The Challenge

SmithGroup is the largest architect bureau in the Washington DC area. It is over 150 years old, having been founded in 1853. SmtihGroup was already multidisciplinary by the turn of the century.

During the 60s and 70s, one office turned into several offices in several cities. A series of mergers and acquisitions in the last 10 years has given it core competenties in architecture, engineering and planning in the following client areas:

•  health
• learning
• research
• office/workspace
• technologies
• cities / communities

That kind of growth can lead to challenges as to the identity of the company as a whole and how best to present the firm to the marketplace. Do you present the company as a monolithic single unit, or as a series of specialized units operating independently of each other? How do you sum up what the company does in a couple of sentences (elevator pitch). What are the key message points that all marketing communications must deliver?

The Process

Under the guidance of RMR & Associates, SmithGroup's principals came together and participated in a Positioning and Messaging Workshop. They worked through the messaging challenges and crafted a messaging platform that all the principals could agree on. 

The Result

The principals as well as the marketing department agree that achieving alignment on positioning in the market and messaging towards the market are priceless achievements to have made, and are using the messaging platform regularly in communicating to the outside world. "One of the best investments we made all year" is the general consensus.