Well, yes. I have only found three. Three. And two of them were slideshows that featured stale pictures and soft jazz. And the other commercial shows an architecture flushing a toilet and digging around in compost.
So, anyone know of any good videos giving a decent overview of a firm and its work?
backbay
May 31, 11 4:51 pm
I sort of had the same question a while back. This might help:
The AIA ran TV commercials on Sunday morning news shows a few years back. They don't seem to show up on Google or YouTube, though.
J. James R.
May 31, 11 7:28 pm
So, I'm taking it as a no?
michellestewart
May 17, 17 9:22 am
As I replied below, it is definitely legal, I just personally don't believe it would be very effective. I think that growing a referral Network and changing up lead generation methods would be a great start to both short and long-term client growth! :) and without question, have a really great website with quality, valuable content for search engine optimization. Believe it or not, it works much better than Google over the long term.
backbay
May 31, 11 8:12 pm
i always thought that architects could break into the mainstream if they marketed their firms as home improvement chains rather than one-offs. if someone set up offices in multiple locations with branding and everything else (commercials, etc). anyone looking to renovate or build would automatically think of them first, you know?
michellestewart
May 17, 17 9:23 am
Very interesting and innovative theory!
Aug 3, 11 6:13 pm
There is a long standing stigma that existed for a long time. Architects like Doctors and Lawyers in the past considered advertisement in ANY form other than word of mouth as unprofessional. For a period of time, it was even illegal. AIA used to fine members for advertising. However, lawyers and doctors started advertsing before Architects.
Pretty much TV advertisements of architects (even less so - building designers) are largely considered in the stigma like acting like a used cars salesman. Professionals don't want to promote prices and other such tactics that resembles sales pitch and such in general.
Most such commercials would be similar to doctors and lawyers. Most stick to phone-book advertisements which basically states the kinds of services offered and project types and contact info. Maybe a little subtle pictorial image of a noted work as a background image.
I haven't really seen any building designer ad on TV.... EVER ! ! ! !
Ryan002
Aug 3, 11 11:07 pm
It just doesn't make sense to put architectural products on TV.
TV is best suited for FMCGs (Fast Moving Consumer Goods), the sort of product that can be flashed on a screen for 3 seconds, and the audience will "get it". Notice that electronics sold on TV ads list very little in terms of statistics, and generally feature grinning people talking to their wives or kids and living the high life. Same with banks. Information that involves numbers and statistics are suited to print media, not television; people need it on hand to keep referring to it.
Now an architect may be able to spot the most interesting design details in 3 seconds, but as a layman, I can't. We need more time than that; a 3 second clip may as well advertise the furniture that's showing, or one wall, but not the entirety of design. Consider that we can spend an hour in a show flat and still not "get it", let alone on a TV ad.
Finally, architecture is just not the sort of thing people go out and buy. It's like an industrial company deciding to advertise machine ball bearings on TV. *Someone* may buy it, sure, but do those one or two people justify the jaw dropping cost of a TV ad?
michellestewart
May 17, 17 9:16 am
I personally don't believe that a TV ad for Architects would be beneficial. The architecture field is wildly different from other professions in that the advertising and marketing efforts already achieved are minimal because it was just deemed legal to advertise in the nineteen-seventies for architects. There are still many things that can be done! I know Architects that still keep to the word of mouth and work speaks for itself message, but have elaborated by growing their Network referral system and lead generation efforts. Advertising and marketing doesn't have to be a commercial or an ad in a newspaper, but it should be more than a line in the Yellow Pages or a name and phone number in Google. Unfortunately, with the growing number of Architects in competition, although it may be difficult to stand out, there are many things you can do to get those preferred clients and projects without compromising your professional image
and ethics! :)
piero1910
Aug 12, 11 12:27 am
Architecture is not commercialize by architects, but it is by other people, such as Airlines, Travel agencies, real estate developers and others. Right now, architecture is more commercialized than ever because you can see ads about architecture everywhere.
Aug 12, 11 1:18 am
First off,
Architecture is a SERVICE not a commodity. If anything, advertisements would be similar to attorneys and doctors.
Also architects historically felt that advertising AT ALL is a misleading venture of a fraudulant and deceptive. Nowadays, it is still somewhat a stigma. I believe that most architects don't believe in TV advertisement and such as such advertisements lends to the impression of the SLEEZY USED CARS SALESMAN that are trying to hawk you crap.
It seems to be an idealism that Architects tend to have and sort of live by and therefore conduct business in such manner. It used to be illegal to advertise because you would have your licensed revoked.
Aug 12, 11 1:49 am
Read:
Although UK centric. This is fairly a global wide tradition of the profession in modern sense which came from Europe/UK to U.S. and the modern spread from U.S. to the world in the modern sense of the profession.
Even building designers don't advertise on TV except construction contractors which may offer Design-Build but most building designers that engage as "Building Designers" not construction services tends not to advertise and until the last 10-15 years.
I think nowadays, advertisement of services are primarily Yellow Pages ads which are more for providing contact information. I think for most of us, TV commercials are not only expensive (except maybe a local TV station which essentially a digital version of a Yellow Pages ad placed on the screen for 10-15 seconds at a time. Most of us do not feel that TV commercials in the traditional sense is really in our interests and lends the SLEEZY High-Pressure Salesman image. It is the PROFESSIONAL IMAGE that we try to aim for.
We want the word of mouth and our "work" do all the talking.
michellestewart
May 17, 17 9:09 am
I absolutely agree that in a perfect world, an architect's work and referral system should be enough. But since the recession, we've learned that those traditional advertising and marketing efforts don't produce the lifestyle that most people are looking for. Just like any field, you want and enjoy a specific type of project usually and prefer a specific type of client. It takes targeted marketing and advertising to find those. It doesn't have to be super expensive, just do your research and you will find that many Architects are branching out and getting creative in the area of advertising and marketing in order to have the type of career they dreamed about. :)
SANEinaCRAZYwrld
Aug 12, 11 9:44 pm
If they do film commercials they better not be as cheesy and sleazy as the ones i've seen for law firms. I feel like that would just downgrade the whole profession.
michellestewart
May 17, 17 9:05 am
That's how they felt in the early nineteen-hundreds. Although I fully agree that any marketing or advertising endeavor should be tasteful. To be perfectly honest, I would rather see architect commercials all day long as opposed to lawyers! ;)
michellestewart
May 17, 17 9:06 am
Although when I see cheesy or ridiculous marketing commercials, I don't personally look at the field they are in ad much as the professional themselves
Gregory Walker
Aug 13, 11 4:35 pm
it's not a tv show, but i did stumble across a firm ad/app that MAKE architects did for the ipad a couple weeks ago (this is Ken the Pen's firm in London). Content wise, it's not much different from a website, but found it intriguing they went to the trouble to make a true, full on app.
in the itunes store, free, under Make Architect
l0sts0ul
Aug 15, 11 1:08 pm
Isn't illegal for architects to advertise on television? The management class I was barely awake for... I remember dozing back into class with my instructor stating that.
michellestewart
May 17, 17 9:03 am
Not at all illegal. Its not commonly practiced, but there are even Architects still out there that believe it still illegal to advertise. It's all about mindset and effective marketing and advertising measures taken that will target and bring in preferred clients and projects. Market away!
michellestewart
May 17, 17 8:38 am
Up until the justice department began investigating the advertising and marketing regulations on architects in the 1970s, it was considered unbecoming and condemned for an architect to advertise or market their firm. Although it's true that you don't really see many TV commercial ads for architects, architects in the United States are finally coming around to understanding that they have a right to market their professional services just as much as anyone else. We all get tired of seeing advertising, but I would rather see an advertisement from an architect or another profession as opposed to what's already out there. Since the recession, Architects are aware that the Yellow Pages ad or a simple name and address on Google just doesn't work anymore, not if Architects are trying to grow their business and secure the clients and specific types of projects they want.
flatroof
May 17, 17 8:44 am
Contractor giving you the run around?
Wife wants the addition done in time for summer?
Want it to look like an amorphous blob?
BETTER CALL SAUL GOODMAN FOR ALL YOUR ARCHITECTURAL NEEDS!!!
thisisnotmyname
May 17, 17 12:27 pm
Late one night, I saw a 30 second commercial by a large local firm that does a lot of government and institutional work. Images of projects and footage of the senior staff walking through the office. It was very odd.
Erik Evens
May 19, 17 8:43 pm
Not really a "commercial", per se, but a promotional video: My friend Jeff Dungan did this a while back, and has it on his website. I thiink something like this, which gives a prospective client an idea of what it might be like to work with the architect, can be a very effective marketing tool.
Apparently you've never hear of Bjarke. He uses video to sell investors on projects.
x-jla
May 20, 17 10:37 am
You also don't see Ferrari or Bentley commercials. Commercials for architects would be a waste of money. Marketing to a broad audience where only a small % can afford the service and only a small % of them would need it.
Well, yes. I have only found three. Three. And two of them were slideshows that featured stale pictures and soft jazz. And the other commercial shows an architecture flushing a toilet and digging around in compost.
So, anyone know of any good videos giving a decent overview of a firm and its work?
I sort of had the same question a while back. This might help:
http://archinect.com/forum/thread/101747/marketing-in-architecture
The AIA ran TV commercials on Sunday morning news shows a few years back. They don't seem to show up on Google or YouTube, though.
So, I'm taking it as a no?
As I replied below, it is definitely legal, I just personally don't believe it would be very effective. I think that growing a referral Network and changing up lead generation methods would be a great start to both short and long-term client growth! :) and without question, have a really great website with quality, valuable content for search engine optimization. Believe it or not, it works much better than Google over the long term.
i always thought that architects could break into the mainstream if they marketed their firms as home improvement chains rather than one-offs. if someone set up offices in multiple locations with branding and everything else (commercials, etc). anyone looking to renovate or build would automatically think of them first, you know?
Very interesting and innovative theory!
There is a long standing stigma that existed for a long time. Architects like Doctors and Lawyers in the past considered advertisement in ANY form other than word of mouth as unprofessional. For a period of time, it was even illegal. AIA used to fine members for advertising. However, lawyers and doctors started advertsing before Architects.
Pretty much TV advertisements of architects (even less so - building designers) are largely considered in the stigma like acting like a used cars salesman. Professionals don't want to promote prices and other such tactics that resembles sales pitch and such in general.
Most such commercials would be similar to doctors and lawyers. Most stick to phone-book advertisements which basically states the kinds of services offered and project types and contact info. Maybe a little subtle pictorial image of a noted work as a background image.
I haven't really seen any building designer ad on TV.... EVER ! ! ! !
It just doesn't make sense to put architectural products on TV.
TV is best suited for FMCGs (Fast Moving Consumer Goods), the sort of product that can be flashed on a screen for 3 seconds, and the audience will "get it". Notice that electronics sold on TV ads list very little in terms of statistics, and generally feature grinning people talking to their wives or kids and living the high life. Same with banks. Information that involves numbers and statistics are suited to print media, not television; people need it on hand to keep referring to it.
Now an architect may be able to spot the most interesting design details in 3 seconds, but as a layman, I can't. We need more time than that; a 3 second clip may as well advertise the furniture that's showing, or one wall, but not the entirety of design. Consider that we can spend an hour in a show flat and still not "get it", let alone on a TV ad.
Finally, architecture is just not the sort of thing people go out and buy. It's like an industrial company deciding to advertise machine ball bearings on TV. *Someone* may buy it, sure, but do those one or two people justify the jaw dropping cost of a TV ad?
I personally don't believe that a TV ad for Architects would be beneficial. The architecture field is wildly different from other professions in that the advertising and marketing efforts already achieved are minimal because it was just deemed legal to advertise in the nineteen-seventies for architects. There are still many things that can be done! I know Architects that still keep to the word of mouth and work speaks for itself message, but have elaborated by growing their Network referral system and lead generation efforts. Advertising and marketing doesn't have to be a commercial or an ad in a newspaper, but it should be more than a line in the Yellow Pages or a name and phone number in Google. Unfortunately, with the growing number of Architects in competition, although it may be difficult to stand out, there are many things you can do to get those preferred clients and projects without compromising your professional image
and ethics! :)
Architecture is not commercialize by architects, but it is by other people, such as Airlines, Travel agencies, real estate developers and others. Right now, architecture is more commercialized than ever because you can see ads about architecture everywhere.
First off,
Architecture is a SERVICE not a commodity. If anything, advertisements would be similar to attorneys and doctors.
Also architects historically felt that advertising AT ALL is a misleading venture of a fraudulant and deceptive. Nowadays, it is still somewhat a stigma. I believe that most architects don't believe in TV advertisement and such as such advertisements lends to the impression of the SLEEZY USED CARS SALESMAN that are trying to hawk you crap.
It seems to be an idealism that Architects tend to have and sort of live by and therefore conduct business in such manner. It used to be illegal to advertise because you would have your licensed revoked.
Read:
Although UK centric. This is fairly a global wide tradition of the profession in modern sense which came from Europe/UK to U.S. and the modern spread from U.S. to the world in the modern sense of the profession.
Anyway, a nice read:
http://www.squidoo.com/marketing-for-architects
Even building designers don't advertise on TV except construction contractors which may offer Design-Build but most building designers that engage as "Building Designers" not construction services tends not to advertise and until the last 10-15 years.
I think nowadays, advertisement of services are primarily Yellow Pages ads which are more for providing contact information. I think for most of us, TV commercials are not only expensive (except maybe a local TV station which essentially a digital version of a Yellow Pages ad placed on the screen for 10-15 seconds at a time. Most of us do not feel that TV commercials in the traditional sense is really in our interests and lends the SLEEZY High-Pressure Salesman image. It is the PROFESSIONAL IMAGE that we try to aim for.
We want the word of mouth and our "work" do all the talking.
I absolutely agree that in a perfect world, an architect's work and referral system should be enough. But since the recession, we've learned that those traditional advertising and marketing efforts don't produce the lifestyle that most people are looking for. Just like any field, you want and enjoy a specific type of project usually and prefer a specific type of client. It takes targeted marketing and advertising to find those. It doesn't have to be super expensive, just do your research and you will find that many Architects are branching out and getting creative in the area of advertising and marketing in order to have the type of career they dreamed about. :)
If they do film commercials they better not be as cheesy and sleazy as the ones i've seen for law firms. I feel like that would just downgrade the whole profession.
That's how they felt in the early nineteen-hundreds. Although I fully agree that any marketing or advertising endeavor should be tasteful. To be perfectly honest, I would rather see architect commercials all day long as opposed to lawyers! ;)
Although when I see cheesy or ridiculous marketing commercials, I don't personally look at the field they are in ad much as the professional themselves
it's not a tv show, but i did stumble across a firm ad/app that MAKE architects did for the ipad a couple weeks ago (this is Ken the Pen's firm in London). Content wise, it's not much different from a website, but found it intriguing they went to the trouble to make a true, full on app.
in the itunes store, free, under Make Architect
Isn't illegal for architects to advertise on television? The management class I was barely awake for... I remember dozing back into class with my instructor stating that.
Not at all illegal. Its not commonly practiced, but there are even Architects still out there that believe it still illegal to advertise. It's all about mindset and effective marketing and advertising measures taken that will target and bring in preferred clients and projects. Market away!
Up until the justice department began investigating the advertising and marketing regulations on architects in the 1970s, it was considered unbecoming and condemned for an architect to advertise or market their firm. Although it's true that you don't really see many TV commercial ads for architects, architects in the United States are finally coming around to understanding that they have a right to market their professional services just as much as anyone else. We all get tired of seeing advertising, but I would rather see an advertisement from an architect or another profession as opposed to what's already out there. Since the recession, Architects are aware that the Yellow Pages ad or a simple name and address on Google just doesn't work anymore, not if Architects are trying to grow their business and secure the clients and specific types of projects they want.
Contractor giving you the run around?
Wife wants the addition done in time for summer?
Want it to look like an amorphous blob?
BETTER CALL SAUL GOODMAN FOR ALL YOUR ARCHITECTURAL NEEDS!!!
Late one night, I saw a 30 second commercial by a large local firm that does a lot of government and institutional work. Images of projects and footage of the senior staff walking through the office. It was very odd.
Not really a "commercial", per se, but a promotional video: My friend Jeff Dungan did this a while back, and has it on his website. I thiink something like this, which gives a prospective client an idea of what it might be like to work with the architect, can be a very effective marketing tool.
https://www.jeffreydungan.com/video/
Architecture firm commercials? Do they exist?
Yes. They're called buildings.
Apparently you've never hear of Bjarke. He uses video to sell investors on projects.
You also don't see Ferrari or Bentley commercials. Commercials for architects would be a waste of money. Marketing to a broad audience where only a small % can afford the service and only a small % of them would need it.
Yes, I made one for my own office a while back. Got 1000% more clients since then. http://jjqad.tumblr.com/post/150453935462/made-a-very-descriptive-promo-video-for-my-office
I don't get it...