Image from myredsoxtoday.com
Yesterday proved to be a much more productive SMPS conference experience. In addition to achieving progress on a significant new initiative (too early to report here), I learned more about the strengths and weaknesses of social media and gained some powerful insights into the real challenges and opportunities of marketing staff within architectural, engineering and construction businesses.
One speaker, Sally Handley, reminded me how new marketing is within this industry – as late as the 1970s, the American Institute of Architects essentially banned advertising and assertive marketing; and then, under Court pressure, only begrudgingly allowed practitioners to advertise in the most limited manner. Not surprisingly, marketing practices within this industry are way behind other economic sectors.
I have lots of material for future blog entries, but will conclude this posting with observations about value shaped by two parallel non-SMPS experiences yesterday.
In our final conference day plans, Eric and I went to the Red Sox/Rangers Game while Vivian headed to a retailer for some clothing purchases.
The ball game we had chosen had been “oversold” and so I needed to purchase our bleacher seats at double face value. (Expensive, but nowhere near as bad as hockey; these cheap seats were about as cheap as the absolutely worst hockey arena seats you could get.) We decided to walk to the stadium from our hotel, about 25 minutes, an experience in its own right, through downtown Boston.
Arriving about an hour before game time, we had plenty of opportunity to soak in the Fenway Stadium atmosphere and of course purchase a couple of expensive ice creams and water bottles. The game started, moving initially at a slow pace. In the distance we saw thick clouds. They moved closer and closer to the stadium. Then Eric noticed some lightning. We looked at each other and without hesitation, decided, “We’re outa here.” Down the stairs we went, out the exit (to a surprised attendant who warned us we could not return), and to a taxi to our hotel.
We arrived 15 minutes later, turned the television on, and observed grounds crews rolling the tarp over the field as the rain delay started. We smiled. Sure, we missed seven innings of wet baseball, the crowded and chaotic concourse which presumably would have filled with fans waiting for the game to resume, and we avoided the challenge of either walking through heavy rain or hoping to find a (scarce) taxi to get home. By the time the game ended (with a loss for Boston), I was yawning, tired, and ready for bed at 11 p.m.. The stadium had many empty seats. In the hotel I met someone who had given up at the fifth inning.
Vivian’s day proved to be a lot more enjoyable. The department store she visited seemed to want to pile discount on top of discount on high quality merchandise. When things were done, she found many items (including a couple of Red Sox T-shirts for Eric and me) originally priced at $60.00 or more selling for $15.00. The store offered her a credit card with an additional 15 per cent discount. (Surprisingly, initially, the store had no trouble accepting her Canadian address and lack of any U.S. credit rating — it turns out the business has an affiliation with a Canadian counterpart). The savings were magnified by the fact that Ontario now has a 15 per cent Harmonized Sales Tax. For the price of two innings, she picked up about seven great shirts for us!
I’m not going to suggest one experience/circumstance here is more valuable than another. We certainly didn’t regret going to the ball game, and I felt no sense of being ripped off from the expensive (abbreviated) experience. I’m also an advocate of perseverance in marketing and relationships, so here clearly I didn’t live by these standards. (Then again, if attending a ball game is supposed to be entertaining rather than character-building, I suppose it made a whole lot more sense to watch this game on television than in person last night.) From the retailer’s perspective, I’m not sure if the heavy price discounting we observed is good for the long-term health of the business and it may portend more disturbing circumstances for the U.S. economy. How much price-shopping and discounting do we really want to see for AEC services?
This morning, after a complementary hotel breakfast (one of the gifts for the problems earlier this week) we’ll head home, getting back to Ottawa this evening. I will begin adapting and absorbing the experiences ehre as I catch up on the pile of business waiting for my attention at the office.
Tomorrow, you’ll read my first “SMPS Conference Lessons Learned” report — I’ll explore how the new social media is either reshaping the industry or is simply overhyped. What do you think my opinion will be? If you wish, please feel free to express your thoughts ahead of time.
Play Ball!
