As the sustainable design movement becomes increasingly mainstream, the focus of of green marketing has shifted. It used to be about telling the green story as fully as possible; now it is about transparency. Every part of a product's environmental impact needs to be documented and discussed, positive or negative, so designers can make informed, accurate decisions.
The concern many manufacturers have is that such a high level of transparency will hinder, rather than help, sales. "If we disclose our negative information and our competitor doesn't," goes the argument, "we'll lose sales to them!" Is the goodwill generated by full disclosure enough to offset the potential impact of revealing your dirty secrets?
Seth Godin thinks so.
In a recent blog post, Godin came out as a strong advocate for transparency. "When book reviews are posted," he says, "sales go up." As he says about a new law in Iowa,
If every chicken coop has a video camera in it, quality will obviously go up. Confidence in the product will go up. Employee behavior will improve as well, because it's hard to torture a chicken if you know you're going to get caught.
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| White papers used correctly are powerful marketing tools |
This is an encore of an article Michael Chusid wrote 20 years ago. At the time, many assumed the US would make a complete transition to metric. It hasn't happened. However Federal government projects are designed and built in metric, and US firms working overseas have had to become proficient in SI.
Lead the way in the conversion effort and customers will follow you.
The current move toward metrics adds a new dimension to construction product marketing. Many manufacturers already have integrated metrics into their operations, while others see conversion as a stumbling block. Successful marketers will not only adjust, but will use the transition to create new competitive advantages.
Metrication will immediately benefit firms who are expanding into international markets. A uniform system of measurement will allow those firms to move toward more consistent products, packaging, and standards worldwide.
International trade, however, is just one area in which marketers can capitalize on metrics. Opportunities lie in areas ranging from customer relations to product positioning.
CSI Product Representative Practice Group Meeting
These online meetings are a great way for sales reps to stay in touch with evolving practice concerns.
May 4, 2-3 pm ET
Topic: Facebook: How to plan for and develop a successful business page
Presenters: Matthew Fochs and Stirling Morris, CSI, CDT
Group Leader: Alana Sunness Griffith, FCSI, CCPR
Since it's infancy in 2004, Facebook has grown to become one of (if not the) largest networks of people across the globe. Over the past seven years, many iterations of Facebook have come and gone and with each change, businesses have tried to find a way to connect with the nearly 615,000,000 users that visit the site. From profiles to groups to pages, navigating the different ways that Facebook can connect with people can be both confusing and time consuming. Looking specifically at Facebook pages as a platform for promoting, marketing and sharing your products with users across the globe, this month's presentation will not only show you the step-by-step process for getting started but also walk you through some of the tricks and pitfalls of Facebook marketing.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn the Who, What, Where, Why and How of Facebook Pages
- Investigate the import question that many companies forget to ask, "Why Facebook and Why Now?"
- Understand the resources (money, personnel, and content) needed to develop and maintain a Facebook Page - Come away with the knowledge to start your own Facebook Page in one afternoon, but get the knowledge to keep it going for years.
System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server
Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer
Click to Register
When writing guide specifications for building products, my clients sometimes ask me for a "Basis of Design" specification. Their assumption is that, if their product is identified as Basis of Design, any substitution would have to match theirs.
A recent discussion on the CSI Forum explains the problem with this type of specification:
The term “Basis of Design” is frequently used as a shortcut to avoid a more detailed specification. There is no definition in the AIA or EJCDC documents nor is there one in the old CSI Manual of Practice or the current Project Resource Manual. The term is frequently used to fool ourselves into thinking we have a good spec or something (mostly something!).The phrase "Basis of Design" is just another way to say, "our product, Or Equal." Unless the specifier makes it clear what is considered an essential criteria, the Contractor has wide discretion to offer substitutions.
Below is from the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR)
"11.104 Use of brand name or equal purchase descriptions.
"(a) While the use of performance specifications is preferred to encourage offerors to propose innovative solutions, the use of brand name or equal purchase descriptions may be advantageous under certain circumstances."(b) Brand name or equal purchase descriptions must include, in addition to the brand name, a general description of those salient physical, functional, or performance characteristics of the brand name item that an “equal” item must meet to be acceptable for award. Use brand name or equal descriptions when the salient characteristics are firm requirements."
These are good words to live by when specifying products, whether in the public or private sector.
Unless the “salient” characteristics of the “Basis of Design” product are listed, you have an incomplete specification.
In the private sector, unless the words “No Substitution Permitted” are included, I should think that the Contractor is free to make an offer with maybe a commensurate “credit.” We can't use these words in the public sector without a LOT of good reasons.
If the product named as the “basis of design” doesn't meet the design criteria, then there is an “impossibility of performance” and he is still allowed to make an offer, usually with a commensurate increase in cost. It's now time to negotiate!!!
Additionally, if the product named as the “Basis of Design” doesn't meet the design criteria, then somebody on the design team dropped the ball. (Been there, done that!) Comment by Mr. Jon V. Harpool, CSI, CDT
Kinected Conference is a project by MIT students that aims to make the videoconferencing screen a more useful tool by integrating it with Kinect motion detection. The students demo their system in the video below; video quality is rough, and some of the features are clearly still in development, but it is still a fascinating technology.
Kinected Conference from Lining (Lizzie) Yao on Vimeo.
The four applications they are developing, "Talking to Focus", "Freezing Former Frames", "Privacy Zone" and "Spacial Augmenting Reality", each could be beneficial to our industry.
"Talking to Focus" - This feature makes video conferencing better. Especially when involving multiple locations, each with multiple participants. Only the people currently speaking are in focus; above their image are word balloons that could contain a variety of useful information, links to important documents, etc. ("Click the link above my head to download the specs I just mentioned...") One of the major limitations of video conferencing is attention tends to focus on individuals based on their screen position, rather than activity, as opposed to face-to-face where the eye gravitates towards the most active individual; this feature directly addresses that problem.
"Freezing Former Frames" - In addition to augmenting the impact of "Talking to Focus", this feature allows participants to "pause" just themselves while they pull up important documents, step out of the room momentarily, or even just get over a sneezing attack without disrupting the conversation. Imagine how useful that would be in a sales call!
"Privacy Zone" - In the video this feature was the least successful of the ones demonstrated, but the idea is there and it will only improve. Essentially this puts up a curtain behind the speakers. Making a call from home, or haven't had time to clean the office? No problem. On the trade show floor and don't want the traffic to be a distraction? Solved. But beyond that, this introduces greenscreen capabilities. Instead of a blank white wall, throw up the building plans; literally walk the team through the designs, and use Kinect's gesture recognition to navigate, zoom, and highlight key features.
"Spacial Augmenting Reality" - This has the most direct implications for construction. First of all, notice that the 3-D spacial recognition is good enough the system can measure length. This now becomes an inspection tool; point the camera at the wall panel, and everyone sees how the actual dimensions compare to the specified dimensions. Heck, this could probably create an as-built overlay for BIM, allowing for direct visual comparison. Second, imagine each of those blocks they were moving around the table was linked to a BIM element. The software will probably quickly evolve to the point the blocks are not even needed; move your hand to the on-screen location of an object, make the appropriate gesture, and manipulate as needed.
What really blows me away about this, though, is that it's based on consumer-level, widely available video game technology. I could walk down the street, drop $200 dollars, and set this up in my office. We are on the verge of complete design tool transparency, allowing us to interact directly with our designs.
I'm excited to see what happens next!
Email and social marketing platform iContact is now offering a free version of their service, aimed at attracting small businesses. Organizations with 500 or fewer subscribers can use the service for free; they have access to fewer options and less support than paid customers, but this is still a good opportunity for companies considering an e-newsletter to try it out with low risk.
I am a big fan of email newsletters, and suspect that any company doing at least a half-way decent job will quickly be over the 500 subscriber mark. That is a good problem to have, though, and if you have demonstrated that much growth the relatively low-cost monthly packages should be easy to justify.
When starting your newsletter, remember that consistency is key. If it is a monthly newsletter, be sure you're sending it out every month, because it will take a while to really gain traction.
This one's on me.
Recently I was reviewing the analytics on an email campaign we did a while back. I wrote the email, designed the layout, double checked the coding, and it was ready to go. The question then came up, at what time should it be delivered?
The audience was mainly contractors, so I figured it should get to them early, before they start their work day, to have the best chance of getting read. The team agreed; we scheduled it to start mailing at 6:30 AM EST so all the recipients would have it by 7.
If you live in or have done business with the West Coast you probably already see where this is going. See, the email list had not been sorted by time zone. When I got into work and checked my email there was an "unsubscribe" email waiting for me. The message was short, simple, and very instructive:
"3:30 AM emails are NOT cool."
Turns out he keeps his phone near his bed at night, and my email became a pre-sunrise alarm clock, leaving him understandably unhappy.
Lessons Learned
Timing an email across multiple time zones can be challenging; planning an international campaign makes it even more so. If your email client charges based on number of contacts rather than number of campaigns, it is worth the extra effort to schedule each time zone separately. Especially if the subject is time-sensitive, or if you find you get higher open rates at certain times of day.
Problem is, email addresses do not contain any information about time zone; they also do not tell you when your contact is traveling, or if they moved. That means that, despite all your efforts, they might still receive it at the wrong time. Best defense against this, if it is a concern, is to aim for early-midday. Odds of waking up West Coasters are low, but you still catch the East Coast before lunch.
The other important lesson was about how people use their technology. One of the first things I did when I got my iPhone was set it not to check email between midnight and 6 AM. I also turn off all notifications except the ringer during those options because I don't want to be awoken by my insomniac friend's Facebook updates. Not everyone does that, though, either because they have not taken the time to adjust the settings, or because they want to be sure they are reachable in case of emergency.
That represents a change in the way people use email. It took me a while to figure out why this guy was upset about receiving an email at 3:30 AM. In the past it would not have mattered; the email goes to your computer, and you see it when you login in the morning. Now, though, technology is becoming more integrated into our around-the-clock lives.
We, as marketers, benefit from this because it allows us greater access to our customers. We must be respectful of that access, however, because abusing it will anger customers faster than any junk mail, spam, or telemarketer could.
The I Dig Hardware blog wastes no time letting you know what it's about. The top of the first page proudly proclaims:
This is an encore of an article Michael Chusid wrote fifteen years ago.
I'm working on my marketing budget. The importance of architects to building product sales appears to have decreased during recent years. If my perception is valid, can I afford to reduce my allotment for architectural marketing? - R.K., president
Many building product marketers share your observation about the declining importance of architects. This perception, along with business downsizing pressures, has made it relatively easy for building product firms to justify cutting architectural marketing budgets. But the level of marketing you direct toward architects should be based more on your specific situation and opportunities than on the overall market.
Much of the perceived decline in the architect's impact on sales stems from reality's stark contrast with the stereotype of the architect as a hero who wrests form from chaos and by whose word the fate of a building product is cast. While this image may have a basis in the historical role of architect as master builder - think of Frank Lloyd Wright - it has little to do with how we build now.
Richard Meyer posted an article last week outlining why he believes that, yes, social media is a more than full-time job. The core of his argument is:
...in an age of instant gratification, customers want to know you’re listening –and that you have an answer. In fact, 81% of consumers using social media say it’s important for businesses to respond to questions and complaints and within a reasonable amount of time. Of course reasonable amount of time is defined by consumers not you.I agree completely.
Two bills introduced in Congress last week, one in the House, one in the Senate, may well mark a significant turning point in the history of our economy. Both of them concern Internet privacy.
The House bill, The Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2011 (H.R. 1528) introduced by Representatives Cliff Stearns (R-FL) and Jim Matheson (D-UT), requires sites to inform users that information is being collected, to offer certain limited opt-out provisions, and the bill creates the concept of approved self-regulatory programs that companies can join to demonstrate compliance. The law is administered entirely at the federal level by the FTC. The Senate bill, The Kerry-McCain Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act of 2011 introduced by Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and John McCain (R-AZ) goes considerably farther: all information collection must be opt-out/opt-in, clear notice must be provided that info is being collected and more. It is administered by partly federally and partly at the state level.
The bi-partisan nature of these bills is a good clue to how politically popular this issue is deemed to be. The topic of Internet information, data-mining, and the disappearance of privacy is a hot one.
What may not be obvious is that either of these two bills could decide the future path of a significant portion of our economy.
The story until now:
1) 1995-2010 – the birth of the World Wide Web leads to the destruction of the Print/On-Air Advertising system, as audiences drift away from old media. Print/On-Air advertising is the marketing system that created the consumer/industrial juggernaut that was America of the 20th century.
2) 2005-2010 – The internet enterprises that were responsible for this destruction discover that they, too, need a sustainable business model to support their continued production of new media. The business model they turn to is, not surprisingly, advertising online.
3) 2011– Online advertising agencies and space brokers announce that hence-forth, advertisers will not need to buy “content” as the carrier for their ads, they can "buy audiences."
So, the business model currently being touted by some of the more knowledgeable people in the online advertising field is that the Internet allows advertisers to find individual consumers, rather than simply talking to whoever comes to a likely site.
That means tracking Internet users, based on their data-mined interests.
And here come Congress, ready to regulate that process, perhaps a little, perhaps to the point of effectively eliminating it.
What neither bill contains – although it is one of the most widely-discussed and popular ideas for protecting internet privacy – is a Do Not Track List, a grand one stop shopping opt-out-of-everything mechanism. But as the bills get debated, even that might emerge.
Marshall McLuhan once wrote that the newspaper contains two kinds of news: the bad news is the articles. The good news is the advertising; it is news of the commercial world.
In the networked world, product news itself has become split into two types (at least from the marketer’s point of view): controllable and uncontrollable. The controllable news is advertising. The uncontrollable is the vast interconnected communication morass that is currently buzzworded as “social media.” Congress may limit how the controllable news gets spread or targeted. The uncontrollable news will, of course, remain uncontrollable.
Congress is about to decide how advertisers may or may not find their potential customers. That will, in the long run, decide the shape of 21st century commerce, and the future of US companies vs. those that fall under different (national) regulations or no regulations. It will begin to define the shape of the world to come.
Stay tuned.
This article from Architectural Record will be of interest to manufacturers considering what the growing use of BIM will mean to your business.
Here is a photo album of good trade show ideas from this year's World of Concrete expo in Las Vegas.
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| Operating a vibrating "stinger" is one of the toughest jobs in concrete placing. This equipment manufacturer plays the image to the hilt with their tough guy routine complete with bulldog with spiked collar, skull and flame motif, sunglasses, and stogie. This "gentleman" was handing out temporary tattoo transfers with the company's logo and make-my-day attitude. |
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| Construction scaffolding is a low cost way to support banners, video screens, and samples, and speaks to the construction industry context of the products. Rented locally, the exhibitor avoided shipping costs. Tower created visibility from across the hall. |
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| Taking advantage of a corner location on a main aisle, the gateway and curving "pavement" draws the eye into the booth. And where the eyes go, feet are likely to handle. The paving motif also speaks to the industry in which Stilh competes. |
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| From the front, this representative from the Portland Cement Association offers a friendly face and handshake. Yet his message is clear even when his back is turned. "Think Harder. Concrete." is a brilliant slogan, and attendees were eager to get the freebie shirts, hats, and bags being offered. I suspect most of them will actually wear the swag as a statement of pride in their industry. |
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| Many booths display their packaging as a way to create visual recognition and to explain how the product is delivered. This firm turned their packaging into an attention getting, illuminated display. Colored lamps also reinforce the importance of colors to the firm's product line. |
Great article by Ashley Feit at Walls & Ceilings outlining the basics of why and how companies should be using social media:
With so many different ways to communicate, it’s hard to keep up with all of the technology. While new technology seems cumbersome or difficult to learn, consider the value you offer your customers by using it to communicate what you want to say when they want to listen.Good article if you are looking at getting started in social media marketing and need help explaining the benefits. I especially like her advice on managing time: if you don't have time to use all of these, focus on the one your customers use the most.
This is an encore of an article Michael Chusid wrote nearly 20 years ago. Some points in it now seem quaint (e.g., referring to "A/V" presentations instead of "Powerpoint", and sending a "letter" instead of an "email"). Other points have become even more important, such as the demand for continuing education credits.
Use lunchtime presentations to dish up your product and whet prospects' appetites for one-on-one sales calls,
I've been invited to give a lunchtime product presentation at a large architectural firm. Should I approach it as a means of selling to specifiers, or just an opportunity to spread some good will? And how can I get the best results from making such a presentation?-F.T.B., sales manager
The cost of sandwiches is more than justified by the efficient use of your time at a lunch presentation. Such presentations expose you to a roomful of prospects in the same time it would take to make a sales call on one architect or specifier. The setting also lets you make a more thorough presentation and avoid the phone calls and other distractions that can occur when meeting in a prospect's office.
Use lunchtime presentations to create product awareness and lay the groundwork for future sales contacts. This is especially useful with new products since lunch allows time to display samples, give an A/V show, and demonstrate when and where to use the product. This is not the time to close sales or discuss specific projects. Instead, emphasize your product's benefits and offer solutions to your prospects' common problems. With this approach, your audience will see you as a resource they can call on with confidence when specific project needs arise.
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| Existing jetty is 20m high. |
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| Is beauty just skin deep? |
Yesterday a major data breech was announced by third-party marketer Epsilon. They claim the information stolen "only" included the names and emails of people that have done business with over 50 very large companies. Hopefully most people will not have any problem worse than temporary increases in spam, but PC Magazine has a helpful article about ways to protect yourself (and your company!). Their most important advice is:
Main rule of thumb - don't provide any personal information. Best Buy is not going to ask you to click on a link and enter your credit-card information. Citi will not ask you to confirm your Social Security number via email. When in doubt, don't. Call the company to double check, and forward the email to spam@uce.gov.This is also a good opportunity to change your key passwords, if you have not done so recently. Create strong new passwords, and be sure each site has a unique password to limit damage in case one does get hacked. Lifehacker has several useful articles on creating - and remembering - strong passwords.
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| Visit the Facebook Pages...page |
Michael and I will be panelists on the American Institute of Building Design's "First Tuesday @ 2" webinar on April 5th. This month's topic is corporate blogs.
There is no charge for the session, and spaces are still available, so sign up to be part of the conversation. See the invitation below for more information:
Read more...
Does your business have a blog? Have you ever been asked to blog? Are you thinking, "What the heck is a blog?" Join us for the American Institute of Building Design's First Tuesday @ 2:00 (p.m. ET) April edition and discuss with a panel of experienced business owners and bloggers the ins and outs of "web logging"; what it is, how to do it, what the pitfalls are and how it can help, or maybe harm a business or career.
Sponsored by Owens Corning and hosted by the American Institute of Building Design, the First Tuesday @ 2:00 (pm ET) is an audio roundtable held on the first Tuesday complimentary to AIBD members. This month’s presentation may include visual examples and access to a computer will be necessary for viewing.
Registration is required. AIBD Professional Members receive 0.5 CE units for attending the live presentation.
To participate, click the registration link and provide us with some basic personal information. After registration, a unique link will be sent to your e-mail to use on the day of webinar. Everyone may listen to the discussion using their personal computer’s speaker system. Joining into the discussion is possible by computer microphone, telephone link or by typing questions directly to the moderator. For further instruction, contact the AIBD national office at 1-800-366-2423.
System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 ServerMacintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/932467633
| Man: | Well, what've you got? |
| Waitress: | Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam; spam bacon sausage and spam; spam egg spam spam bacon and spam; spam sausage spam spam bacon spam tomato and spam; |
| Vikings: | Spam spam spam spam... |
| Waitress: | ...spam spam spam egg and spam; spam spam spam spam spam spam baked beans spam spam spam... |
| Vikings: | Spam! Lovely spam! Lovely spam! |
| Waitress: | ...or Lobster Thermidor a Crevette with a mornay sauce served in a Provencale manner with shallots and aubergines garnished with truffle pate, brandy and with a fried egg on top and spam. |
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