Marketing & Branding Archives - Friedman & Partners

Breaking the Mold: One Firm’s Journey to Becoming a “Design Collaborative” and Why It Matters

It’s not unusual for an AEC firm to re-examine and refine their mission, vision or even their core values on a regular basis. Many firms do this during their annual strategic planning process, which may result in a tweak here and a readjustment there. Much less frequently do we see firms completely revamp their firm’s direction and brand in the way that Bergmeyer did beginning in 2020 when the firm transitioned from a traditional architecture/interior design firm into what they’ve termed a “design collaborative.” The rationale that drove this transformation, along with the process and ultimate benefits, are the focus of this edition of The Friedman File.

The Value in Being a “Design Collaborative”

A cynic might perceive Bergmeyer’s transition to a “design collaborative” as little more than a cosmetic marketing exercise designed to help them stand out in a crowded field. The firm’s leadership— […]

By Rich Friedman|2025-08-06T09:34:07-04:00August 2025|Business Strategy, Case Studies, Marketing & Branding|

The Digital Asset Challenge: Using Technology to Improve Organization & Efficiency

One of the most challenging aspects of marketing and business development in the AEC industry is the organization, management, and accessibility of digital assets, including project photographs, headshots, renderings, and other imagery. Increasingly, AEC firms are turning to technology to solve this challenge. In this edition of The Friedman File, we explore how digital asset management (DAM) technology can increase efficiency, enhance proposal preparation, and reduce frustration for your marketing and business development team.

What is DAM, and Why Don’t More Firms Use It?

For architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms, efficiently organizing and retrieving digital assets is essential to successful marketing and business development. Yet many firms still rely on outdated systems or manually curated folders that limit productivity, create redundancy, and strain resources during high-stakes proposal preparation.

Digital asset management (DAM) systems streamline this process by providing a centralized, searchable platform that accelerates workflows, […]

By Rich Friedman|2024-11-11T09:56:11-05:00November 2024|Business Development, Business Strategy, Case Studies, Marketing & Branding|

Living the Dream: PAE Engineers’ HQ Embodies an Aspirational Vision

PAE Engineers enjoys a unique symbol of its brand identity – the company’s Portland headquarters office, which is the world’s first developer-driven Living Building. In this edition of The Friedman File, we look at how 375-person PAE Engineers achieved the multiple benefits of creating a sustainable, resilient and cost-effective speculative mixed-use building that serves as its main office, as well as an investment property, marketing jewel and beacon of the firm’s vision, mission, principles and values.

PAE’s Living Building Challenge

The PAE Living Building is a five-story, 58,000-square-foot mixed-use building located in a historic neighborhood in Portland. Designed to last 500 years, the comfortable, modern and functional structure uses far less energy, water, and material than comparable buildings of its size. The largest commercial urban Living Building in the world, it “demonstrates how the built environment can achieve the deep and immediate carbon emission reductions […]

By Rich Friedman|2024-02-05T20:01:23-05:00February 2024|Business Strategy, Case Studies, Marketing & Branding, Recruiting & Retaining Talent|

What’s Your Special Sauce?

In this issue of “The Friedman File”, I’ve asked Brand Strategist Nancy Jenner of D&CO (Carlisle, Massachusetts) (www.designandco.net) to discuss the importance of understanding and communicating your firm’s value and differentiators. Each year, I conduct hundreds of third-party interviews with my clients’ clients. In these interviews, I’m often told that my client looks/sounds/feels a lot like other AEC firms. Knowing your firm’s “special sauce” is more important now than ever—not just in business development, but also recruitment and retention. I look forward to your comments and questions at rich@friedmanpartners.com or 508-276-1101.

Understanding and leveraging your company’s unique assets and value to build awareness and engagement

When asked, most people can name a company or brand that feels distinctive and strong, one that seems particularly clear about what they do or sell. Large global corporations with long histories or huge marketing budgets might come […]

By Rich Friedman|2024-06-21T13:10:39-04:00June 2022|Business Development, Marketing & Branding, Recruiting & Retaining Talent|

Putting it on the Line: Equal Opportunity Theory in Practice

Policies promoting equal opportunity have long been standard in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, but putting these policies into practice is not as common. In this installment of The Friedman File, we examine how three firms elevated the spirit of equal opportunity into actions delivering tangible benefits.

A “Chance” Meeting

Three years ago, Al Spagnolo and Troy Depeiza were among a handful of architects competing for a project. Neither won. And both did.

Their chance meeting sparked a friendship and formal partnership that underscores the concepts on which the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) movement is based. Spagnolo’s multidiscipline design firm, SGA, is renowned for its work in life sciences and higher education. It celebrated its 30^th Anniversary in January. Depeiza founded DREAM Collaborative, LLC, in 2008 with fellow Caribbean-born architect Greg Minott, but it wasn’t until 2014 that the workload allowed them to […]

By Rich Friedman|2022-01-07T17:19:02-05:00January 2022|Business Strategy, Case Studies, Leadership, Marketing & Branding|

The Pandemic’s Impact on Marketing and Business Development: One Firm’s Story

Forward-thinking AEC firms are institutionalizing the best of the changes that the COVID-19 pandemic forced on the business world and our industry. In this issue of The Friedman File, we detail how one firm effectively adapted its marketing and business development strategy to align with the realities of the post-COVID market.

Adapting to a Pandemic

The larger lessons of the pandemic can’t be overstated. As devastating as the COVID-19 pandemic has been to the planet, it has also underscored the adaptability and resilience of the human race. While fatalities mounted and economies crumbled, individuals and communities found a way to move forward.

Within this profound setting, we find many examples of this determination to keep on keeping on. In the narrower context of The Friedman File, the strategic decisions and bold steps taken by AEC firms to counter the effects of the pandemic are instructional.

For example, […]

By Rich Friedman|2021-10-14T10:46:14-04:00October 2021|Business Development, Case Studies, Marketing & Branding|

2020: Lessons learned and where we go from here

If there’s one phrase that describes 2020, it is not “business as usual.” The ways in which A/E/C and environmental consulting firms have fared in this unprecedented year have been as varied as the businesses that they run. In this issue of The Friedman File, we’re sharing some lessons learned, how firms have coped (or thrived) and what we see as ways forward in a still uncertain landscape.

Leading during crisis

While I’ve long advocated for transparent management, 2020 has required that on a whole new level. At times of economic uncertainty, employees look to their leaders to chart a course, to have a plan and to enact, if necessary, transformational changes or survival measures. It hasn’t been easy to be a leader this year, but many have risen to the challenge: enlisting staff in the need to create new services, implementing firmwide business development […]

By Rich Friedman|2020-12-09T10:56:45-05:00December 2020|Business Development, Business Strategy, Case Studies, Leadership, Marketing & Branding|

Baking business development into your culture: how this firm did it

In my many years of advising AEC and environmental consulting firms on effective business development practices, I’ve seen that firms who are successful have several things in common:

They understand the need to position themselves within their key markets using a one-to-many marketing strategy (instead of relying solely on 1:1 relationship-building).
They put systems in place that allow that strategy to deliver valuable data that can drive and inform BD strategy and implementation.
They align both business development and marketing efforts to clear and client-focused business plans for each of their key markets.

This level of strategy and focus is what allows firms to successfully drive growth, brand and client relationships. But it’s not always easy to implement. Trying to drive the effort from the marketing department without enforcement and accountability from the top is rarely effective. Employing marketing and BD tactics without clear […]

By Rich Friedman|2020-10-01T11:18:53-04:00October 2020|Business Development, Business Strategy, Case Studies, Marketing & Branding|

4 questions to ask before you finalize your marketing budget

It’s year-end, and you know what that means: budget season. It also means that your marketing efforts and expenditures may be under the microscope. As firms grapple with how much to spend in this critical area — and what to spend it on – one of the most common questions we hear is, “What percentage of net service revenue should we spend on marketing and business development?”

While there are benchmarks, the real answer is, “It depends.” And, in fact, there are other important questions that I encourage you to answer first. In this issue of The Friedman File, we’re diving deeper into marketing and BD expenses and how you can create a budget that’s aligned to your business goals and better designed for success.

The role of benchmarks

On average, it’s fair to say that AEC industry firms spend 5-6% of net service revenue on […]

By Rich Friedman|2019-12-05T17:14:46-05:00December 2019|Business Development, Marketing & Branding|

Curating conversations: how one firm took a nontraditional approach to market positioning

In the years that Friedman & Partners has been in business, we have again and again seen the power of successful thought leadership efforts to ignite business. And yet, there are still many firms that get stuck in effectively adapting this proven marketing strategy and implementing it consistently.

That’s why, in this issue of The Friedman File, we’re sharing how one firm has taken a creative approach to becoming a trusted advisor in a niche market. Here’s what 120-person A/E firm GLMVArchitecture (Wichita, KS) did in their zoos and aquariums practice, and what they’ve learned along the way.

“In many industries, we become insular in the way that we think,” says organizational development consultant and self-proclaimed zoo nerd Michael Clifford, GLMV’s Curator of Innovation and Partnerships, who runs the firm’s ECHO Initiative. “Zoos are established organizations, often run by municipalities and private 503(c)3s, and are not […]

By Rich Friedman|2019-10-06T22:47:36-04:00October 2019|Business Development, Case Studies, Market/Client Research, Marketing & Branding|