1st Edition
How To Win Work The architect's guide to business development and marketing
You are a great designer, but no-one knows. Now what?
This indispensable book, written by one of the most influential marketers in architecture, will demystify Public Relations and marketing for all architects, whether in large practices or practicing as sole practitioners.
It bridges the distance between architects and marketing by giving practical tips, best practice and anecdotes from an author with 20 years’ experience in architecture marketing. It explains all aspects of PR and Business Development for architects: for example, how to write a good press release; how to make a fee proposal; how to prepare for a pitch. It gives examples of how others do it well, and the pitfalls to avoid. In addition, it discusses more general aspects which are linked to PR and BD, such as being a good employer, ethics for architects and the challenges when working abroad.
Featuring vital insights from a wide variety of architects, from multinational practices to small offices, this book is an essential companion to any architectural office.
1 How we are supposed to work for free
2 We can do better
3 To specialise or not to specialise
4 Marketing: a dirty word
5 Mission and vision
6 Branding and company culture
PUBLIC RELATIONS
7 "If I was down to my last dollar, I would spend it on PR"
7.1 Writing a marketing strategy
8 The office is your business card
9 Your website: your online shop window
10 Your work amidst a changing media landscape
10.1 Print
10.2 Online media
10.3 Social media
10.4 TV and Youtube
10.5 Vlogs and podcasts
10.6 Crisis communication and the outreach that might prevent it
10.7 Others
11 Lectures
12 Receiving or organising awards
13 Your product in the picture
13.1 The drawing
13.2 The render
13.3 Collages and hand-drawings
13.4 Talking to clients: the project text and press release
13.5 The model
14 The built project
15 The project book
16 Exhibitions
17 Prioritising
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
18 Business development, the direct way to win new work
19 Client relationships
20 Who are you as a person, and how do you approach selling?
21 Just do it
22 Going abroad
23 Fairs
24 How to calculate a fee
25 Contracts: managing risks and keeping promises
26 It’s not easy being green
27 The pitch
28 Broadening your portfolio
29 Planning
30 Collaborations
31 Learning from others
32 Styles
33 Ethics for architects
34 Suing your client
35 Spam and fraud
36 Crisis
CASE STUDIES
1 shedkm
2 MgMaStudio
3 Studio MUTT
4 Coffey Architects
5 David Millar Architects
6 Feilden Fowles
7 Turner Works
8 From 0 to 100 staff in 15 years
Biography
Jan Knikker is Partner at MVRDV, leading the Contracts, Business Development and Public Relations efforts. He leads MVRDV’s branding efforts and has overseen the practice’s rapid expansion into new markets, focusing on solutions for global issues through its architecture and urbanism. Jan regularly lectures internationally, at commercial and academic venues in Germany, the UK, Israel, Colombia, Austria, Australia, Kuala Lumpur, and elsewhere. He writes for various publications and was Deputy Editor of Domus 2019.
