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How on earth do architects choose the products for their projects?
Perhaps the biggest challenge for building-product manufacturers as they seek to become the go-to brands for architects is that the above question has no single, catch-all answer. Each architect is unique in his or her decision-making process, and collectively, the profession is full of idiosyncratic personalities that resist being categorized at all costs. Undeterred, the AIA attempted to do just that with a recent survey of the specification habits of architects — and the results make it clear just how valuable Architizer, our new marketplace for building products, can be for today’s most dynamic manufacturers.
It’s Who You Know
Published last year, the survey was entitled “The Architect Specification Journey: Understanding the Role of Building Product Manufacturers Today & Tomorrow” and was conducted by international market research firm B2B International in partnership with the AIA. The results revealed at least one fairly well-established truth — that most architects rely on materials and products that they are familiar with and have used in past projects.
Almost 60 percent of the time, architects already know which materials manufacturers they are going to use for a project when they come to specify it. More than 70 percent choose building-product suppliers that they have a prior relationship with. This is not news to manufacturers — and it makes life difficult for companies looking to break into a market populated by such creatures of habit.
So what’s a building-product manufacturer to do?
What Architects Want
If the AIA’s survey is to be believed, the answer lies in the broad personality types of today’s architects, and how this affects their choices of which materials and building products they are willing to investigate.
The results indicated that specifying architects can be split broadly into three categories. The largest proportion — 41 percent — are labeled “professionally conservative,” a group of architects who are typically older (over 55) and tend to stick with the same products and brands that they know.
Interestingly, though, the behavior of the other two groups defined by the AIA’s survey contrasts sharply with this way of thinking. 33 percent of surveyed architects are defined as “dynamists” and are typically younger, most often male, and work for firms with an “an outspoken corporate culture.” The third group, accounting for 26 percent of the total, are categorized as “risk-takers” and work in practices with an “environmental, outspoken and experimental culture.”
Taken together, these two groups account for almost 60 percent of all architects surveyed, and they have one key trait in common: They are innovators. These architects are willing to try new building materials and components, and are more willing to move out of their comfort zone in search of the perfect product for their project.
Tap Those Innovators
This is what makes Architizer such an essential platform for the most forward-thinking building-product manufacturers to be a part of. By becoming part of this burgeoning marketplace, they are able to get their products in front of the best and brightest architects in this innovative group — architects from the likes of BIG and Studio Gang. They can also see what those emerging professionals are selecting for their current projects thanks to the platform’s improved levels of marketplace transparency.
Many of these firms are also working on large-scale commercial projects, meaning that the makers of the materials they specify can expect to profit handsomely from each project — think SOM, SHoP and OMA. Ultimately, for companies in the business of inventing new and exciting products for the buildings of tomorrow, Architizer is the place to be.
How on earth do architects choose the products for their projects? The majority are looking for manufacturers to match their innovative designs — and if you are a company in this category, you could be their ideal match.
Top image via iStock, credit archideaphoto
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