Building Product Marketing: April 2010

Open During Construction; Please Pardon Our Dust

Readership has grown enough that we've had to remodel our blog for clarity and to handle the traffic. As long as we're at it, we plan to finish the basement, install a solar-powered water heater, and make some exterior improvements. We hope you enjoy the new look and functionality; if you do find any bugs, please bring them to my attention.

Thanks for reading!

LEED-ND: How Does Your Product Fit In?

LEED for Neighborhood Developments is now available for project registration. As one might expect, the emphasis is on sustainable sites, but there are opportunities for many building materials to contribute to LEED-ND points.

First and foremost, LEED-ND requires at least one building in the development to be certified under a green building rating system such as LEED for New Construction. In addition, 90% of the buildings, excluding single-family homes, must meet the minimum energy efficiency prerequisite, similar to the LEED-NC energy efficiency prerequisite. Together, these two prerequisites bring the top LEED priorities for materials and energy efficiency right into LEED-ND. Additional credits are available for increased energy efficiency, so envelope materials that improve building performance are still well-rewarded in LEED-ND.

That perennial favorite of green designers, recycled content, is alive and well in LEED-ND. Not only is it involved in the certified-building prerequisite, but it gets its own credit, too, for neighborhood infrastructure. If you make a paving, utility, or landscaping product with recycled content, your product contributes to a LEED-ND credit.

Products that assist with stormwater management have the potential to affect several credits in LEED-ND. Not only are there directly applicable credits for maintaining or restoring the site's pre-development hydrology, but systems that can reduce the overall footprint of development can also contribute to several credits. If your product combines stormwater management within the footprint of another function like paving, several credits may become available.

Exterior lighting products can contribute to two credits if they are both energy-efficient and glare-reducing. Roofing and paving materials that reduce the heat-island effect contribute to a credit. There is even a credit for centralizing the heating and cooling of multiple buildings in a single district plant.

LEED-ND is worth exploring for building product manufacturers, but especially for manufacturers of landscape, utility, and paving products.

Prior Approval Specifications

How can specifiers reduce the frequency of substitutions on their projects? One technique Chusid Associates recommends is to use the Prior Approval system of specifying. This system has been used for decades in parts of the country, and deserves more widespread consideration.

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R.I.P. Building Design & Construction

In July of 2009, Reed Elsevier, announced its intentions to cease its Reed Business Information U.S. publishing business. Over the past year, many publishing brands have also closed. On April 16, 2010, Reed announced the closure of the remaining publishing brands and their
associated products and services. Therefore, the April 2010 issue was the final issue of Building Design & Construction.

We are very sad to see this happening as Building Design & Construction was one of the first magazines to put Michael Chusid's writing in ink. We wish the best to Reed and all of the other publications who are closing and would like them to know the important roles they've played in the industry.

With Green Building Standards Spreading Around the World, Coordination Among Them Is Just Starting

By William DeVan
Howrey LLP
© 2010 ConstructionWebLinks.com
Reprinted with Permission. All Rights Reserved.

The growing trend toward green building has resulted in a number of competing and overlapping certification systems, with only faint hope in sight of better standardization. U.S. builders are most familiar with the LEED system sponsored by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). Through USGBC’s association with the World Green Building Council, LEED now is available in almost 60 countries, spanning the globe from Malaysia to Morocco.

Continue Reading

An Important Reminder

Here is a reminder that it is important to address a prospect in a language the prospect understands:

From Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

Building product sales is especially challenging because your prospects may have such varied interests: performance, sustainability, aesthetics, availability, constructability, cost, and more.

Wingspread Precautionary Principle

Designers are often faced with a dilemma when considering adoptions of a new product with putative environmental advantages instead of an established product with known environmental detriments. Even if the new product manufacturer has conducted extensive testing and offers independent verification of claims, the new product cannot match the track record of a product that has been proven in the field and tested by time.

I have recently become familiar with the Wingspread Conference, a gathering of scientists, philosophers, lawyers and environmental activists, that reached agreement on the necessity of the "Precautionary Principle" in environmental decision-making. The key element of the principle addresses the trade-offs that designers face in the absence of certainty about long term performance:

"When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically."

The Principle suggests that it can be acceptable to use a new product, even if there is no certainty about long term performance.

Note that this is not a free ticket to use to market any new product. The Principle also states:

"...the proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof."

This means that the manufacturer of a new product must provide rigorous and transparent evidence that the new product does indeed have a lower environmental impact than the one it is attempting to supplant.

The full text of the statement follows:

Wingspread Consensus Statement on Precautionary Principle
The release and use of toxic substances, the exploitation of resources, and physical alterations of the environment have had substantial unintended consequences affecting human health and the environment. Some of these concerns are high rates of learning deficiencies, asthma, cancer, birth defects and species extinctions; along with global climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion and worldwide contamination with toxic substances and nuclear materials.

We believe existing environmental regulations and other decisions, particularly those based on risk assessment, have failed to protect adequately human health and the environment - the larger system of which humans are but a part.

We believe there is compelling evidence that damage to humans and the worldwide environment is of such magnitude and seriousness that new principles for conducting human activities are necessary.

While we realize that human activities may involve hazards, people must proceed more carefully than has been the case in recent history. Corporations, government entities, organizations, communities, scientists and other individuals must adopt a precautionary approach to all human endeavors.

Therefore, it is necessary to implement the Precautionary Principle: When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.

In this context the proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof.

The process of applying the Precautionary Principle must be open, informed and democratic and must include potentially affected parties. It must also involve an examination of the full range of alternatives, including no action.

MasterFormat Updates

If you've asked (or wished) for a revision to MasterFormat to more accurately classify your product, your wishes may have just been answered. CSI has published the 2010 update to MasterFormat on its web site, and the updates are already incorporated into MasterFormat.com. New or revised numbers and titles include:

03 15 13 Waterstops
03 35 43 Polished Concrete Finishing
05 05 23 Metal Fastenings
32 39 13 Manufactured Metal Bollards

... and many more.

If you're still wishing after this year's update, remember that updates are ongoing and will be issued annually. Chusid Associates helped several clients request changes that appeared in this update, and we'd be happy to do the same for you. New products may take several tries, but this year's results are encouraging, with many new systems and materials receiving the recognition of their own numbers and titles.

Antimicrobial Products to be Reviewed by FDA

Chusid Associates has previously warned against the use of antimicrobial agents in building materials. We have cited their lack of efficacy in preventing or controlling disease, exaggerated marketing claims that skirt legal restrictions, and the potential for antimicrobial abuse to spawn drug-resistant pathogens.

Now, there is yet another concern. The leading antimicrobial products are dangerous to human health.

The synthetic antimicrobial agent triclosan - marketed under the name Microban(R) - is found in numerous products both durable and consumable. This is includes certain materials used as countertops and food prep surfaces, wall surfacing materials and upholstery, hardware and plumbing trim. It also includes a host of antimicrobial soaps and similar personal care and household products.

The FDA is going to review the use of such products at the behest of U.S. Rep Edward Markey (MA), who introduced a bill in congress banning the use of triclosan in personal care products. Restrictions against the products in building materials could follow.

If you are building with materials that contain triclosan or Microban, or if you're specifying such materials, you might want to read this article:

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-closer-20100419-20,0,7890670.story

Visualizing Carbon Impact

Many of us struggle to find ways to communicate the relative importance of our environmental message. This brick produces 85% less carbon dioxide during manufacture; great! Is that a lot? How big an impact does that make?

Information is Beautiful has a great example today of one way to do this. We've heard a lot the past few days about Iceland's volcanic activity and the impact of more than 7,000 tons of ash on air travel, health, and marathon runners. Sounds like a massive environmental disaster! Then McCandless and Bartels showed us this:

Suddenly I have perspective, and a good argument to reduce air travel.

How do you tell your story visually? Give us links to your infographics in the comments.

Webinar: Substitution Abuse, 4/29

CSI Webinar:
Substitution Abuse: How to Prevent (and Make) Substitutions
April 29, 2-3pm ET

Credit: 0.1 CSI CEUs, 1.0 AIA LUs
Speakers: Michael Chusid, RA, FCSI, CCS and Aaron Chusid, CSI
Pricing: CSI Member - $75 Non-Member - $95

Learn how to protect your specifications and improve the quality of building projects. Substitutions occur when a different building product is used instead of the specified product. These situations are a special problem for building product manufacturers and are costly to design professionals, building owners and contractors. This program delivers an urgent message about the sources of the problem and offers suggestions for preventing abuses, and when substitutions are necessary. It explains the 'right' way to handle substitutions to protect the integrity of the building process.

Learning Objectives

Learn how substitutions undermine the credibility of construction specifications.
Understand howbstitutions increase the chances of construction defects.
Learn how to control factors that lead to substitutions.
Identify the "right" way to make substitutions.

Train your entire team with one registration fee-participants are charged per site/telephone connection-not per person. Space is limited and is on a first-come-first-serve basis.

All registrations must be received 24 hours prior to the webinar. Click here.

iPad Apps: Channel to Reach Designers

The arrival of the Apple iPad on April 3 was followed, just 5 days later, by the arrival of the first BIM app for the iPad. Structural Engineering & Design reports that goBIM is the first iPad-compatible app to enable users to navigate models and review data tagged to model elements (such as materials, manufacturer information and volumetric information). www.gostructural.com/news-ipad_to_unlock_power_of_new_app_for_building_designers-435.html.

Apple's iPad has a large, bright, colorful screen that is likely to be very useful to design professionals.

This early entry of A/E tools to the iPad platform is, perhaps, an indication that the device will have broad appeal in the design community. That big, bright, highly portable screen could be replacing both the clipboard and the laptop in many meetings and site visits.

Businesses in all corners of industry and commerce have found it advantageous to create apps for the iPhone. Some of these apps are simply brand promoters, such as the brilliant sponsoring by Charmin toilet paper of a free app that locates public restrooms in the user’s immediate vicinity. Some serve a function directly related to doing business, such as a dedicated insurance quote app for a particular insurance carrier’s agents. Some serve as an electronic catalogue, or a purchasing device. This last idea lends itself far better to the big-screen iPad, where it can display architectural materials at a pleasant scale, and explain design problems and concepts with readily accessible illustrations. The iPad-based catalogue not only weighs nothing, so it can be carried anywhere, but it can go conceptually where a hardcopy catalogue cannot: interactivity, video displays, and far more.

Apps have powered the mushroom-like growth of the iPhone, and can be expected to have a big effect on the popularity of its larger sibling, the iPad. The device will in all likelihood attract design professionals, which will attract developers to make apps for those designers to buy. This means the device will probably be in their hands in large numbers by this time next year. Put the pieces together, and it suggests that iPad apps could be a golden road to the hearts and minds of architects and engineers.

A thoughtfully designed app that is both useful and free will always be popular. We believe that developing such apps, to give away from promotional purposes, is a great opportunity for building products marketers, and we are working with our clients to take advantage of it.

ICC Call for Increased Seismic Protection in Midwest will Create New Market

The International Code Conference (ICC) has issued a statement calling for stricter enforcement in the Midwest of building code requirements for seismic resistance. Their press release reads, in part:

In the past few months, we all looked on in dismay and profound sadness as we read and heard the news about earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. The differences between lives lost and property damage from earthquakes are unequivocally related to the enforcement, or lack of enforcement, of building safety codes. Chile’s quake was a 8.8 magnitude, 500 times more powerful than the earthquake that hit Haiti but its toll in both lives lost and property damage was nowhere near as devastating. Chile, like the United States, uses and enforces building codes.

Unfortunately, even in our own country there is a tendency to ignore the obvious. About 200 years ago, four major quakes ranging from 7.0 to 8.0 hit the New Madrid region, covering eight states, including the cities of Memphis (Tenn.), Nashville (Tenn.), St. Louis and Little Rock (Ark.), causing the Mississippi River to run upstream and church bells to ring in Boston.

We know that a similar quake in this region today would be one of the worst disasters in American history causing tens of thousands of deaths, displacing hundreds of thousands, not to mention the hundreds of billions in economic losses.

And yet despite everything we have witnessed and everything we know, code officials in the New Madrid region of our country are struggling to persuade local and state governments to keep the seismic provisions that are in the codes developed by the International Code Council and used throughout the nation.

Building smart saves lives and money. Let’s not be penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Structural material manufacturers with an eye on the penny (and the pound) should take note. Building code requirements almost always tighten after major disasters. There may be more Midwestern opportunities, in the near future, to sell products that contribute to seismic safety.

The Rewards of Construction Writing

I like what I do. Writing about construction materials is a quest. I’m lucky to make my living dong something that’s a quest, because it keeps the work interesting. And the quest is no minor thing: it’s the quest for the future.

One of the enduring constants of the construction industry is its resistance to change, due in large part to the high risks and liabilities attached to construction. Designers and contractors are dis-incentivized by our system to try new or innovative techniques and materials: if anything goes wrong, the financial and career damage can be severe. So there is a tendency to avoid anything new until the risk has been run and avoided by somebody else – that is, until it’s not new anymore. If everyone follows that M.O., nothing can ever change or improve.

In other industries, a material or technique that costs less, is easier to use, and improves performance over the existing choices would be adopted quickly. In construction, the rare material that meets those criteria still has a huge hurdle of credibility to overcome. The spectre of failure, and the liabilities accompanying it, looms large.

It is, therefore, one of the prime missions of the construction journalism, not only to report on the arrival of new technologies and ideas, but to explain them. A new technology’s potential for progress will only be realized if designers, contractors and owners are given the opportunity to understand current methods and the issues they raise, as well as how a new solution meets old needs in a better way. Just giving a prose version of the sale pitch is not enough. Simply explaining “what it does” is not enough. A real evaluation of a new option requires knowing “how it does it.” Claims need proofs, and limitations need to be defined. The actors in the construction drama must develop confidence in anything new before they’ll leave the safety of the tried and true, and confidence comes only from knowledge and understanding.

Many of the most progressive strides in construction today are towards sustainable methods and materials. An honest discussion of sustainability often entails demystifying science that’s well outside the immediate concerns of the industry. It sometimes means unraveling popular misconceptions. It means avoiding greenwashing, and sometimes calling out greenwashing that’s being done in that area of business. One of the welcome aspects of writing about sustainable technologies is repeated discovery that the aspects that make them sustainable are frequently the same aspects that make them more affordable or higher-performing.

If, and only if, we explain new ideas accurately and comprehensively, they can be evaluated on their merits and not on the basis of ignorance and fear.

One of the services that construction journalism provides to the design community is a better understanding of conditions and practices on the jobsite. Case Studies become a conduit for sharing lessons learned. By closing the gap between studio and field, between theory and practice, we may be helping reduce the frictions and misunderstandings that make construction more difficult and risky. We like to think that spreading knowledge of what is being done, and what can be done, across the construction industry helps make it more of a community.

Buying Signals

How often do you fail to hear a buying signal, a sign that a prospect is ready to become a customer?

Here is one of my favorite stories about how a major architectural firm nearly missed a major commission because they failed to interpret a buying signal correctly. It describes what happened when Rev. Robert Schuller went looking for an architect to design the megachurch structure known now as the Crystal Cathedral:

"... Mrs. Schuller called her husband’s attention to an article ... illustrated with photographs taken at [a] project designed by Philip Johnson. Neither of the Schullers had ever heard of Philip Johnson, and at the time they assumed him to be a landscape architect. But a week later, back in Anaheim, Schuller read a magazine article that listed Johnson among the world’s leading architects. Schuller was looking for an architect to design his new church ... and the coincidence of coming across Johnson’s name twice in one week seemed reason enough to call him up. He did so the next time he was in New York, but Johnson was out of town and [his partner] Burgee was out to lunch. Schuller left a message with Burgee’s secretary, saying that he would like to talk to them about a job. When Burgee got back from lunch, he assumed that Schuller wanted to come to work for the firm, and he told his secretary to dodge him. But Schuller turned up at the office without an appointment, and Burgee discovered that the “job” was a multimillion-dollar church." Excerpt from New Yorker.

Photo Credit: www.greatbuildings.com.

An Alternative to Trade Shows

I interviewed Michael Owens, Director of Production for CraigMichaels Inc., an event production company that produces business summits for the construction industry. These business summits are an alternative to the traditional trade show. See what Michael had to say about their programs:
1. What is CraigMichaels? What do they do?

Michael P. Owens: CraigMichaels is an event production company based in lower Manhattan. Since 2002, we have been producing high level business summits primarily in the real estate & construction industry but have since branched off into technology and environmental events as well.

2. Who attends?

MPO: Since we run about a dozen different summits and forums each year it is hard to generalize who attends. But if we were to summarize all of our events I would say “senior level decision makers” would be the best summation of our attendees.

3. What type of results do attendees see?

MPO: Attendees of our summits leave with the “take-away” that is pretty much non-existent at most of today’s conferences and trade shows. Our unique summit format not only allows attendees to get actively engaged in the conference program but it also allows them to have a true dialogue with the suppliers/vendors as well. Attendees at a CraigMichaels summit have the opportunity to schedule one-on-one meetings with the companies of their choice in a relaxed environment. All of our summits are held at 4-star resorts which creates a relaxed environment for proper relationship building and networking with like minded individuals.

4. Why do this instead of (or should it be in addition to) a major trade show?

MPO: I know this may sound self serving…but the trade show format in our opinion is dead. In this economy especially, we believe that investing in most trade shows is not the ideal investment of time and money for those that serve the buildings marketplace. The buildings/ construction market is very complex, therefore communicating the value of your products or services in a thirty second pitch is not the most logical approach. In recent years, especially this past 2, we have heard from numerous clients that they have abandoned the trade show format because it was not providing a true return on investment and they are now only participating in our events. Below is a video of testimonials from our most recent Healthcare Facilities Summit which sums this up quite nicely:

http://vimeo.com/8682723

Upcoming Western CSI Product Trade Shows

Wren’s Western Output
by Annette Wren, FCSI, CDT

As an Industry Member, how can you choose trade shows wisely to maximize your investment? You should know that one of the BEST bargains is the local CSI chapter trade show. A majority of design professionals do not travel to national trade shows to get product information even in good economic times. Most of the efficient worker bees who produce these CSI shows are volunteers and the results are BETTER than the professionally produced events. How can you obtain information about local CSI chapter trade shows? You can go to all the websites for the chapters or you can read on!

Once upon a time at the beginning of the CSI fiscal year, West Region CSI Editors awaited a very special list compiled by the editor of the Sacramento CSI newsletter, Toni Potter. That list provided the date, time, location and contact information for each upcoming show. No need to search all over sites for simple information. That list appeared in our newsletters in time to assist potential exhibitors budgeting for the following fiscal year. Toni passed away several years ago and the “one stop shopping” list went with her. This is in your honor, Toni!

2010 CSI Trade Shows - Western United States:

April 14, 2010 - San Francisco Chapter CSI
What: 2010 ProFair
Where: UCSF - Mission Bay Conference Center, San Francisco, California
Contact: Larry Fosnight at 707-238-5175; lfosnight@assaabloydss.com

*April 16-17, 2010 - 2010 Gulf States Region Conference
Hosted by the Shreveport Chapter CSI
Where: Shreveport Hilton, Shreveport, Louisiana
Contact: Joey Gilchrist at Jgilchrist@bradleybrick.net & www.csiwse.org

*April 20, 2010 – New Orleans Chapter CSI
What: 31st. Annual Trade and Product Exhibition
Where: Delgado Community College - Student Life Center
New Orleans, Louisiana
When: 4:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Contact: William W. Stoffle at 504.349.8595/ bill.stoffle@jppss.k12.la.us

April 23, 2010 - Interior Designers of Idaho
What: 2010 Trade Show
Where: Grove Hotel, Boise, Idaho
When: 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Contact Kimberly Crystal at 208-371-2560 or kimberlyc@pacmat.com

April 27, 2010 - Fresno Chapter CSI
What: CSI Fresno Product Show
Where: Fresno Convention Center Ernie E. Valdez Hall, Fresno, California
When: 4:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Contact - Marcel Bourdase at mbourdase@pesc.com

April 29, 2010 - Puget Sound Chapter CSI
What: ProSpec
Where: Bell Harbor International Conference Center, Seattle, Washington
When: 3 PM – 9 PM
Contact: http://www.csi-prospec.org/

April 29 – May 1, 2010
2010 Southwest CSI Region Conference
Hosted by Pikes Peak Chapter CSI
What: “Surviving the Dry Times”
Where: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Contact: Darin Weiss, CSI; 719- 634-3751; dweiss@bkeys.com

May 11, 2010 - Portland Chapter CSI
What: Construction Industry Forum 2010
Where: Two World Trade Center, Portland, Oregon
Contact: Cherie McNabb at cherie.McNabb@forbo.com

September 14, 2010 - Orange County Chapter CSI
What: Construction Products & Services Exposition 2010
Where: Astor Classics Museum & Event Center, Anaheim, California
When: 4:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Contact: Bryan Stanley at 714-221-5520

September 23 – 27, 2010
2010 Northwest CSI Leadership/Region Conference
Hosted by the Idaho Chapter CSI & Big Sky Chapter CSI
Where: Holiday Inn Sun Spree Resort, West Yellowstone, Montana
ONLINE REGISTRATION at www.idahochaptercsi.org

September 30 – October 3, 2010
2010 West Region CSI Conference hosted by Fresno Chapter CSI
Where: Tenaya Lodge Yosemite, California
For information call: 800-743-1890

Membership Meeting Tabletop Opportunities:

Las Vegas Chapter CSI
When: 2nd Tuesday
Contact: Paul R. Ricciuti; Email: pricciuti@cox.net or (702) 436-2899

Mt. Rainier Chapter CSI
When: First Thursday
Contact: To participate in our Product Display Program, call Nora Vivarelli at (206) 409-3870 to schedule.

Sacramento Chapter CSI
Email: info@csisacto.org for information regarding tabletop opportunities

Spokane Chapter CSI
Email: www.csispokane.org for information regarding tabletop opportunities

Trade Show TBD:

San Diego Chapter CSI
Honolulu Chapter CSI

Pass this information around to others who may be interested. There will be updates regarding other trade shows as they are sent to me. My thread on 4specs.com will reflect updates and revisions. If your want your trade show to be publicized, please post your information on my thread.

© 2010 Annette Wren, FCSI, CDT
Annette Wren is a Business Management Consultant assisting privately held companies.
*Annette’s “honorary western” CSI chapter & region

Inexpensive Brand Exposure Opportunity

This is a low cost way for a manufacturer to get their brand in front of the construction journalism core. Your company will receive great recognition by just giving so much as a $50 gift to generate good will.

2010 Annual Construction Writers Association Conference

CWA will be hosting its 2010 annual conference "Embracing the New Normal" at the Hilton Suites Chicago on the Magnificent Mile on October 25-26, 2010. There are several opportunities to be recognized as a conference sponsor and by becoming a sponsor now you are increasing your advertising power.

They will include your company logo and link in our numerous conference communications now-nine months of advertising! That's an excellent value.

Specific Sponsorship Packages

Other sponsorship and advertising opportunities include:

* Website banners
* CWA eXchange(e-zine)-newsletter
* Build A Future Scholarship
* JobBank-totally new and coming soon

For complete sponsorship information-start here.

Facebook and Twitter Have a High Influence on Purchase Decisions

New study shows that those who are fans or followers of a brand on Facebook or Twitter, respectively, are significantly more likely to buy products and services or recommend the brand to a friend.

Specifically, the study by Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate Research Technologies found that consumers are 67% more likely to buy from the brands they follow on Twitter, and 51% more likely to buy from a brand they follow on Facebook. Moreover, they’re 79% more likely to recommend their Twitter follows to a friend, and 60% more likely to do the same on Facebook.

Of course, those findings might be a bit overstated — many people actively seek out the brands they’re already fans of and follow or fan them on Twitter and Facebook. But there’s still much to be said for the mindshare that engaging those existing brand enthusiasts on social media sites creates, in turn keeping them active. Plus, the study also found that many consumers across a wide variety of demographics have negative perceptions of brands that aren’t using social media.

Overall, the study is another sign that social media is becoming a competitive advantage for those that are participating, and an increasingly major weakness for those that aren’t. -Adam Ostrow

[via eMarketer] View full article here.

For all you skeptical building product manufacturers out there- adding your brand to Facebook or Twitter could get you just the right amount of exposure to increase your sales! Why not try?

ISO 26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility

ISO has been developing a new standard for organizations, ISO 26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility. In principle, because it defines and applies international norms of behavior, this could be a breakthrough document for international companies. It could help a company demonstrate that it rises above the endemic corruption of the countries in which it manufactures its products. As the public becomes ever more aware of atrocities occurring around the world, a social responsibility standard feels like a great idea that can't come soon enough. The draft standard, ISO/FDIS 26000, will be discussed in May in Copenhagen and will be finalized for a vote. It could be approved as an international standard by the end of 2010.

However, the document is only a guideline. It states, "It will not include requirements and will thus not be a certification standard." Because an organization can't be certified under ISO 26000, it is effectively only a best practices guide. Even a company that diligently uses it for self-examination and prioritizing its actions must find some other way to announce its work, in order to get public credit for those actions. There's no "Look for the ISO 26000 Label" opportunity here, and probably won't be for many years.

The draft sets forth seven principles of social responsibility and seven core subjects for organizations to examine. The principles are based upon international documents such as the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. As a new lens for looking at a company's actions, it could be very revealing.

The most useful part, though, may be the appendix. Annex A contains a list of potential activities in which an organization could participate, in order to address core subjects and practices of social responsibility. (For instance, a company committed to fair trade could join the Ethical Trading Initiative.) This list, while informative and perhaps inspiring, is not exhaustive. Rather, it cross-references actions with the priorities a company might identify using ISO 26000.

As a marketing or public relations opportunity, ISO 26000 is premature. An organization for whom social responsibility is already a key principle could use the standard as a structure for self-reporting its practices and priorities. Such an organization could also use Annex A to identify a cause or movement with which to align itself; if the cause carries sufficient visibility and respect, the alignment could have positive PR effects. For most other companies, ISO 26000 is interesting, but neither serves an immediate need nor grants any special status.

In the future, building product manufacturers will want to keep an eye on certification opportunities under ISO 26000. Someday, certification will serve a need in the industry to demonstrate companies' ability to rise above the practices of the countries in which they do business. Perhaps that day can't come soon enough, but it hasn't come yet.

Photography is a Method of Communication

This image shows the size of the client’s product relative to a coin.
This shot was intended for European use.

Photography is a method of communication. Photographs can give someone technical details of a product or make a poetic statement. English is the same way: you can get an auto repair manual or a collection of sonnets. Obviously photographs are different than written text. Photographs can be examined much more quickly than a text that had the same level of information. Photographs are also much more attractive to the eye than text. So the content and the quality of any photograph a business uses can be critically important. Often the photographs will be the only part of a business communication that gets read, or the photographs will help bring the viewer to the text. Photographs are often the most important part of a business message.

The graphic nature of this image makes it effective at almost any size.

This image features the technical aspects of a studio while still giving a sense of the size.

A good business photograph has certain characteristics. First it tells a simple story. If you try to show too much in one image you end up showing nothing. You are an expert on your business; the viewer is not. The viewer can’t make out fine details of a 4X6 inch image on a screen; they will not work that hard. Second a good image is suited to the size that the viewer sees. I have a friend who is a fine art photographer. His images look good at 16X20 inches, they look fabulous at 30X40 inches, and they look lousy on my monitor. The monitor is just too small. So review the images as the intended viewer will see them. There are also technical details about the way that the color is recorded and the size. If you have multiple uses for an image you might need multiple copies of the file. It is best to specify your needs when you begin a project. Finally a good business photograph looks good in the final product. If your picture has pools of inky blackness where your subject is, it won’t work. Often a product or a space has to be lit very carefully to appear natural on the screen. Natural light is almost never the best light.

This uses an unusual angle and six lights to feature design and quality.

Because photographs are so important to your business communication it is often best to hire someone who makes photographs professionally. As digital cameras have become more common people feel that they can do this in house. And clearly, there are occasions where this will work. However a professional brings more than just creativity to the table. A good professional is a master craftsman, who brings a larger toolkit and more experience. I teach photography online, so I have worked with photographers from Oslo to Cairo. I can tell you that amateur photographers have very little lighting equipment. This is a great limiter, if you can’t control light you can’t make photographs, only take them. Second, making photographs requires different skills for different kinds of images. It has taken me a long time to become skilled using a microscope and it has also take a long time to become skilled photographing interiors. There was really no overlap from one to the other. If a photographer has skill at shooting weddings that does not mean that he/she has any particular skill at shooting architectural interiors. When you choose a photographer it is important to examine a portfolio. If you are going to make printed pieces, brochures and so on, be sure to examine such pieces done by the photographer. An online portfolio does not mean that the photographer can create files that are suitable for your print needs.

A good photographer should be willing to go anywhere for a shot!

Photography is a service business. A good photographer will work with you to create effective images for your company. A good photographer will have experience with situations similar to yours. The photographer should be a team member rather than some one you call after the project is designed. While this may add to costs, it can affect the value of the entire piece in a very positive way. You should look for a photographer who will give you a chance to be part of the shoot. You, or your personnel, have expertise the photographer should value. A photographer may also add considerable value to an image in post-production. Photoshop, or another program, may add a lot of time, and costs, to an image, but it can also make or break the image.

It is important to know that different photographers run their businesses in different ways. It is important to know exactly what you are buying. One photographer may sell you the image and allow you to use it in all ways for as long as you would like. Another may sell an image with specific rights for specific usages or a specific time. Just as it is important to know what kind of files you are buying, it is important to know how you can use them. Don’t make assumptions in this area. I spend time with each client discussing the details of the job before we begin. - John Siskin

John's web site: www.siskinphoto.com
John's blog: www.siskinphoto.com/blog
John's classes:
-An Introduction to Photographic Lighting
-Portrait Lighting on Location and in the Studio
-Getting Started in Commercial Photography

The Big Secret: Long Copy Works

The trend is to use minimal copy in advertising. Rely on a catchy image, a clever headline, and minimal text. But that does not always work for technical products. In fact, the more time you can keep a prospect reading your ad, the more likely he or she will take a positive action.

The big secret is that you have to grab the attention of qualified readers, and then never let them go until they understand the benefits of your product. Here is a recent example I admire:

And here is an example I wrote:

Both examples use strong headlines, break the message up into negotiable chunks, and provide graphics to support the pitch. If the reader is interested in productivity (in the first case) or performance (in the second case), he or she will feel compelled to read to the end. They will understand the benefits, and will take action.

To those who still doubt that long copy works in the age of 140 character Twits, I point out that trade magazines still publish features that run from 1200 to 5000 words -- and their subscribers actually read the articles. Length is not a deterrent if the content provides value to the reader.

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