What We Can Learn From Marketers Making A Difference, SMPS Marketer, December 2012

Society for Marketing Professional Services

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BY LINDA MASTAGLIO, ABC, AND MATT HANDAL

What We Can Learn from Marketers Making a Difference

Marketer/December 2012

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Great marketing happens when people open their minds to inventive ideas. We asked the members of SMPS to tell us about people who are unleashing new ideas

to elevate their firms’ marketing programs and cultures. We met marketing coordinators, directors, vice presidents, and everyone in between. While we can’t highlight every story we heard, following are a handful that might inspire your own creativity and innovative thinking in 2013.

The Game ChangerFive years ago, the green building movement began to gain steam by showing true return on investment for owners and clients—yet it had not been widely pursued in the parking industry. Parking—the primary focus of Philadelphia-based Timothy Haahs & Associates, Inc. (TimHaahs)—creates significant opportunities to support sustainable planning, design, and construction, yet much of the green building industry largely ignored the issue. Rachel Yoka, CPSM, TimHaahs’ first vice president of strategic business planning and sustainability, decided to leverage this window of opportunity.

She pursued the LEED AP designation, earned the BD+C credential, and then decided to do more than just pursue continuing education credits. Yoka conducted research, created and hosted programs, and motivated her colleagues to pursue LEED accreditation for technical professionals as well as management and leadership. In one year, the firm shifted from a few outlier APs to more than 25% staff accreditation. She launched and spearheaded the firm’s Sustainability Initiative, educating staff on internal office sustainability programs as well as client-driven solutions that are now integrated into the firm’s projects. These strategies include green roofs and walls, cool roofing and lighting choices, renewable energy production, and water management and preservation.

According to President Timothy Haahs, P.E., AIA, “The thing that set Rachel apart was her ability to learn, process, and teach architects and engineers about LEED and sustainable design, as a non-technical professional. We realized her ability to speak and write on these topics and continue to make this a part of our strategy for differentiation.”

Yoka’s research contributed to a 2012 report produced by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific: “Low Carbon Green Growth Roadmap for Asia and the Pacific: Turning Resource Constraints and the Climate Crisis into Economic Growth Opportunities.” The report outlines a series of policies and strategies to promote economic growth in developing countries, providing governments and policymakers with policy options for pursuing low-carbon green growth and guidelines for implementing those options.

Yoka was selected as the 2012 Parking Professional of the Year by the International Parking Institute. She continues to speak, educate, and write on sustainability in the parking and transportation industries as she works on TimHaahs’ international expansion.

The Collaborative CommunicatorRunning a corporate marketing department for a global company with a staff of two is no small feat, but Maribel Castillo, associate vice president and director of corporate communications, has figured out how to do it at T.Y. Lin International (TYLI). Her team is credited with helping increase revenue from $163 million in 2009 to $250 million in 2011.

Here is her approach: Assist the company’s 35 marketers to work together, to collaborate, and to execute strategic marketing programs.

“Great marketing happens when people open their minds to inventive ideas.”

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“Her success comes from cultivating a vision that everyone can buy into and then encouraging individuals’ strengths so that they shine in their specific areas of expertise,” says Pam Ching, the firm’s senior marketing coordinator. “Maribel guides marketers across more than 50 offices to embrace a common purpose and share knowledge and resources.”

By using this platform prudently and practically, TYLI’s corporate marketing department has successfully implemented strategic initiatives including a new client relationship management database, a global Web site in English and Chinese, an internal communications program, and a social media campaign that has generated more than 3,540 followers on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

In the past three years, Castillo’s team also has garnered a record-breaking number of accolades, including six awards for TYLI’s new Web site, which won an SMPS Marketing Communications Award (MCA). The team also earned three MCAs in the categories of media relations, brochure, and internal newsletter.

So, what is Castillo’s secret? “She brings the kind of forward-thinking and energy that TYLI needs to compete in the global market,” says Marwan Nader, a TYLI vice president.

The President and COOOne of the people we heard about is an unexpected champion of marketing: He is Robert Scaer, P.E., the president and chief operating officer of Gannett Fleming.

Gannett Fleming’s marketing traditionally had been executed in silos. The various divisions of the company hired their own marketing representatives, who rarely communicated, making it difficult to ensure marketing standards across the board and comprehensive messaging across the enterprise. Scaer supported the consolidation of marketing into one team and changed the dynamic of marketing throughout the company.

With all marketing now in one shop, the team is drawing on everyone’s combined talents, energies, and creativity. The team provides a consistent and comprehensive message across the enterprise. This marketing strategy has been especially valued as companies continue to weather tough economic times.

Scaer told his people that smart marketing would be critical for acquiring work and positioning the firm for better days. He called his strategy the “chicken-in-every-pot” initiative after a 1928 presidential campaign advertisement. For Gannett Fleming, “a chicken in every pot” means each region has a marketing champion who helps to drive business growth. With marketing and business development working together, the 2,000-person firm created

Megen BriarsDirector of Marketing

OKW Architects Inc.

Chicago, IL

www.okwarchitects.com

Wendy BurkeDirector of Business Development

HOAR Construction

Houston, TX

www.hoarllc.com

Maribel CastilloAssociate Vice President, Director of Corporate Communications

T.Y. Lin International

San Francisco, CA

www.tylin.com

Kelly McNair, CPSMMarketing Systems Manager

Barton Malow Company

Southfield, MI

www.bartonmalow.com

Professionals Featured in This Article

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54 marketing and business plans in 2011. Scaer offered feedback for each business plan and helps staff remain accountable for executing the plans and achieving revenue and profit goals.

Now, strategic business planning and strategic marketing are common terms used throughout the company, demonstrating how the firm values an integrated approach to marketing and business development to achieve business goals.

When Scaer introduced the firm’s first CRM system, he worked to make sure employees understood how the system supports marketing and business development. He let them know why they should make the change, instead of just telling them what to change. He also encourages employee involvement in professional organizations so that they become lifelong learners. At Gannett Fleming, 14 employees are members of SMPS; 8 of them are CPSMs.

The BuildersSeeking to help women succeed in the A/E/C business, Wendy Burke, director of business development with HOAR Construction in Houston, and Amy Moen, CPSM, vice president and director of marketing for Haynes Whaley Associates, two years ago founded WiSER: Women in Sales Executive Roles. “SMPS is a fantastic organization, but we wanted something senior-level and totally sales-focused,” Burke says.

The group’s mission is to provide a forum for female sales executives to expand their personal ties and influence and, consequently, increase the value of their professional networks—and thus themselves—to their A/E/C firms. They targeted senior-level saleswomen and limited membership to just 60, using a formal application process. Ten percent of the group’s members are younger women who are collectively mentored.

The group meets monthly and features speakers about half the time, recently including Houston Mayor Annise Parker. “Our speakers focus on their lessons learned and critical success factors, helping us leverage their experience,” Burke says. In August, a WiSER chapter began in Dallas, and the founders anticipate several more chapters in the next few years.

Amy Moen, CPSMAssociate Vice President, Director of Marketing

Haynes Whaley Associates Inc.

Houston, TX

www.hayneswhaley.com

Robert Scaer, P.E.President and Chief Operating Officer

Gannett Fleming

Harrisburg, PA

www.gannettfleming.com

Jeffrey Taub, CPSMSenior Marketing Specialist

VHB

New York, NY

www.vhb.com

Rachel Yoka, LEED AP BD+C, CNU-A, CPSM Vice President, Strategic Business Planning and Sustainability

Timothy Haahs & Associates

Blue Bell, PA

www.timhaahs.com

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The Big-Picture ThinkerKelly McNair, CPSM, marketing systems manager at Barton Malow, thinks big but uses a soft touch. Marketing director Donna Jakubowicz, FSMPS, CPSM, calls McNair the firm’s “marketing secret weapon.”

“Kelly’s overall approach to marketing and communications is holistic,” says Jakubowicz. “She looks at the bigger picture to determine positive impact to the largest, yet targeted, audience. She seeks to fit every assignment into the bigger picture of how what she does will further client relationship development and thereby positively impact Barton Malow’s bottom line.”

McNair’s recent initiatives for Barton Malow include implementing a cloud-based system for digital asset management (graphics, photos, and video) and turning the firm’s desktop-based Filemaker database (for boilerplate text, staff resumes, and project experience) into one that could be accessed by remote business development staff through the Web. (The total one-time cost for the latter was approximately $300, which is much less than systems used by many firms.)

According to Jakubowicz, McNair has the ability to “sway hearts and minds with her quiet confidence. She researches possible outcomes and presents the facts to back up her suggested solutions. Like Lyndon B. Johnson, she approaches building consensus by working behind the scenes with individuals. By the time the larger group of decision-makers convenes, she goes in knowing the majority agree with her ideas and solutions.”

The EthicistJeffrey Taub, CPSM, senior marketing specialist at VHB, both walks the walk and talks the talk of ethical marketing, including letting clients know the implications of hiring his firm.

According to Thomas Phelan, VHB’s Newark, NJ, office manager, professional integrity has been a hallmark of Taub’s 12-year career as a marketer.

“As the marketing director of Eng-Wong, Taub & Associates, an MBE-certified firm which merged with VHB in 2011, Jeffrey was in a position of profound ethical responsibility in representing our MBE status to teaming partners,” Phelan says. “New York City’s Local Law 129 stated that no MBE credit would be granted for Asian-American businesses (such as Eng-Wong, Taub & Associates) providing professional services. Jeffrey first educated our clients of this statute and proceeded to diligently cite the statute when we were approached by teaming partners—even as our firm continued to be MBE-certified by the city. He could have said nothing but chose instead to warn and educate prospective business partners about the law’s implications for MBE utilization goals in their proposals.”

Taub’s articles on marketing ethics and hiring MBE firms have been published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers and Real Estate Weekly.

In 2011, Maribel Castillo co-led the publication of The Bridge at Hoover Dam, an award-winning monograph by photographer Jamey Stillings and T.Y. Lin International, which commemorates the opening of the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Bridge, also known as the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge. The book has become a key marketing piece for the firm, and it has been distributed to TYLI’s clients around the world.

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Many thanks…To the many people who contributed to this article:

Heather Askew

Megen Briars

Arica Bukowski

Wendy Burke

Matthew Campbell

Maribel Castillo

Pam Ching

Michael Costa, CPA

Ali Detar, CPSM

Danielle Feroleto, CPSM

Heather Hetherington

Donna Jakubowicz, FSMPS, CPSM

Judy Kienle, MPH, CPSM

Peter Kienle, FSMPS, CPSM

Megan Kocchi

Megan Leinart, LEED AP BD+C

Julie Lougee

Kelly McNair, CPSM

Sylvia Montgomery, CPSM

Thomas Phelan

Robert Scaer, P.E.

Lindsay Scherr

Lisa Mary Shamakovh

Jeffrey Taub, CPSM

Mindy Wolfle

Rachel Yoka, LEED AP BD+C, CNU-A, CPSM

The Chapter LeaderIn 2008, Megen Briars, director of marketing at OKW Architects, Inc., accepted the position of communications chair for SMPS Chicago. “Although her term as chair officially started in 2010, she took on chair responsibilities with no questions asked in 2008,” says chapter member Heather Askew. “She saw there was a need for structure and an opportunity to strengthen the chapter through communications, and she has done that.”

From scratch, Briars created communications best practices, a strategic plan, a committee mission statement, and roles and responsibilities statements.

In 2010, she conducted surveys and found that many member frustrations could be fixed by effective communications. “She went through hours and hours of Webinars on event registration systems and Web site platforms,” adds Askew. She brought the Cvent registration system to the chapter as well as a new Wordpress Web site designed by SMPS Washington, DC, member Frankie Bailey. These two communication platforms increased event registration by more than 20% by improving the user registration experience.

Briars also enhanced the benefits for chapter sponsors with features such as a “Sponsor Spotlight” in the chapter’s newsletter, premium space on the home page, unique sponsor logo space on all Web site pages, and “Sponsor Shoutout” Wednesdays on Twitter.

What’s Your Story?How will you innovate, influence, or inspire collaboration, client service, communication, brand, technology, processes, or profitability in your firm, community, or chapter in 2013? Share your story with us!

About the Authors

Contributing Editor Linda Mastaglio, ABC, who wrote the “Marketers Perform Their Own Reality Checks” cover story in the February 2011 issue, has helped many engineering, architecture, and construction firms use public relations and marketing to improve their businesses, their reputations, and their bottom lines. Linda can be reached at 903.963.8923 or [email protected].

Contributing Editor Matt Handal, who interviewed Cordell Parvin in the August 2012 issue, serves as business development manager for Trauner Consulting Services, Inc. (www.traunerconsulting.com), and as producer of the Construction Netcast podcast. He can be reached at [email protected] or Twitter.com’s @MattHandal. Subscribe to his articles at HelpEverybodyEveryday.com.