I like the amount of info provided by the Shelter Architecture website. Their logo is also great. They represent a great business model for sustainable architecture firms, do they not?
And what’s even better, they provide SO much information at the click of a button. I can download their logo, press kit, see press releases, look at designs, read about said designs, and the sadly untouched ability to book them as public speakers. The one thing that is missing is a blog. If they want to be public speakers, they should also have an ongoing blog.
The biggest argument people have against blogging is that they are too busy. Nobody is too busy to blog. If Mark Cuban, billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, can find time to blog each week, so can everybody else. Bob Parsons (owner/founder of GoDaddy.com) blogs religiously, as well.
Their intense levels of transparency and sharing of ideas helps do two things: one, build credibility as an authority, and two, give customers a chance to interact with them on a personal level. Sometimes the blogs are serious, sometimes they are fun. Regardless, they have email links on each, and they personally respond to each email.
Customers are like family, not corporate slags. You would never said a letter to your friend that read, “I acknowledge the pain and suffering incurred by parties herein, but we do not admit wrongdoings. We wish Mr. Smith Jr. the best in his future endeavors.”
No! You would write, “Jake, I’m sorry, buddy. I know life sucks for ya now. If I can help you at all, lemme know. Take care. I’m here for ya.”
Next, I looked at the BPA site. They represent that staunch, stuffy language I at which I was just poking fun.
The cleanliness of the BPA site is nice, but I don't like the rest of it. It's just not that engaging to me. Click on "PRACTICE" and what comes up? Gobs of text. And what is the first thing you read? "BPA is an award winning architectural design consultancy specializing in contemporary and innovative sustainable architecture."
WRONG! Their manifesto is impossible to pass on verbally. The investment one would have to take in order to memorize that, and then the dedication one would have to have in order to spread it, are cumbersome and prohibitive.
They are trumpeting their own horns. They start three paragraphs in a row with “BPA.” And they spend words like a millionaire.
I find a lot of comparatives, like “greater value” and “more for your money,” but what do those terms mean? Greater than what? More than what? Not only that, but they wait until the fourth paragraph until they really give me a real benefit: the home is economical and flexible with a visual connection with its environment. Worse still, they misuse the possessive form of the pronoun, its, by writing “it’s.” The sentence reads “The home is designed to be economical and flexible in it is/it has footprint with a visual connection to is is/it has environment.” That is sloppy, unprofessional, and inexcusable.
Content and words are not bad, but they are for the engaged. The first impression, the first flirtation that one has with a company must be simple and memorable. First impressions ARE direly important. Once the mind is made up, it is virtually impossible to change. What’s more, change takes effort. If they don’t care about you, they won’t take the effort to know about you or believe that you have anything of value to offer.
Let’s face it: hardly anybody gives half a crap about you or your company. And if you want them to, you had better give them a darn good reason. To the average person, you are yet another architect with nothing original to offer and a fancy set of letters after your name.
You and I know that nothing could be farther from the truth, of course! But you and I believe in you, in V2! Do you see the difference?
Think of an idea like a virus. Seth Godin created the IDEAVIRUS concept.
“(An idea that just sits there is worthless. But an idea that moves and grows and infects everyone it touches...that's an ideavirus. What’s an ideavirus? It’s a big idea that runs amok across the target audience. It’s a fashionable idea that propagates through a section of the population, teaching and changing and influencing everyone it touches. And in our rapidly/instantly changing world, the art and science of building, launching and profiting from ideaviruses is the next frontier.”
He could have just as easily called his book Word of Mouth Marketing, but there is nothing buzzy about that. There is a difference between telling someone about new concepts on an old idea and a flat out new idea.
So what became of his Ideavirus? It is the #1 most read eBook of all time, #5 all-time best seller on Amazon, and #4 all time best seller in Japan. And what of Word of Mouth Marketing (by Andy Sernovitz and Apple’s original buzz-creator, Guy Kawasaki)? It is #1,847 in books. They are both fantastic, and one is not necessarily better than the other. But better does not win!
Would his follow-up book, Purple Cow, have sold so well if it were called Differentiation Marketing? The concept of a Purple Cow is so easy to spread, whereas a book on differentiation marketing is likely to be filled with heavy conclusions backed by gobs of evidence. Both are effective, but one SPREADS easily.
To that end, the name is not the saving grace of a bad product, but it IS the catalyst of a great one. Even if Purple Cow had the exact same content (minus the Purple Cow reference), but the name was Differentiation Marketing, it would not have been so readily accepted and spread.
Your message must be simple, concise, and powerful.
What we SAY and what we CONVEY are two different things.
How can we say this in fewer words: V2 Design focuses on the environmental aspects of design and construction. By using passive solar design strategies, energy efficient technologies, and non-toxic materials, the resulting buildings require less money to maintain and create healthier, beautiful spaces in which to work and live.
Your manifesto is good. It states the benefit (less money to maintain, healthier, beautiful spaces in which to work and live), and it says what you do (environmental aspects of design and construction…by using passive solar design strategies, energy efficient technologies, and non-toxic materials). How can we say that in not-so-many words? How can we SHOW it?
The fight is not to against other green firms, but rather against traditional architecture. If it were against other green firms, nobody would question the benefits of going green.
What you are, then, is the catalyst for change. V2 Design: Go Green. We must reposition traditional architecture in the mind of the consumer, thereby making room for the new category, green. Green IS catching on, but mostly from a “good for the environment” standard. Green conjures images of Al Gore and hippies.
Shelter hit the hammer on the nail! Click on the image to see the full-size copy.
Reason number one, money. Reason number two, coolness. Reason number three, earth.
Wow! We should definitely borrow their links and sources. We’ll credit them, too. They’ll love us.
Their benefits are in plain site right away when one clicks on their site.
I would make that description the entire page, however. And “better” is subjective. It shouldn’t be said (although being said tongue in cheek certainly helps).
They don’t clutter their page with too many words straight away. They give the straight facts in an easily digestible format.
People hate tech-speak. People love informality and congeniality (especially from someone like you, who is noted as being a people person in such a macho, ego-driven category as architecture).
Do yourself a favor. Go out and buy a bottle of VitaminWater. Get Focus, it’s great. Read the bottle. Do you notice the absence of tech-speak? Do you extra notice the presence of informal, fun writings about Kelly Clarkson, and how to enjoy instructions?
They could have easily said something wordy and mundane like “100% natural” about the drink and “Plastic. Please recycle” about the bottle. Instead, they chose to say “the inside is natural, the outside is plastic.” This is written just below another clever phrase, “for best results, stick in the fridge.” Again, they could have just as easily said, “Best served chilled” or “Please refrigerate.” Bleh!
VitaminWater becomes an ideavirus by making its packaging simple and fun to read. The flavors are not at all flavors, they are concepts. Raspberry-apple is not at all raspberry-apple, it is Defense. Raspberry-apple is written below it in smaller letters, plus the vitamins in the water (c+zinc).
Strawberr-kiwi is Focus. Pomegranate-blueberry is XXX (for triple antioxidants). Wow! They even go so far as to call Multi-V (lemonade w/ a-zinc) a “drinkable Swiss Army Knife.” I love the visual metaphor!
So how do we make your manifesto fun and engaging? Let’s borrow a page (actually, lots of them) from Shelter. They are doing things oh-so rightly.
GREEN: design that rocks, saves the planet, and keeps more oink in your piggy.
That’s just one idea. Here’s another.
GREEN: jealousy-inspiring, planet-saving, mula-staying-in-your-pocket design.
GREEN: design you love, the planet loves, and your bank account will extra love.
GREEN: give me hip. give me beautiful. Give me money. And then save the planet, too.
green = hip design + earth awareness + money saving
These are just some ideas, but none of them are “it” to me. They condense the concept nicely.
Is there a parallel that we can draw between green and another product already placed in the minds? Perhaps the description of green could be how it relates to traditional architecture (again, not telling, but showing).
Tylenol did this by repositioning aspirin. It was widely known that aspirin could cause upset stomachs and trigger allergic reactions. So what is one to do? Take Tylenol!
How much does it cost to run electricity through a house the size of your Hundred Watt House for a year? How much will it cost to run heat in your garage versus a standard built one? Awards are nice (LEED Platinum, Gold, whatever), but they are not beneficial to the end user, only to you.
Advertising faces the same challenge. The best ads usually do not win awards. The One Show gives awards to flashy, fun campaigns that often do nothing to improve a company’s sales. The best ads are commonly simple and feature an easily accessible benefit.
The few examples that cover both (creativity and being beneficial) are truly powerful. Think of Apple’s iPod + iTunes commercials. They sell creativity AND a benefit: fun.
What are you selling? In as few words as possible, answer that. In one word, answer that.
We are on our way!
