BIM and Marketing

As I prepare to leave for Denver to attend the 2008 SMPS (Society for Marketing Professional Services) National Convention, I am reminded of all the great info I got from last year's conference...including a session I attended on BIM and its impact on marketing. Presented by Ted Sive, FSMPS, the seminar dealt with this emerging technology and the calls to action for marketers because of it.

I have included an excerpt of the white paper below; the entire document is available here, but you'll need to be an SMPS member and logged it to download it. For more information on SMPS membership, look here.

Now....on with the info!


BIM (Building Information Modeling): A Marketing Primer and Call to Action - Ted Sive, FSMPS

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a significant new technology that is revolutionizing the A/E/C industry. BIM is transforming the roles of professional service firms and how people work together, bringing remarkable new capabilities that can improve the speed and efficiency of projects, creating new challenges and potential liabilities, and potentially changing A/E/C marketing like nothing since the advent of the desktop computer.

Now we take this paradigm shift into the marketing realm...

With What
Much of the power of BIM is in 3D visualization, for design and for coordination. Proposals will often include substantial graphic elements from BIM models, both during these early years of adoption and understanding as more owners request the process, and later as BIM diagrams become "basic" tools that are commonly used. This is a new source of data requiring new standards and systems for graphic use in brochures, proposals, websites, and presentations. Rather than relying on technical staff, some marketers may choose to become proficient enough in BIM to use or manipulate images, animations, specs, and background data and incorporate those into marketing materials.

Delving deeper into the technical nature of BIM, new proposal/marketing content will be required to discuss BIM in areas such as how a particular firm is different from the competition, company approach and capabilities, data standards, and interoperability, both as requested from the owner, and to help educate the owner and team. This will be particularly true in these initial years of widespread implementation of BIM by A/E/C firms, and especially since the term is (and may always be) used to mean different things to different people. The marketer will need to increase clarity in writing and graphic efforts.

As owners and the entire industry (in fact, the economy at large) become more focused on the complex issues surrounding sustainability, BIM will be required and requested more due to its ability to be the basis for sustainable analysis and decision making. This means increased proposal content not only about use of the BIM model, but about building components and systems, and not just their first costs but their operation, maintenance, and replacement costs and characteristics as well.

To Whom
We see changes to “who is the client” and thus to what audience the marketer is marketing. As the supply chain and contractual relationships change, so can the person making the buying choice. In the commercial A/E/C world, many of the ramifications of BIM will be due to changes in the timing of data and communication flow, and associated responsibilities and decision-making. Some are predicting that as the owner seeks to benefit from the power of the BIM model, the owner will mandate who “owns” the model and data. If, for example, an owner hires an architect to work within the BIM parameters as defined by a general contractor, the architect may have to submit information about data standards, interoperability, etc., and market their BIM approach to that general contractor. Another example assumes that delivery models will change to include more design/build mechanical delivery. The owner, seeking to maximize the interdisciplinary coordination and time and cost savings nature of BIM communication, might seek to hire engineers and subcontractors together. For pure engineering firms this means marketing their services to mechanical construction firms. That is clearly a big change, not just in the audience for marketing materials, but the strategic direction of engineering firms and their business development strategy.

Yet another example, probably "further out,” imagines an owner seeking the BIM-enabled efficiencies of structural engineers working directly with material fabricators and installers. On most work, fabricators and installers currently work on a project “through” the general contractor. With BIM the structural engineer may be required to partner with the fabricator. This is another new client type, business development prospect, and audience for marketing materials. Once again, these examples may be especially true since BIM is in its initial "implementation years.”

How
We’ve described immediately above new relationships and/or clients as a result of BIM. Within existing “typical” roles (e.g. an architect working directly for an owner and subcontracting with engineers) are the additional ramifications of risk/reward structures built to maximize the value of BIM. There may be new and tighter definitions of standard of care, different incentive fee structures based on implementation and effectiveness of BIM modeling and data, and new contract formats defining BIM deliverables and responsibility, and thus risk. For the marketer, this means different and/or new components to the Go/No Go model and analysis of the risks and financial rewards of a particular project pursuit.

The new relationships and new teaming models also mean potentially different competition. BIM, with its singular (or very closely related) database core, fosters more flexibility in teaming and enables A/E/C participants much greater flexibility in working around existing, intrinsically adversarial relationships. A group of engineers from different disciplines may form a one-time partnership to pursue a specific project, and become a different form of competitor for the "typical” firm. In the same manner, an engineer might partner with a fabricator to supply critical BIM modeling and analytical skills in the pursuit of a building with complex geometry.

Going Forward
More for Marketers
BIM is at its heart a communication tool, and marketers are at their core communications professionals. Beyond the impacts to their day-to-day work, there are a few clear roles for marketers to serve in their firms, especially in these first formative years of BIM adoption in the A/E/C industry:

Facilitate and Educate
Marketers can serve a strong role in clarifying the who, what, when, and how of BIM. Marketers should be involved with the internal discussion of BIM to ensure that the high level is addressed. The marketer should always work to clarify the topic by encouraging greater understanding of the biggest picture with consistency in language and use of the details.

Partner and Collaborate
Marketers, particularly in their business development function, have the opportunity to discuss BIM broadly with clients, subconsultants, vendors, partners, and even the competition. Marketers are conduits for information.

Educate the Client
Clients will tend to see BIM through their own lenses; marketers can and should take the opportunity to educate clients, through industry events, company hosted events, and other marketing communications, about the benefits and whys and hows of BIM. Better educated clients will make better selectors of A/E/C firms with BIM capabilities.

Close
BIM is without doubt beginning to revolutionize the A/E/C industry and how team members collaborate. Now it's your turn, as a marketer, to help your firm understand what BIM means for your business and your marketing, and ensure that you are positioned for success. What does BIM mean strategically, in terms of the roles your company will play on projects, the staffing you need, and who your clients are? What does it mean personally, in terms of the messages you will convey, how you will convey those messages, and your skill sets? The real answers will be unique to your firm, and you are the expert.


Cindy Bright
Manager of Marketing & Corporate Communications
KAI Design & Build