On October 18 & 19, the marble institute of America (MIA) brought together industry leaders from throughout the united states and Canada for its leadership workshop held in dallas, texas, to address future economic trends, sustainability, and branding.
The event kicked-off that Monday evening, October 18th with a networking reception hosted at the Walker Zanger showroom. A good cross-section of the industry was represented with quarrier/producers, fabricators, contracting installers, restoration, and distribution attendees. Seventy-five percent of those attending flew in from outside the immediate Dallas area for this event. In addition to Walker Zanger, the workshop was sponsored by Moraware and Schechner Lifson Corporation.
Economic Trends - The economic trends portion of the event was presented by Frank Anton, CEO, Hanley Wood LLC. Anton is one of the housing and construction industry's most respected thought leaders and visionaries. As CEO of Hanley Wood LLC, one of the top 10 business-to-business media companies, he is highly regarded and sought after opinion leader and strategist. He shared a number of insights to common questions affecting the stone industry:
1) Who Will Drive Future Housing Demand--Boomers or Millennials? Anton acknowledged that the groups are nearly equal in size. While the boomers are tested (they've driven every housing recovery since 1980), millennials don't have a home to sell and the future action will be by first-time buyers. He added that millennials don't have much money, but they know how to spend it. They are ethnically and economically diverse and better-educated than previous generations. However, the demand for remodeling and retirement housing will be driven by the aging boomers. People 55 and older were the only group with increased earnings between 2000 and 2008. Even so, boomers have suffered a significant loss of equity, many are delaying retirement, or working part-time in semi-retirement, and many may decide to stay put and remodel.
The top 5 remodeling markets in the 2nd quarter of 2010 were: #1- Pittsburg, PA; #2- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VAMD-WV; #3 - Anchorage, AK; #4 - HoustonSugar Land-Baytown, TX; and, #5 - Syracuse, NY. For a complete listing of top 50 remodeling markets, see them online at www.marbleinstitute.com /leadership.
2) Will High Density Housing Become the New Normal? Many policy experts expect a permanent shift to closer-in neighborhoods and urban centers. But others believe we'll return to building detached homes on big lots in the suburbs. Anton shared that new development will follow the path of least resistance and that in the beginning of the recovery, current patterns are likely to continue. But as we burn through existing home inventory, more people enter the country, and households form, we'll need more and better houses.
3) Is Energy-Efficient Construction Here to Stay? Is this a permanent shift in consumer behavior or a short-term fad? Buyers will pay for energy upgrades. Energy efficiency differentiates new from existing homes and lower operating costs reduce the true cost of ownership. Anton shared that neighborhoods, schools and pricing are much more important than energy efficiency as no one will buy a home in the wrong neighborhood. But low utility bills provide peace of mind and the housing industry can expect that higher energy costs will place a premium on efficient housing; building codes to get stricter; government regulations to become more stringent; and low-cost thermal imaging to go mainstream.
4) Will Builder Consolidation Increase? Top markets for builder consolidation include: Albuquerque, NM; Baltimore-Towson, MD; Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, FL; CharlestonNorth Charleston-Summerville, SC; Las VegasParadise, NV; Orlando-Kissimmee, FL; Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ; Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA; Stockton, CA; and, Tucson, AZ.
Stone companies must realize that while national builders have great advantages, small companies are in the best competitive position to do innovative projects. The barrier for entry by small builders remains low.
Vierra also highlighted the ongoing work of the Natural Stone Council (NSC) specific creating a natural stone certification. This effort includes:
- Establishing a set of well-defined environmental and human health metrics recognized by the green building movement as an indicator of leadership sustainability performance.
- Providing an important opportunity to educate key members of the green building movement, government, and environmental advocacy groups about the production of stone products.
- Creating a mechanism that rewards natural stone companies that demonstrate environmental leadership through commitment to sustainable operations and continued innovation.
- Preempt competitor marketing claims by proactively addressing potential stone-related environmental and human health concerns in a multi-stakeholder, science based forum (i.e. radon, dust, etc.).
- Harmonize national and international environmental requirements for stone quarrying and production.
- Encouraging transparent chain of custody reporting in support of LEED credits for locally produced materials.
- Creating parity between stone and other competitive products covered by existing certification programs. life cycle analysis and establishing a set of well-defined environmental and human health metrics recognized by the green building movement as an indicator of leadership sustainability performance.
MIA's Gary Distelhorst also showcased the MIA's 2011 plans to complement the NSC efforts by developing a number of training tools to help showroom personnel throughout the industry understand the important topic of sustainability and how to present it to their clients.
Branding - Two branding presentations were presented. The stone industry's own Mark Fernandes, Chief Leadership Officer for Charles Luck Stone Centers, created the framework for "What is a brand and why do they matter?"
- Brand is a person's gut feeling about a product, service or company; when enough individuals arrive at the same gut feeling, a company can be said to have a brand...a brand is not what you say it is; it's what they say it is.
- You matter to your customers to the degree that they become emotionally invested in your brand and your continued success; "when they want you to win."
- Consider the emotions and feelings that arise to become part of the relationship people have with your company at every touch point; this is how you build an idea in people's mind of who you are as a company and as a brand.
- There is an imperative of tapping feelings / emotions to build charismatic brands defined as any product, service or company for which people believe there is no substitute.
Sustainability - Stephanie Vierra, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP, provided the attendees with the principles and drivers in the sustainability/whole building design movement. She has been serving as a consultant on sustainability to the natural stone industry for the past four years. Those in attendance benefited from her overview of how stone makes an appropriate, attractive, and natural material design choice that will contribute to a holistic solution over a project's life cycle.
"The Marble Institute did a great job of choosing speakers that were relevant to today's economy. What stone companies need right now is sales revenue and the ability to differentiate in their respective markets. The speakers taught us tips on how to achieve both of these."
-Chad Seiders, AG&M Sales Manager
"The leadership workshop of the MIA was a very productive day including outstanding speakers, giving a very practical approach to address today's challenges in our Industry. It gave us a fresh outlook on some important subjects we are working on (sustainability, branding, etc), along with opportunities to network with other players in our Industry."
-Patrick Peras, CEO Polycor, Quebec, Canada
"The bottom line is that a surging population will create a demand for more housing. The U.S. population will grow by 100 million people over the next 40 years. Most of that growth will come from immigrant and minority households. By 2035, minority households will account for nearly half of all U.S. households. "In the short term, new housing starts will continue to be sluggish, but fast forward to late 2012 and early 2013: new housing starts should be at the 1.5M level (note: the peak was 1.725M in 2006)." -Frank Anton, CEO Hanley Wood
Dallas, TX was the site of the MIA's 2010 leadership workshop. The dates for the 2011 workshop have already been set for October 17-18, 2011 - learn more online at: www.marble-institute.com/leadership.
Charismatic brands garner 50% share or higher and 40% price premiums.
Fernandes provided with everyone with lesson's learned since the Charles Luck brand (a "style minded" with a commitment to purposeful design) was launched three years ago. He also showcased how an understanding of economic trends, sustainability, and the core competencies of your own company are all drivers in building your company's brand.
Branding expert Marty Gould, a frequent speaker at both StonExpo and Coverings, expanded the branding discussion into the tactical attributes of your company's price, service, product, experience, and access. Gould concluded that you have to identify one of these five tactical attributes and excel at it. You must select a second attribute and be above average. Companies that try to excel at all five attributes will be left behind.
He also showcased why in the internet age, building a brand is much different. The internet helps stone companies "create an environment to encourage people to buy." The attendees also learned the differences between driving people to your content (traditional media, keywords in content, search optimization, and paid online searches) vs. driving content to your people (social media, online press releases, blogs, article syndication, and email lists). Gould concluded by offering the following advice:
Step 1 - Focus on your niche. (What are you best at? What can you lead at?)
Step 2 - Identify your target audience.
Step 3 - Evaluate your content. (Is your message real or "adspeak?")
Step 4 - Surround your customers. (Content goes everywhere, not just your website.)
Step 5 - Make a commitment. (It takes time to make it work!)
MIA's executive vice president/CEO Gary Distelhorst commented, "We were very excited about the outcomes of this industry event! The attendee feedback was extremely positive - so much so that we have already set the date for a 2011 leadership workshop."
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