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GUIDE SPECIFICATIONS
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| Guide Specifications: A Sales and Marketing Tool
A CSI Webinar -- Tuesday 9/21 2PM EST
Learn how to craft your guide spec to strengthen trust between the
manufacturer and the design team, educate design professionals, and teach your
sales team to use the guide spec as marketing collateral. Register here.
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DIGITAL MARKETING
Social Networking Use Doubles Among Older Internet Users
According to a new study, "social
media use has grown dramatically across all age groups, older users have been especially
enthusiastic over the past year about embracing new networking tools. Social
networking use among internet users ages 50 and older nearly doubled-from 22%
in April 2009 to 42% in May 2010." What does this mean to building product
marketers? A few things. More.
Ditch the Flash Intro on Your Website
Would you
put any impediment outside the door to your store, especially a loud, obnoxious
one? Of course not. The only businesses I can think of that do this are car
dealerships, furniture stores, and places having "Going Out Of Business
Sales." And even then you are not required to interact with the guy
dressed like Uncle Sam on stilts; he's just an attention-getting device. But
many websites... More.
Use Google Earth for Portfolios
Do you ever
find yourself wishing you had taken more images of a project that used your
products? Well now you can see the
entire project and show anyone who has internet access by using Google
Earth. More.
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BUILDING INDUSTRY TRENDS |
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Going Global
Here's a tip for any US business
seeking to sell on an international scale: revise your phone number. At
World
of Concrete, I offered my client's press kit to an Australian
journalist. He said, "Oh, I saw that on the table, but I didn't
bother because they're not
international." I asked how he figured that out (since my client
was
adamant that he would sell anywhere in the world). His reply opened my
eyes. More.
Design Technology
An
architect who started a new database-driven spec-writing system recently said,
"young architects today don't seem to understand specs or want to write
them." He went on to describe how his new system will help them
"write specs more quickly." But when I asked him if the new system
would help them write "better specifications," he paused and said,
"probably not." More.
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MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
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Direct
Mail Still Works
There
was no way to ignore this package when it arrived in our office via USPS. The
presentation works because the new foam product needs to be felt and handled to
be understood. More, the outer sleeve is targeted to support a local
presentation, and the fan-deck cards invite more interactivity than a plain
brochure would. And to make sure the message was received, Owens Corning also
sent an email announcement about the local event. It arrived within a day of
the package. More.
Does Publicity Increase Sales?
The first question manufacturers
always ask about publicity is, "Will it increase my sales?" Quantifying the reach
and impact of publicity is - to mix a metaphor - like herding greased
cats. You can't ever know who reads what, and you usually can't know how
much that exposure may or may not contribute to a decision to look more closely
at a product, eventually leading to a sale. Yet we do know that PR works. More.
Greenwash of the Month
If you promote the sustainability of a product,
you should be willing to have the market scrutinize all aspects of your product's
environmental performance. Unfortunately, this concept is lost on the
organizers of the Second Annual BrickStainable Design Competition. More. |
CALLS FOR PRESENTATIONS
NeoCon 2011 -- Due October 1, 2010
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Presentation
submissions for educational seminars can be a cost-efficient way to get
national exposure to key industry developers.
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CHUSID ASSOCIATES NEWS
Chusid
Associates Wins Three Awards this fall!
The
Construction Writers Association has awarded us:
1)
Our second Godfrey Journalism
Award - Read the judges'
comments here.
2)
Website and Electronic
Communications Award -
Helmets to Hardhats Newsletter
3)
Marketing
Communications Award - Ceilings Plus Idea Box
Our associate, Vivian Volz, has been appointed
to the Construction Specifier advisory board and is
the new San Francisco CSI Chapter President.
Art Director, Vladimir Paperny, is now associated with a European graphic design firm, expanding
our ability to serve international markets.
Photographer John Siskin
has published a series of articles on architectural photography. |
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