This entry looks in the marketing and business development strategy implemented at my practice for the month of Nov 2018.
It is a well-documented fact that in order to run a successful business, a well-executed marketing strategy will need to be in place. As a result of working for both large and small firms in the last 2 years, I have realised that most small architecture firms don’t have huge budgets or a large enough staff dedicated to marketing. JTP (a large firm of a 100 people) spends a considerable but fixed amount of money on publishing books, journals, articles every year, predominantly discussing things related to the residential sector of architecture. So do most other large firms including my current employer BPTW. We are undergoing a re-brand which started in July 2018 and ended this month. I had the opportunity to assist the marketing team in preparation for a client party/launch event that will mark the beginning of the new brand.
In the last 4 years since my undergraduate study, I have been a co-founder of ‘Tamed Designs ltd’ alongside studying and working full time. We focus on branding small businesses, events and people by providing logos, banners, flyers, videos and websites. My work was recognised by a fellow employee at BPTW who recommended my skills to the marketing team, hence the opportunity stated above; I was asked to produce a 30 minute long video documentary/slideshow that presents the social culture of the office and was to be presented at the client party. It took a total of 45 hours to single-handedly film, edit and produce the video.
During this process, I was closely liaising with the marketing director which presented numerous opportunities to understand how a large firm curates its outward appearance in such a competitive industry. The re-brand costs somewhere in the tens of thousands of pounds with a long time of planning and execution. All in all I learnt that our main focus is to maintain a level of credibility in eyes of our clients although particular focus is always placed on our biggest clients; I was asked on a few occasions to add specific items in the video that brought more attention to named clients as a way to appeal to their ‘good side’. One can assume that architecture firms are largely at the mercy of the clients we serve because they are our only source of income; very dangerous! All went well and I was greatly commended for my work on the video. I had apparently done a better job that the previously appointed and well paid video production company.
Financially, I seemed to have been an absolute bargain for the production of the video. After a few meetings with the marketing director and my team director, I was asked to only use office hours to produce the video. A total of 45 hours of office time translates to about £675 of fees (relative to my annual salary) for the video in comparison to the £3000 minimum industry charge to produce a 30 min long video for the same ‘professional’ quality; a fascinating realisation…
The client party was successful to say the least. I was invited to attend the party for the first time in my 2 years of work experience and especially as a Part 1 Assistant. Below are some images from the client with the video projected on the wall in the background.
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