Accounting for close to 10 per cent of the British economy, the building and construction industry consists of over 250,000 firms employing 2.1 million people. According to the Construction Skills Network, an independent body responsible for tackling the training needs of the UK construction industry, by 2010 this number is expected to increase by 348,000 in order to meet demand for new projects.
Not only is the industry huge, but the layers within it are multifarious, ranging from jobbing builders to architects, property surveyors, contractors, sub-contractors and building materials manufacturers, to mention a few. And as if its multi-tiered audience doesn’t cause enough of a problem, an increasing amount of legislation both in the health & safety arena and the environment means there are even more issues to consider. As a result, the challenges of marketing to this industry are not to be sniffed at.
However, as the challenges become more apparent, it seems that B2B marketers are finding more innovative ways of communicating to the sector, taking advantage of ever-widening marketing channels. So, rather than seeing the sector as a tricky one to work in, it is in fact becoming more interesting and varied.
There’s a complex chain of influencers within the building industry, says Drew Nicholson, joint MD at DNX Marketing. Any marketer needs to straddle all these areas they can’t fall down with one.
Liam Bateman, director at agency Thinktank, agrees, adding that one of the biggest problems is the maintenance of a specification as it moves through the supply chain. He explains, Buildings are designed by architects who specify which products are to be used. Following design, there are many individuals in the process such as structural engineers that can change that specification to another product.
It’s therefore essential for the marketer to address the fact that the communication of features and benefits of a product will be different to each target audience, and bear in mind that campaigns will require a multi-tiered approach, targeting several purchasing and influencing groups with individual messages.
So for example, architects look for products that are fit for purpose, sit well with their design and add something to the building. Any marketing material must take this into account, so the messaging should be around how it looks and also its quality. Mechanical engineers work with architects and may specify products, but they may also change a specification. This group will be interested in different features and benefits to the architect and need a different, and sometimes, more detailed technical tone. Contractors this is the group that may be constructing the building tend to make the purchase and often have the ability to change the specification and what they use.
They are also communicated with in a very different way benefits like cost, ease-of-use and simplicity are the kind of messages that apply. Communication needs to be in the correct tone not design-led but practical. And when you advertise to the bottom end of the market jobbing builders it’s also important to present the right image and tone.
Campaigns by Thinktank for Formica and ICI Glidden Paint illustrate the different approaches needed. Formica targeted architects and designers to encourage them to use laminate in their designs and bring it back into fashion. Shortlisted in the B2B Marketing Awards 2006, it was a high-end campaign with a number of elements using press, advertising, a corporate video and a launch event with a fashion show. The messaging was subtle and inspiring and had to look good to appeal to the design-orientated nature of the target audience.
ICI Glidden paint, on the other hand, was specifically a trade campaign based around merchants and targeted at painters and decorators. In contrast to the Formica campaign, it was far from subtle. It had to have a simple message and be as straightforward as possible to grab the audience’s attention without having to make them think too hard about the benefits. It had to stand out in a shop and have a clear message.
The messages don’t only need to be different, but the way in which each group is communicated to will differ too, adds Bateman. For example, architects are big users of the Internet whereas jobbing builders work from mobile phones. There is such a variety that understanding the specification chain is essential to put together a campaign that ticks all the boxes and communicates with all interested parties in the correct tone.
Long arm of the law
To add to the complexities, the past few years have seen huge changes in terms of legislation the industry has to comply with particularly those relating to sustainability and the environment. Lighting and heating buildings generates 50 per cent of Britain’s carbon dioxide emissions while the production of building materials accounts for a further 10 per cent. The construction industry also generates one third of all the waste in Britain. As a result, the construction sector has been bombarded with new legislation it has to comply with regarding the environment.
This has fundamentally changed the way we communicate to the industry, says Dave Burnett, director at agency Gyro whose clients include Forticrete and CA Building Products. Marketing campaigns have to be far more solutions-based. Whereas in the past companies would have promoted products on their aesthetics, ease of use and cost-effectiveness, now it’s just as important if not more to promote their ability to provide products with a low carbon footprint.
Ian Exall, head of marketing at building materials manufacturer H&H UK and chairman of the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s Construction Industry Group (CIMCIG), agrees. It really is coming to the forefront with many companies installing environmental management systems. It’s up to the marketers to communicate this to their audience because if they don’t, there’s a chance they won’t be used for future work.
This has also meant that manufacturers are recognising the need to adapt from simply providing products to providing added-value services, such as guidance through the minefield that is the ever-changing building legislation. This has provided a catalyst for company rebranding. For example, Gyro created rebranded insulation products manufacturer Springvale with a ‘sustainable insulation values’ strapline, which is due to be rolled out through an integrated campaign in 2008, while Cox Building Products, supplier of rooflights for both domestic and commercial applications, was rebranded by agency Clockwork IMC. Architectural lighting specifiers are adopting a new approach to lighting in response to energy conservation, says Steve Dyer, director of Clockwork IMC, we wanted to highlight Cox’s natural light offering, so the brand was repositioned with a new strapline as a provider of ‘Natural Light Solutions’.
Of course, health & safety is another area where companies are having to comply with increasingly strict legislations. This has added another dimension to marketing campaigns rather than only promoting the product or service itself, education of health & safety standards is becoming a central marketing hook and bringing added-value to a brand.
A-Plant, which hires out a range of tools and specialist equipment such as cement mixers, excavators and power tools, launched a new Site Safety Pack last year as part of a major campaign, ‘Setting the Safety Standard’. Distributed free of charge, the pack comprises folders, posters, window stickers, Hand Arm Vibration and Dust supplements and a 60-page health & safety handbook and is an indispensable guide for its customers. Speedy Hire launched a similar campaign, ‘Safety from the ground up’ also an ongoing educating tool, which includes seminars and roadshows.
Alternative marketing
A-Plant along with other building supplies companies such as Building Supplies R Us has also been proactive in pushing forward a digital element to its brand, creating an on-line ordering system. Digital has come on, says Exall, although it’s taken a few years. And though it’s important to have a website as a selling tool, using the Internet as a way of providing information is just as important. It’s ideal as a reference tool so that when for example, a builder is on-site, he can use a laptop to download technical specs.
Lisa Collins, marketing communications general manager at A-Plant, agrees. Online activity is now a key part of our marketing strategy, she says. When we introduced our new website, traffic to the site increased by over 400 per cent. Not only can customers place order enquiries 24 hours a day, but it also contains over 30,000 pages of information. With the website, it’s not only about generating trade, it’s about giving the industry a comprehensive resource of information.
Email is another channel that is growing. The loyalty programme Nectar Business, which has 45 per cent of its collectors in the building trade sector and partners in the industry including ICI Dulux and HSS Hire, has an extensive email marketing database, which it finds impressive ROI with. It’s unusual for a trade that doesn’t necessarily sit in an office all day in front of a computer to be responsive to this kind of message, says Charlie Humphreys, head of Nectar Business. But increasingly, as we are finding with many sectors, the lines are blurring between personal and business computer use, so many builders come home in the evening and check their emails.
It has recently rebranded to create a fresher, more up-to-date look as well as reinvigorating its rewards such as special offers and discounts (see p43 for more on Nectar Business). It now includes business-specific rewards each month, so for example, 50 per cent off the price of a satellite navigation system ideal for builders who travel around a lot looking for addresses.
Another area in its infancy, but ideal for use in marketing to builders particularly jobbing builders is mobile marketing. Nectar Business has been testing this with ICI Dulux and has found excellent results a responder to a recent SMS campaign showed that those who received the message had an average spend of 75 per cent more than the control group, who were not sent the message. Although it’s potentially a very sensitive channel and despite predictions, it is slowly becoming an accepted marketing channel in the B2B space, says Humphreys. Particularly for builders, many of whom rely almost exclusively on their mobile phones during the day, it works as we can send them timely offers, such as bonus points rewards, and they can go into the supplier straightaway to redeem or buy more points.
Feeling your way
Of course, when it comes to marketing tools of the trade, the direct approach is a tried and tested method that can work if done well. Tool brand Stanley had done just that taking experiential marketing to a new level with its latest campaign to promote FatMax XL, a new range of professional hand tools. The campaign rested on the concept of touching and using the product to promote its benefits. We held focus groups which highlighted that whilst advertising can educate people about products, it is much more effective to put the tools in the hands of the users, says David Osborne, head of marketing at Stanley. The upshot was a regional tour of building sites around last summer, to demonstrate the range.
The events were called ‘Judgement Day’ and centred around a full size boxing ring which was erected on site, complete with ‘ring card girls’ to cheer contestants on, leader boards and an MC to create an atmosphere. Professionals were invited to take part in contests such as ‘Hammer versus the Hedgehog’ a race against the clock to see how fast a 6” nail could be driven into a block of wood; ‘The Saw versus the Butcher’ to see how finely a piece of wood could be cut and, ‘Fubar versus the Shed’ a tag team demolition of a shed with a Fubar (functional utility bar.)
The events gave the launch a sense of excitement and theatre, and were well received. And as well as promoting the range to customers and driving footfall into merchants, site managers said team spirit had been bolstered, adds Osborne. It enabled customers to get their hands on the tools to experience them in terms of functionality and design before making a purchasing decision. Research undertaken at a later date revealed that this was also an effective word-of-mouth campaign that spread awareness of the brand amongst a younger audience, one of the prime goals of the events.
So, from being sent messages via a mobile phone to banging a nail into a piece of wood, marketing to the building and construction industry certainly can’t be pigeon-holed into one neat category. And with ever-increasing legislation regarding health & safety as well as the environment, for the B2B marketer, it’s not just a case of how to market your message, but working out what exactly that message is.
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