Building material manufacturers frequently ask me to recommend advertising agencies with building material experience. I have compiled a list of agencies that I share with them. I thought it might be helpful to publish my list.
I have also published a guide to selecting a building materials ad that you can download.
Click Here to Download Our Agency Selection Guide »
The criteria for my list is very simple,
I only include agencies that have a focus on building materials.
My list is in no way a complete list of all the agencies with building materials experience. These are just the agencies I know of and I welcome any suggested additions.
While there are many agencies that will wow you with their creativity, I recommend that a manufacturer look for an agency with building material experience.
Unless you are a major brand who’s focus is the consumer and has a budget that looks too large for these agencies, an agency that understands the business will do a much better job.
I find that larger agencies have to be educated about building materials. Every time a member of your account or creative team leaves, you have to start all over again and educate them. A firm focused on building materials has a depth of knowledge, so there is no need to retrain new people.
At a larger agency, you will almost never get their A team.
Building material clients are not the type of client large agency employees aspire to work on.
If you feel you need a large consumer agency, I recommend you also consider a second agency that really understands the channel.
A building material ad agency knows how a house or building is built, so you won’t have to rewrite their copy. With an agency that understands how contractors, builders, architects, and dealers operate you won’t shake your head at their ideas.
With the ease of communication today, it’s also not important that the agency be local.
If you’d like some help narrowing down the list, please contact me. I am not compensated or paid a referral fee by any of these agencies so I can give you my unbiased opinion.
Building Material Ad Agency Directory
ad HOME – London, Ontario
An award-winning advertising & digital agency with over 15 years of experience building brands that drive successful businesses.
Ammunition – Atlanta
A digital agency built for the building industry. We work to create awareness, drive demand, and generate leads for builder brands.
Arnold Ostrom -Minneapolis
When it comes to building products we know what we’re talking about.
BLD Marketing – Pittsburgh
An ROI-based, full-service strategic marketing firm serving building materials manufacturers exclusively throughout North America and abroad
Bolin Marketing – Minneapolis
A brand development and marketing agency with a long history of helping our clients grow their business through innovative marketing solutions
Brandner – Seattle
A full-service advertising and marketing agency, delivering strategic and creative results to the building products industry
Brunner – Pittsburgh & Atlanta
Business as usual is simply no longer an option. Welcome to an agency committed to working smarter to get faster results for our clients.
CBD Marketing – Chicago
A full service agency offering meaningful integrated marketing communications to both the B2B and B2C sector.
Damen Jackson – Chicago
A creative branding and design agency. We offer creative branding and design services that help take brands to the next level.
Deep Brook Media – Chicago
Content for the construction industry.
Division 08 Marketing – Atlanta
A full-service marketing firm dedicated to serving the building products and construction industry.
Draper DNA – Raleigh
A non-traditional marketing agency. Specialists in-home, home building, and building products. Our vision is to Disrupt, Surprise, and Delight.
EdOutWest – Denver
Specialists in construction industry marketing for architects, the trades, and building materials suppliers
ER Marketing – Kansas City
An innovative business-to-business marketing firm with a concentration in communicating building products brands. Channel marketing and sales.
Eric Mower & Assoc – Syracuse and 8 Other Cities
EMA provides advertising, PR, public affairs, crisis communications, direct marketing, digital + interactive, market research and sales promotion to B2B and B2C.
Felt Marketing – Costa Mesa, CA
The marketing retrofit company for manufacturers to make sales easier. Like you, we speak distributor, dealer, architect, engineer, design-build, and contractor. Make sales so easy they can’t say no.
Function – Atlanta
A full-service PR & marketing agency, specializing in product launches & increasing product specification for the building products industry.
Gavin – Harrisburg
An award-winning, full-service advertising, marketing, and public relations agency that is devoted to truth in branding and driving action.
Griffin and Company – Arlington, VA
As a division of LMO, we thrive at providing creative communications … make Griffin & Co/ LMO part of your building industry team,
Gyro – NYC & 17 Other Cities
As the world’s first full-service global creative B2B powerhouse, our mission is to create ideas that are humanly relevant.
GWP – Montclair, NJ
An award-winning marketing agency In NJ, built to work as a team that delivers results for our clients.
Hanson – Toledo and Columbus, OH
An integrated digital marketing agency with a focus on building materials.
Heinzeroth – Rockford, IL
Advertising agency specializes in content marketing, media advertising, PR, packaging, merchandising, websites, mobile apps, literature, and video.
Hitchcock Fleming & Associates – Akron, OH
A full-service advertising agency, committed to being your company’s force for success
HiViz Strategy– Portland, OR
In the business of listening and learning about your brand, and sharing it with the world in a dynamic manner via paid, earned and owned communications.
Interrupt – Toledo, OH
A strategic marketing consulting and advertising firm in the building materials industry.
Kleber & Associates – Atlanta
A building materials marketing and PR firm that focuses exclusively on building materials manufacturers and building products.
Kotiadis Consulting – Toronto and New York City
Highly personalized marketing for building materials manufacturers that drives revenue, drives engagement, and drives results.
Lead Generation Experts – Boulder & Austin
Digital Marketing, Content Marketing, and SEO for the building materials industry.
ManoByte – Grand Rapids
ManoByte is dedicated to helping Building Materials Manufactures leverage their indirect distribution networks to transform their operations & grow.
Market Thrive Partners – Cincinnati
Experts in developing eCommerce sales channels and online sales opportunities for building material manufacturers, whether through Amazon, big box retail sites, your customer sites or from your own website.
Merlot Marketing – Sacramento
A national, full-service marketing agency located in Sacramento. We offer branding, PR, social media, advertising and creative services.
Miller Brooks – Indianapolis
A full-service agency that creates advertising, marketing, branding, PR and media for local, national and global clients.
Multistory Media – Dallas
PR firm specializing in media relations, product placements, influencer outreach, awards and social media for the building materials industry.
Orange Inbound – NYC
An inbound marketing agency and Gold HubSpot Partner. We specialize in content marketing, social media, web design, and more for the building materials industry.
Planit – Baltimore
A strategic, digitally minded agency that leads revolutions for national and global clients
Point to Point – Cleveland
B2B demand generation agency with expertise in Building Products, Food and Industrial Manufacturing industries.
Purdie Rogers – Seattle
A nationally recognized advertising & public relations firm focused exclusively on home products, consumer electronics and automotive
Sonnhalter – Cleveland
Leading B2T marketing communications firm to companies that target professional tradesmen in construction, industrial, and MRO markets.
Stoner Bunting – Lancaster, PA
Succeed in marketing your brand by understanding your distribution channels, product influences and consumer habits and needs.
SWBR – Bethlehem, PA
An advertising, marketing, and public relations agency specializing in custom + digital campaign solutions.
True Digital – Bedford Heights, OH
A digital marketing firm that focuses on data-driven strategies to produce results, effectively connecting your world online and off.
UpSpring– New York, NY
UpSpring is a digital marketing and PR firm focusing on business development for companies in the built environment.
Venveo – Blacksburg, VA
A digital marketing agency that specializes in the building materials industry.
Wagner Media – Montpelier, Vermont
Public relations and marketing experts in building materials
Walt Denny – Chicago
Specializes in the home products arena, internet marketing & social media.
White Good – Lancaster, PA
An integrated marcom agency dedicated solely to building brands in the furnishings, finishes and building products space
Wray Ward – Charlotte
Clients come to us for results, a passion for creativity, and a full complement of integrated marketing communications services for better-performing work.
One way to evaluate an agency without alerting them to your interest and start being barraged by phone calls and emails is to evaluate their website.
Here’s his list that I found very insightful:
Old style Agency Site:
- Themeless — No connection of their positioning to any mission, purpose or specialty
- Words — “About us”…riddled with clichés and pompous agency-speak
- Pictures — Ads, head shots, office space, ping-pong tables, posers posing for “candid” photos
- Case studies — “When Acme Corporation came to us, boy were they up shit’s creek. We saved the day with our trademarked processes, brilliant insights and (mediocre) creative, and here’s how…”
- Bios — “Joe has won every imaginable award on the planet. He loves dogs and look how handsome he is.”
- TV spots — usually the only moving thing on the site besides that unsettling download onto the landing page
- CTA — “What are you waiting for? Fill out this generic form below”
New Style Agency Site:
- Theme — The site makes an immediate statement and emotional connection to what the agency brand stands for
- Video — The connection is made through a short agency video that connects the agency’s positioning with the core values of your targets. This is the first thing that comes up front & center on your landing page.
- Infographics — The most effective way to explain who, you are, what you do and why you do it. “The agency in 60 seconds” is a better link to these than “About us”
- Creative showcase — don’t “let the work speak for itself”
- Case studies — 1 minute videos or infographic, beautifully designed
- Bios — 30-second videos. A great creative opportunity
- CTA — Again, a video. Close me; in a brilliantly unique & entertaining way.
What this signals to me is if they have an Old Style sight, they will probably bring that same type of thinking to how they communicate your messages. It will probably be more about you and less about the customer and their needs.
You may not need a new agency, you may just have a problem and would like a solution. That’s when to call me.
Resources for Building Materials Manufacturers
Here is a list of additional sales and marketing resources for building materials manufacturers.
Market Research Firms
Copywriting and Content Marketing
Cutaway Illustrations and Animations
Jason Yana – Visual Construction Marketing
Sales Consulting and Training
Sales Effectiveness Incorporated
Dealer and Contractor Locator
Digital and Marketing Asset Management
I am always looking for additional resources to share, if you know of any other resources for building materials manufacturers, please pass them along.
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