An architect recently told me about his experience trying to remodel a building he had designed 10 years earlier. The owner, satisfied with the building’s performance, now wanted to use the same specifications for an addition. To the architect’s dismay, however, half of the building products used just a decade earlier were no longer available. Other products were still available, but were no longer the best or most economical materials. This story illustrates the constant change in the building products industry. Driven by new technology, intense competition, and changing market conditions, manufacturers are constantly developing and improving products. To celebrate this parade of progress, we are highlighting a handful of the best new building products of the past year or so. I have selected products that address a cross-section of contemporary marketing concerns. Some represent trends that will shape the industry’s future. Others are useful reminders of marketing fundamentals. All, I hope, will stimulate you to take a fresh look at your own products and markets.
Old wine, new bottles
Product, price, place, packaging, and promotion are the five P’s of marketing. Of these, packaging is probably the most overlooked by the building products industry.
Recent innovations in concrete admixtures, however, demonstrate the marketing importance of packaging. Several companies have introduced packages that dissolve when tossed into concrete mixers. These portion-controlled units are easier to use because they do not require opening, measuring, or pouring. Some manufacturers even claim that their products disperse more rapidly and uniformly because they release materials in the center of the mixer rather than on top of the batch materials. Playing upon environmental concerns, manufacturers also advertise that the new packaging reduces waste-disposal costs.
Mix-Ready bags by Davis Colors, containing powdered pigments for integrally colored concrete, are typical of this new packaging. The bags are made of special papers and adhesives that get soggy and disintegrate without affecting the concrete mix. Ready mix producers like the packaging because it is cleaner to handle and eliminates the colored dust created when pouring pigments.
Attractive graphics on the bags reinforce product identity and carry Davis Colors’ promotional campaign right into the customer’s shop. The bags differentiate the product from other dry pigments, and reduce the competitive threat from liquid pigment systems that also offer clean handling.
Through the wired glass
The pervasive influence of building codes on the construction industry spurs product development and creates marketing opportunities. This was apparent when the Americans with Disabilities Act became law recently, and also several years ago when the ACI530.1 masonry engineering code requirements were issued. But sometimes marketing opportunities go untapped for years before they are exploited.
Codes governing glass doors are a good example. These codes require glass in doors to be safety-glazed so it will not shatter when broken. They also require glass in fire doors to be fire-resistant. But, until recently, no product on the market satisfied both codes. For decades, firereinforced glass, considered unattractive by many designers, was used because it was the only practical fireresistant glass on the market. But it did not meet the safety-glazing requirement.
Several recently introduced products are both safety-glazed and fireresistant. Among them are a Japanese ceramic and a European composite panel filled with a clear fire-resistant gel, but they are expensive. Also, the ceramic lacks the clarity of conventional glass, and the composite is thick and heavy.
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