The brief
Accoya is a sustainable high-performance wood brand. It required a campaign that would engage architects, raise brand awareness and create opportunities for direct contact with key architects/firms.
Refresh has worked with architects for almost fifteen years so we knew we needed a campaign that would ‘speak their language.’ However, to ensure that our strategy was based on fact, not assumption, we utilised quantitative insights and conducted in-depth qualitative research on five architects.
Through the research we found that:
- Architects enjoy going to events with almost half (48%) having attended F2F conferences and CPDs in the last year
- 89% use social media with 51% saying they access it at least once a day
- 88% use LinkedIn
- 48% use blogs, vlogs and podcasts
- Architects read industry publications but the main blocker to reading news is time
- For this reason, they prefer short-form video content that is quick and easy to digest to long marketing collateral
- They are more likely to engage with content that includes eye-catching visuals
- They are socially and environmentally conscious. However, there is a lot of pre-existing noise in the media from manufacturers so unique angles/headlines are important
- They are lifelong learners who enjoy attending conferences/events and CPDs
19
architect contacts
51
pieces of coverage
79k+
reach
The campaign
With this in mind, Refresh needed an overarching narrative to ensure that Accoya could get its messaging around sustainability out into the market, while also cutting through the noise.
Having had in-depth discussions with the architects, Refresh suggested a campaign centred upon ‘Genius Loci’, a philosophical brand of architectural phenomenology referring to a place’s distinctive atmosphere, roughly translating to ‘The Spirit of the Place’. This would encapsulate messaging around the aesthetics of a design but also place focus on social value and the impact on the environment/place.
As architects trust word-of-mouth and relationships play a big factor in the manufacturers they regularly specify, Refresh wanted to involve architects within the activity. This would enable Accoya to build relationships with architecture firms – encouraging specification of the product in the long term.
We suggested an integrated campaign that encompassed a roundtable to ensure face to face contact – knowing that architects value this – and a video series discussing what the ‘Spirit of the Place’ means to architects (as well as how it impacts material and design choices). This was seeded our via owned channels and social media (including that of the architects involved). All of this was underpinned by media activity, knowing that architects continue to read industry press.
The results
‘The Spirit of the Place’ campaign not only helped Accoya build relationships with its key target audience, architects, but also helped Accoya gain a deeper understanding of architects views on heritage, culture, and ethical design which could inform future strategies and ways of working and engaging with architects.
The campaign achieved:
- 3+ ongoing partnerships with influential architects
- 19 instances of direct contact with architect practices, with 23 further introductions made
- 29,490 impressions
- Reach of 79,123
- 1,008 organic engagements
- In the month the content launched on social media, Accoya’s LinkedIn page also saw a 50.3% increase in visitors (and 284 new followers)
- 51 pieces of press coverage
Services delivered
- Strategy and planning
- Content development
- Influencer marketing
- Videography
- Social media support
- General copywriting
- Media relations
- Thought-leadership
- Measurement and evaluation