by David Koren, Assoc. AIA

When your clients or prospective clients hear your name, what do you think pops into their heads? High design? Attentive service? A specific design style? A specific project? If you’re Frank Gehry, it’s probably the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

These associations with your name and your firm are your brand. You don’t have a choice in the matter. If people know anything at all about your firm, they’ll have an impression of who you are and what you’re about. They’ll file these impressions in their heads for easy recall when somebody mentions your firm’s name.

You can’t control what people remember or what people think of you. But you can influence it. If you decide on a specific brand message for your firm, you may be able to convey it to your audiences in a way they’ll remember. What comes to mind when you think of Federal Express? Chances are it’s the slogan, “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.” Federal Express spent a lot of time and money to get that message into the public’s head, but the result is inestimable in value. It’s the company that most people think of when they think of overnight delivery, consequently it owns a majority of that market.

Clearly, it isn’t feasible for architecture firms to spend millions a year on advertising and brand-building like the Fortune 500. Luckily, you don’t have to. You build your brand with every interaction that people have with your company or your work, whether they call you on the phone, work with you in person, visit your Web site, leaf through your brochure, or live or work in one of your projects.

The consistency of their experiences with you and your work builds your brand—that is, the impression of you that your audiences (clients, the press, the public, etc.) have in their minds. It’s a very powerful force if it’s used effectively. If you say that you’re all about service, and everything you do and everything that people see supports this, they’ll remember it. You’ll become known for service, provided you deliver on your promise.

There are three enormous advantages that companies with clear brands have over those without clear brands: recognition, focus, and trust. Here’s the meaning of each:
Recognition. People can identify you. Example: “Look! The Golden Arches!”
Focus. People know what you do and can easily associate your name with that concept. Examples: “It has to be there overnight, so I’ll use FedEx.”
Trust. People know what to expect from you and they’re confident investing in you. Example: “It’ll work; it’s a Sony.”

If your prospective clients recognize your firm, understand your focus, and know that they can trust you to deliver on your promises, you will have an unbelievable advantage over your competition. Two architectural precedents are Richard Meier and HOK Sport+Venue+Event (an independent division of HOK).

When you think of Richard Meier, you think of white. Most of his firm’s work is white, his Web site is white, and his office is white. His work is recognizable; we know his focus and we know what to expect. Critics might say that his work is always the same, but the strength of Richard Meier’s brand is in the consistency of his work and its presentation. Your impressions of the quality of the work are secondary; whether you’re an ardent Richard Meier fan or not, you know his work and you know his brand.

HOK Sport+Venue+Event is the unchallenged leader in the design of sports arenas. This firm has worked for most of the major baseball and football teams in the United States and has designed arenas around the world. Its name alone gives them a claim in the sports and arena market, and the work of their designers backs that up. Anyone creating a new sports arena would no doubt call them. Which is not to say they would automatically be selected, but that they would be first in the minds of many because of the brand they’ve built through their firm name and their work. The name points out how specific their focus is: These are specialists, and it’s easy to believe that they know what they’re talking about.

Building a successful brand is about finding your message and reinforcing that message consistently in every contact you have with your audience. Your message follows directly from your vision statement. If your vision is to be the premier laboratory design firm in the world, your message might be one of technical expertise. If your vision is to be a firm that designs entertainment venues, your message might be that you’re exciting and flashy. Think about who you want to be and then write down the simple messages you’d like to communicate through your brand.

Copyright 2005 David Koren. Reprinted with permission of publisher, John Wiley & Sons Inc.

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