New media makes it easier to follow your competition,- whether they're in the same city, across the country, or around the world - and find out how their running their business and communicating with clients.
1) Go to their website and review every page. What do they offer? How are they communicating their value message? What projects are on the boards, under construction or built? Who are their project partners?
2) Subscribe to their blog. You should know the message they are regularly sending to their audience (and yours).
3) Follow them on Twitter. No only can you see the daily feed, you'll find out who their audience is (followers), who your competition follows, and those you have in common.
4) Check search engines for press releases. Where are the sending their news so it's pushed out to a wider audience?
Showing posts with label competitions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label competitions. Show all posts
Wednesday
Friday
Using Competitions as a Marketing Tool
By Karen A. Davis
“… for someone who is young and who has no experience, the only way to get big projects is through competitions.” Bernard Tschumi
There are hundreds of design and construction competitions sponsored by various trade magazines, professional organizations and industry groups. Maybe you have never entered a competition or it’s been years since you have. Consider including competitions in the overall marketing strategy for your company. If you’re short on client projects, or even if you have ample workflow, entering a competition is a low-cost way to promote your name, explore new ideas, and motivate you to try new project types.
Competitions can inspire and offer an opportunity to be more imaginative. Your current projects may have very tight budgets, or your creativity may be stifled by the requirements of your client. A competition can be a design exercise – or a charrette – for you and your employees. Think back to those “open-ended” projects you had in college – no funding restraints, loose client requirements, and a little time to dream.
Once you enter the competition, the design can be included in your portfolio to highlight your capability in that particular niche. Does your body of work have a high concentration of office projects, but you would like to work more in hospitality? A competition sponsored by a hospitality design magazine can allow you to sharpen and show your skills in that market segment.
Utilize competitions as cost-effective marketing tools. They typically have no or relatively low-cost entry fees, and are an excellent way to get your work in published. In most cases, even runners-up get their name listed as an honorable mention. Once published, reprints and press releases can be sent to clients and potential business partners.
Plan ahead to include competitions as part of your annual marketing efforts. Create a calendar of upcoming calls for entry, including registration dates, binder requirements, and submission deadlines.
Bernard Tschumi, quoted at the beginning of this article, won the 2001 competition and commission for the New Acropolis Museum in Athens Greece. Tschumi estimates that he wins one out of four competitions he enters. Learn a few of his strategies in the Architect magazine article “Playing to Win.”
© Copyright – Karen A. Davis. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
“… for someone who is young and who has no experience, the only way to get big projects is through competitions.” Bernard Tschumi
There are hundreds of design and construction competitions sponsored by various trade magazines, professional organizations and industry groups. Maybe you have never entered a competition or it’s been years since you have. Consider including competitions in the overall marketing strategy for your company. If you’re short on client projects, or even if you have ample workflow, entering a competition is a low-cost way to promote your name, explore new ideas, and motivate you to try new project types.
Competitions can inspire and offer an opportunity to be more imaginative. Your current projects may have very tight budgets, or your creativity may be stifled by the requirements of your client. A competition can be a design exercise – or a charrette – for you and your employees. Think back to those “open-ended” projects you had in college – no funding restraints, loose client requirements, and a little time to dream.
Once you enter the competition, the design can be included in your portfolio to highlight your capability in that particular niche. Does your body of work have a high concentration of office projects, but you would like to work more in hospitality? A competition sponsored by a hospitality design magazine can allow you to sharpen and show your skills in that market segment.
Utilize competitions as cost-effective marketing tools. They typically have no or relatively low-cost entry fees, and are an excellent way to get your work in published. In most cases, even runners-up get their name listed as an honorable mention. Once published, reprints and press releases can be sent to clients and potential business partners.
Plan ahead to include competitions as part of your annual marketing efforts. Create a calendar of upcoming calls for entry, including registration dates, binder requirements, and submission deadlines.
Bernard Tschumi, quoted at the beginning of this article, won the 2001 competition and commission for the New Acropolis Museum in Athens Greece. Tschumi estimates that he wins one out of four competitions he enters. Learn a few of his strategies in the Architect magazine article “Playing to Win.”
© Copyright – Karen A. Davis. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
Wednesday
Side Note: Segway Shelter Competition at the Construct Show
The Segway Personal Transporter has many uses. Segway is marketing its PT's for use on guided tours of local attractions and for commuting.
As part of the Construct Show & CSI Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana last week, the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) sponsored a student competition: design a Segway shelter for use along the Indianapolis Cultural Trail. The Cultural trail "connects neighborhoods, Cultural Districts and entertainment amenities, and serves as the downtown hub for the entire central Indiana greenway system."
Using a standard kit of parts, college and university students were to design a safe, secure, weather-resistant enclosure where guests could leave their transporter on the trail for hours at a time. Students were then to build the shelter over two days of the Show.
See the entries below.
As part of the Construct Show & CSI Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana last week, the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) sponsored a student competition: design a Segway shelter for use along the Indianapolis Cultural Trail. The Cultural trail "connects neighborhoods, Cultural Districts and entertainment amenities, and serves as the downtown hub for the entire central Indiana greenway system."
Using a standard kit of parts, college and university students were to design a safe, secure, weather-resistant enclosure where guests could leave their transporter on the trail for hours at a time. Students were then to build the shelter over two days of the Show.
See the entries below.
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