Report of the MCAA Marketing Committee
Words: Damian Lang, Colin Faul The Marketing Committee has had a busy year of improving our current programs and launching new initiatives. Appointed at the 2004 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, the Marketing Committee has a new chairman, Damian Lang of Lang Masonry. Also new to the Marketing Department, as of last July, Colin Faul has taken over the role of Director of Marketing, previously the Manager of Professional Development. The committee has worked hard this year to build up member participation in the marketing committee and we are pleased to report the addition of 5 new members to the Marketing Committee.
Excellence in Masonry
We had yet another successful Excellence in Masonry program at the 2004 convention. The program classifications were modified to include 8 categories (Residential, Rehab/Restoration, Governmental/Institutional, Industrial/Commercial, Pavers/Retaining Walls/Landscaping, Education K-8, Education 9-12, Education College/University).
Our efforts to build contractor and architect participation in the program have produced great results this year. A total of 43 projects were submitted, compared to the 30 in 2004. Marketing materials for the program were sent out earlier and we heavily marketed the program to our members, past participants, affiliate chapters/organizations through direct mailers and on our website. The Mason Contractors Association of St Louis was a tremendous help by providing architect and contractor judges for the program.
MCAA Website
The MCAA website, www.masoncontractors.org, continues to flourish and achieve great success. Over the past twenty-four months, the content on the website has expanded by an amazing 5,000% and there has been an astounding 10,000% increase in hits.
Top visited pages include:
- Masonry Showcase
- Buyer's Guide
- Find a Contractor
- Image Gallery
- History of Masonry
- Masonry Career Training Database
- Masonry Glossary
- Technical Resources
- Masonry Headlines
- Resource Catalog
The "Find a Contractor" and "Buyer's Guide" listings are the top used features of our website. Through these features, a visitor can search for any contractor member by state or company name on each page of the website. Similarly, the Buyer's Guide is a company listing that can be used by visitors to find materials and products. The Buyer's Guide lists both associate members and non-member suppliers (who pay to be listed) across the United States, Canada, and as far away as Denmark.
Website design has also become a very popular service to several contractors who have seen the importance of establishing their company online. The MCAA has helped put several contractors and associations online. Since February of 2004, $14,500 has been made on website design.
Masonrysystems.org
The MasonrySystems.org campaign is also gaining momentum and making its impact on the industry. The purpose of the site is to promote the use of masonry, and features several articles and resources, including architectural masonry details, outlining the facts, features, and benefits of masonry compared to competitor products. The national advertisement campaign launched in October 2004 has already driven over 250,000 hits to the site.
National Advertising Campaign for Masonrysystems.org
The campaign has been divided up into phases:
Phase 1 began October 1st and ads were placed in:
Architecture Magazine (6 issues)
Construction Specifier (6 issues)
School Planning & Management (3 issues)
Planning Magazine (3 issues)
(Total reach of over 500,000 subscribers)
Additional Phases will be implemented in two additional phases in five additional magazines as funds become available. Currently funds are being sought to move forward with the additional phases. Advertisements will be varied throughout the campaign using 3-5 different ads which have all received great response.
Masonry: It Makes a Village
New for the 2005 show, the national Masonry: It Makes a Village is one of the new highlight events at the Showcase. Regional contestants from local chapters will participate for a total of 5 teams. This will be a highlight event for MCAA and CSI attendees, promoting masonry and its various uses to Architects and Specifiers. Contest winners will be judged by selected industry experts and also judged by the voting public.
Masonry Industry Council (MIC)
In the last year MCAA has furthered its involvement with MIC with the addition of Colin Faul, Director of Marketing. The MIC is a collaboration of national masonry industry organizations to provide resources for the promotion and education of masonry design and construction information needs. In the past year MIC and MCAA have participated and assisted in the planning of the Federal Officials Seminar, promotion of MIC through exhibiting at World of Masonry and are currently involved in planning a Design/Build Seminar and MIC booth at the Green Building Expo highlighting all national member organizations and the technical resources available from each.
Professor's Workshop
The Professor's Workshop assists College/University professors on how to teach masonry to engineers and architects. MCAA has co-sponsored this annual program through the Masonry Society.