Is Print Advertising Still Relevant in the Building Industry?

Marketing & Sales — By Mark Wanczak on March 6, 2009 at 9:22 am

Vik left a great comment in response to my primer on print advertising last week, asking if print advertising is still relevant for the building and construction industry. This is a question that we as marketers constantly battle with. If the answer is no, then we need to transition to other forms of media, most notably online media.

However, if the answer is yes, as I think it is, then why are we still stuck with print ads while other industries are moving on? The answer is in Vik’s comment:

I find that regardless of where advertising is placed in our industry it’s pretty poor. It’s like the contractors, designers, whomever decided to make the advertisement up themselves.

I’m going sort of off the record here for a minute and speaking from my personal opinion of our industry. We’re behind the marketing curve. Big time. Why? Because the building industry has been exactly the same for the past 50 years, and no one has been forced to adapt to survive. This, in turn, leads those contractors, designers and engineers running companies to believe they can execute their own marketing. Because of this unchanging monotony, marketing has never really driven the building products industry. So why would manufacturers find any value in it?

As someone who battles every single day to convince manufacturers of the value in other forms of marketing, trust me when I say it’s an uphill battle. Most manufacturers have just recently established an online presence, and it’s usually just as poorly executed as the print ads Vik criticizes.

Vik ends his comment with another question, asking if print advertising is sustainable. Unfortunately, I think print advertising is sustainable in our industry for the near future. This will not change until a few things happen.

1. The down economy forces manufacturers to realize the value in proper marketing. Everyone’s tightening ship. Is your product at the top of everyone’s list? If you run the kind of ads Vik references, probably not. If you’re not online, probably not.

2. Green revitalizes building manufacturers. Green may be the industry’s saving grace. I say this because so much of the green movement’s influence and information is online. The fact is, print is behind on green news. If the industry can recognize the success of the online green movement, maybe something in their heads will click and realize the same can be done with our industry.

3. A younger generation takes power. Perhaps more than any other industry, building and construction relies on leaders in their 60s and 70s who, in turn, rely on marketing methods and business models from the 60s and 70s.

4. A trailblazing manufacturer proves the value in new marketing. The minute one manufacturer shows an increase in sales due to great online marketing, you can bet there will be a flood of manufacturers wanting to do the same. I can’t stress enough how much influence and exposure this trailblazer will generate.

Times have changed, manufacturers have not.

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  • I'd like to add another comment to this stream. If I can be somewhat self-promotional, a company I believe is an example of why print advertising is on a rapid decline, is SuperBuild.com, founded by the recent COO of Marvin Windows. Some of the largest manufacturers (and advertisers), building products retailers, and shelter media companies are starting to private label this tool. How it may speed print advertising into irrelevance is that a contractor and homeowner using this system as a CRM platform to manage a job, will be able to opt in to request of manufacturers that during the actual decision making weeks for various critical building products, they would like a marketplace of retailers/distributors/manufacturers to present them with offers and options to help them make their decisions. What's more, once the 10s of thousands of contractors that SuperBuild's retail and mfg joint venture partners are managing 100s of thousands of jobs with the platform (in a very social media type of way contractor-to-contractor, consumer-to-consumer) that Data Store of specific info about what products are being selected for what types of jobs per specific market, will allow manufacturers to watch real time buying trends market-by-market for adjusting their promotional efforts, will allow retailers/distributors to watch how they are doing compared to the competition, and will allow consumers to see the profiles of the products going into similar projects to theirs in their market. So again, pardon me if I've gotten too promotional here, but when I hear about the power of this and similar systems emerging for scenarios like this over the next 2 to 4 years, I again have to ask the question: Why would a print ad in any publication, trade or consumer, have any relevance to how contractors and homeowners get jobs done on time with the best materials at the best prices.
  • Matt,

    I'm not saying a/e/c firms necessarily need to, I'm speaking more about the manufacturers trying to reach those people. Sure, there's a science behind marketing, but by no means do we have a great understanding of what influences people's buying decisions. If that were the case, I wouldn't have a job and every company could just do their own marketing.

    I'm not asking anyone to scrap their print advertising. I even say that print is a sustainable option in the near future. But what works now, may not work in five years. A lot of major brands outside the building industry are pulling print money in favor of online marketing. The question is, how long will it be until this trend reaches our industry?
  • Matt handal
    are you saying that a/e/c firms need to hire an outside "marketing consultant" in order to execute successful marketing campains? If you are, please let me know where you get that sweet sweet cRaCK you are smoking. Listen, there is a science behind marketing. It's been well documented. We know what influences people's buying decisions. We know that marketing needs to be effective (bring in a good ROI), and we know the steps to take to measure and evaluate that effectiveness. For some companies print advertising is going to produce the most ROI. For some, maybe a nice website might do it. But what works for a rebar supplier might not work for an achitect. You try multiple things and you find what works for you. As your marketing effort evolves, try some new and innovative approaches along the way. But don't scrap what works to devote a significant effort into any marketing tactics that are unproven for your specific business.
  • I like the last line in Kim's comment, "...when building rebounds the marketers are going to buy real leads and not mass ineffective audiences in the dream magazines." This is so true. That is exactly what the home magazines do - give inspiration in pictures to homeowners! Good post with good insight and predictions.
  • Theresa T.
    Print advertising will always be relevant as long as it reaches the right audience. Niche and regional magazines will be the ones to survive as budgets get cut because of the lower cost with the distribution. Who wants to advertise a development to millions of consumers who may or may not be interested in purchasing? I'd rather reach those connected with the industry, Realtors, for example, who we know have these buyers for less of the cost.
  • Kim,

    We're seeing the same reduction in commitment to print advertising. It's difficult to tell if manufacturers are cutting marketing all together or moving that money elsewhere. Unfortunately, I think it's the former rather than the latter.

    I've seen quite a few trade pubs pop up on Twitter and such. The wise pubs will quickly make this transition and establish themselves online.

    Thanks for commenting!
  • Vik Duggal
    Wow! Great post Mark and thanks for the comment Kim! I hope other jump into this conversation!
  • As someone who has been in the building industry since a decade as an editor at Better Homes & Gardens, then more than two decades in agencies focused on home living and building products, I have to say I think print adv for the mfgs will be dead is under 5 years. In Dec I met with a publisher of 3 leading shelter mags, and he told me about three traditionally top 10 bldg products mfgs dropping their print budget to zero or close for '09 across all pubs. Sure, with no credit, there is little bldg and need to advertise, but when bldg rebounds the marketers are going to buy real leads and not mass ineffective audiences in the dream magazines.
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