Architects marketing activities: Explicit and implicit relationship marketing attitudes

The majority of discussions on the subject of architects marketing strategies evolve around the architects lack of awareness or even appreciation of marketing s importance. However, the fact that architectural practices/businesses attract work provides evidence that architects do perform successful marketing activities at explicit and implicit levels. The relationship marketing paradigm provides a framework, upon which some of these marketing activities can be mapped, as construction and professional services are largely provided on a business-to-business basis. A literature review on relationship marketing s aspects oriented towards how architects deliver their services provides the theoretical background for a qualitative research aiming to explore the explicit and implicit marketing attitudes architects adopt in their services. Primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews, which were grouped and thematically analysed, focusing on marketing and relationship management activities. Findings show that architects explicitly appreciate client uniqueness and need for bespoke service provision, recognise the importance of word-of-mouth and reputation as well as be concerned with branding challenges. They also appear to implicitly safeguard continuity of service and mobilise internal marketing and relationship management during service delivery. Most importantly, a continuing misunderstanding by architects of marketing is apparent. The market changes, prompted by recent boom-slump, have failed to induce a shift in perceiving marketing as a purely promotional and transactional activity. Whilst the knowledge contribution is not new, it is significant because the boom-bust cycle tends to induce structural changes in the market amongst the primary player a field for further examination in marketing professional services.