produce innovative, low-cost strategies that work. The experience has taught Brooks that the company’s best marketers are found inside the business, people who really know their products and their customers.