I've been focusing on decorative concrete a lot lately, so I was very excited when I saw this beautiful concrete house on 4-construction.com.Chusid Associates created an advertisement for a client that was the #1 lead producer of ALL ads run in the past twelve months (9/2009 - 9/2010) in the Architectural Products Top 50 Products.
"Your ad that ran on the inside front cover of our Nov. 2009 was the #1 lead producer of ALL ads run in the past 12 months! As such you will receive mention in our Nov. issue Top 50 Products editorial this year. Nice work… winning this is a combination of having a great ad supporting a great product!" -Architectural Products
Is there a way for a home buyer to know not only what a home is made of, but how well the home is built? Should there be?
"At the "Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) Annual Meeting being held in Orlando Florida on October 6-8, 2010, a group of government, industry, and corporate leaders as well as a variety of Subject Matter Experts will finalize ongoing work to define the features and performance standards for the Durable and Green house of the future."
This work is expected to eventually result in a Durability index, a result that could have major marketing implications if the index gains wide acceptance.
Read the whole post here.
FLASH is a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization dedicated to promoting disaster safety and property loss mitigation.
As part of our strategic planning, my firm is trying to identify trends that will affect the future of the construction industry. What major issues do you see for building product marketing during the coming decade?—J. W. H., market analyst
In the May issue we discussed five trends affecting the industry, from environmentalism to labor shortages. Here are five more that are opening doors for construction manufacturers.
6. Computers
Construction used to be the manipulation of materials; now it is primarily the manipulation of information. More effort is spent processing documents than materials. The computer has become the most important piece of construction equipment, affecting every aspect of building- product sales and marketing.
Chusid Associates received a call yesterday from the president of a building product company. When Michael asked how he learned about us, he said he found our blog while searching on the internet. He said,
"I spent all night reading it. It is like reading a history of my life. Most of the issues you deal with are the same I face everyday."
Construction is one of the most dangerous industries. Too frequently, however, building product sales literature inadvertently promotes unsafe practices.
CSI and CSC have released UniFormat 2010. This new edition harmonizes with CSI’s other standards and formats, including MasterFormat’s 50 divisions and the new PPDFormat, which guides the development of preliminary project descriptions. The new version improves UniFormat's ability to consistently serve its purpose:
Because it breaks a facility into the systems that perform distinct functions – shell, foundation, interiors, etc. -- without naming the specific solutions used to achieve them, it provides a consistent method for tracking and estimating costs and evaluating options even before the design team has finished developing drawings and specifications.What This Means for Manufacturers?
Looking too good to be true is what a product shot is all about. And frequently, that’s how product shots are made, too.
Ten Trends—Part I
As part of our strategic planning, my company is trying to identify trends that will affect the future of the construction industry. What major issues do you see for building product marketing during the coming decade?—J. W. H., market analyst
Many forces that affect other industries also shape construction, but with results unique to our industry. The following significant issues should be considered as part of your look over the horizon.
1. Greening
Environmentalism uses both sticks and carrots as incentives. Legislation and court action are the sticks. Regulation of certain products portends enormous opportunities for companies that can introduce successful substitutes. Regulated substances include volatile organic compounds in paint, chlorofluorocarbons in air conditioning equipment, and asbestos.
By Sheldon Wolfe
Although there may be a few products that require little thought in specifying, most require some minimum amount of research, comparison of similar products, and determination of the right combination of characteristics best suited to a project. Even then, the process can be straightforward and fairly simple, provided the type of product is common, governed by widely accepted standards for materials and performance, well-described in product data, and supported by reputable manufacturers and representatives.
It has been stated that industry standards are not sufficient, as they tend to reflect the lowest performance of the association members. Even if that is true, those standards still provide a valuable service by specifying a multitude of characteristics, allowing the specifier to use them as a base. After that, it is relatively easy to specify that some component be something different from that required by the standard.
Global architectural design firm HOK has launched a new business: HOK Product Design, LLC. Through this venture, HOK designers from across the firm will design products for use in and around the firm's core business of architecture and interior design. HOK Product Design will license its designs to manufacturers for fabrication and sale.
Many building product innovations have been developed by architectural practitioners, and some architects have even gone on to form successful building product companies. However a large, well organized program of innovation like HOK's changes the game, transforming the design firm into a veritable business incubator.
New testing procedures can lead to new opportunities for innovative building products. With that in mind, I an eager to see what emerges from the new research facility being built by the Institute for Building and Home Safety. Their laboratory is large enough to test complete buildings to measure their performance under hurricane, tornado, fire storm, and other destructive forces.
Under typical testing conditions, individual materials or small assemblies are tested separately. This complicates the assignment of blame when a building failure occurs. More critically, designers, builders, and code officials often have to guess about the best details to use in construction, By instrumenting and testing entire buildings under controlled, repeatable conditions, the industry should be able to obtain more holistic data about design requirements and material performance.
Armed with this information, manufacturers will be able to develop better materials, and will have convincing performance documentation for suspicious customers.
The facility will also be able to capture high speed video of building failures. This will have a profound impact on consumers, presenting them with clear information about how better materials save lives and property.
An article on the project was published in ENR.
To gain market share for my company’s new product, I must displace well-accepted products that have been used for many years. How can I get architects to change their specifying habits?— D.W.F, marketing vice president
There are only three reasons why building designers change their product specification habits:
LogiSon offers sound masking systems to help eliminate unwanted noise in the workplace. But if you click on their website, you will get dosed with a high volume talking head. By the time you have found the turn off sound button, you will have disrupted the quiet productivity of your co-workers.
There was no way to ignore this package when it arrived in our office via USPS. The presentation works because the new foam product needs to be felt and handled to be understood. More, the outer sleeve is targeted to support a local presentation, and the fan-deck cards invite more interactivity than a plain brochure would.
There will be an information meeting next week for companies interested in learning more about the Concrete Decor Show and Spring Training. The meeting is Wednesday, Sept. 15 at the Nashville Convention Center. More information is available here or at the show website.
AECOM has redefined what it means to be a large A/E/C consulting firm. It is now a Fortune 500 company with clients in more than 100 countries and annual revenue of $6.3 billion. URS Corporation, a global provider of engineering, construction and technical services, has revenue of almost $9 billion.
Can building product sales and marketing techniques that work in other parts of the construction industry scale-up to deal with such behemoths?
A new white paper from SMPS Foundation, offers insight:
Supersized Competition: What You Need to Know About the Creation of A/E/C Megafirms by Alexandra S. Brown, and Scott E. Mickle, CPSM, BD & Marketing Director, LandDesign
SMPS Foundation is affiliated with the Society for Marketing Professional Services, a group focusing on marketing of design and construction. So while the report focuses on on marketing professional services, you will be able to glean tips applicable to marketing bricks and sticks.
Other recent white papers from SMPS Foudation include:
Can I charge designers and builders for my building products catalog? Even if I don’t intend to collect money from them, should I put a price tag on my materials so that customers attach greater value to them?—R.G., general manager
Most product catalogs are costly to produce and distribute. A custom imprinted, three-ring notebook with tabbed dividers, printing, assembly, packaging, and postage can readily cost $50 or more. Samples would add to that cost.
Many marketers wish they could offset this cost by charging for their literature. But as in all marketing decisions, you must consider your customers, their expectations, and your competitive environment.
Design and construction professionals are accustomed to receiving sales literature at no charge; they would resent being asked to pay for yours. Their attitude is: “We’re doing you a favor just by considering your product. You’ll make money when we specify or buy the product, so why should we pay for your advertising, too?” Plus, the cost and time required for them to order and pay for your literature could derail a fast-moving sales opportunity. Charging for your literature may be enough to motivate them to look for a more accommodating supplier.
In general, you should not put a price tag on your literature unless you intend to sell it somewhere. Trade associations, for example, typically charge for their reference manuals. And after many years of free distribution, Sweet’s now charges for its catalog files.
The call for entries is out for the 2011 Most Innovative Product awards, given by Concrete And Masonry Products magazine and awarded annually at World of Concrete in Las Vegas. It's open to any WOC exhibitor.
In the past, we have found this a cost-effective form of publicity for our concrete-related clients. Entries all get exposure in the magazine, in the WOC daily magazine, on the WOC website, and in a special display at the show in the central concourse of the convention center.
This year's entrance fee is $500 before Oct. 15, 2010, or $600 until the Oct. 30 final entry deadline. We can help prepare an entry to meet that deadline.
http://www.worldofconcrete.com/exhibitor/toolbox/most-innovative-products-mip.aspx
I salute the working men and women who build:
While masonry is one of the most ancient ways of building, the techniques used are constantly evolving. An article written by Chusid Associates in collaboration with our client, Earl Bickett of Mortar Net USA, has just been published in the Construction Specifier, September 2010 issue. It discusses trends in cavity wall flashing.
When called upon to participate in trade associations, employees and agents of building product manufacturers must understand and comply with antitrust laws.
Antitrust laws prohibit firms in the same industry from conspiring to restrain trade. There are potential civil and criminal penalties for violations under United States antitrust laws. Potential consequences of violating or appearing to violate antitrust laws can be severe for trade associations, member companies, and their employees.
When attending trade association meetings and other activities, you must follow general guidelines in order to avoid violations of antitrust laws.
Topics that must be avoided include:
When, recently, our storage room was defiled by water from a ruptured pipe, I decided it was time to de-file Chusid Associates of as many paper-based documents as I could. This process has helped me measure how far and fast our industry has come in the shift to digital media. Here are some of my observations:
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