TZL 1474

9

OPINION

Adaptive reuse in marketing

By applying various levels of rewriting, redesign, and repackaging, you can successfully bring adaptive reuse concepts into your AEC marketing realm.

A daptive reuse is defined as reusing existing buildings in lieu of constructing new buildings through various levels of renovation, urban design, historic preservation, and performance retrofits, according to the AIA Adaptive Reuse Practice Guide.

Adaptive reuse is an accepted and often lauded approach and has many benefits over the wrecking ball or paving paradise. These benefits are abundant in the areas of environmental and economic sustainability, comparative speed of completion, and overall character and quality. As AEC marketers, what lessons can we take away from this adaptive reuse approach? Old buildings with good bones are the core of adaptive reuse projects in the architectural realm. The best adaptive reuse candidates have solid foundations, structural integrity, and retained character or original features. For AEC marketers, brochures, project promotions, and marketing approaches from the past are examples of counterpart components for adaptive reuse. The evaluation points for their good bones

could include things like: distinctive copy that still strongly represents your mission, vision, or core services; hand detailed imagery that speaks to the legacy or beginnings of your firm; or even details like fonts or unique page layouts. Any firm that has some organizational longevity can and should be revisiting these resources from the past and determining what foundational, structural, and original elements exist. Have you ever spent time looking at a blank page or laptop monitor, waiting for inspiration to strike? Adaptive reuse in marketing can jump-start your creative mind and give you a head start. You don’t have to start from nothing. Instead, pick up where someone else left off and propel your marketing forward. All firms can benefit from looking back … or around.

Jane Lawler Smith

See JANE LAWLER SMITH, page 10

THE ZWEIG LETTER JANUARY 30, 2023, ISSUE 1474

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