WASHINGTON BUILDING ENGINEERS

Strategy

Our primary goal was to help Emerald Cities Seattle place 20 individuals in training courses that would enable them to progress to becoming a building engineer.

Because we were starting from scratch, very little data was available on awareness of the profession or job placement rates. Fortunately Emerald Cities and WBEC were highly invested in the project and collected some initial data from workers in the profession. What we learned was a promising competitive advantage; although very people knew about the work, building engineers were well paid and the vast majority of workers were extremely pleased with their work. 

The industry was also aging, so finding younger workers to take the place of retirees was critical. Thanks to WBEC’s clarifying work on the skill sets and education credentials needed to excel in the building engineer career, we were able to target our marketing strategy to younger and middle-aged people attending related courses at career/technical schools in the area; workers who already had the basic skills needed to work in the field, namely diesel mechanics, refrigeration or HVAC technicians; and military veterans. 

Emerald Cities devoted grant funds to hire a workforce development staff person to carry out day-to-day outreach for the organization. This enabled us to focus our strategy on in-person and word-of-mouth as the primary vehicles for supporting the marketing effort. We elected to focus on three core messages: educate about the profession, demonstrate the day-to-day work, and highlight diversity in the field.

Design

One of the pillars of market awareness is consistency, so we began with a brand identity system that would present the building engineer profession in a professional, consistent manner. Our younger target audiences and a brand discovery exercise with WBEC leadership led to a bold logo that superimposes skyscraper silhouettes over a large gear. A deep navy blue is highlighted by bright complementary colors for a fresh, contemporary design.

Execution

To support Emerald Cities’ in-person outreach efforts, we developed a website to serve as the digital home for WBEC and information about the building engineer profession. The website features content we helped develop specifically for both job seekers and employers. For job seekers, upcoming training opportunities and inspiring video stories from building engineers educated about the profession. For employers, marketing resources and an invitation to collaborate with WBEC positioned the site as the go-to source for help in hiring more building engineers.

We designed and produced additional print and digital materials to support in-person outreach including videos profiling workers in the profession, social media graphics, a Facebook ads strategy to support career fair outreach, and a print package including brochures, posters, letterhead, and business cards.

Deliverables:

• Brand identity design

• Marketing-communications strategy

• Video production

• Social media strategy & content

• PPC ads strategy & management

• Graphic design

• Print production

Evaluation

We’re thrilled to report that not only was Emerald Cities able to reach their goal of 20 students enrolled in the Intro to HVAC course (an entry-level class for future business engineers), their wait list filled up another class of 20. 

The outreach materials we created were also a success. The “What is a Building Engineer?” video has been viewed over 3,600 times to date, and the website received over 1,000 unique visitors during the three-month campaign.

The website and marketing materials continue to be used and referenced by WBEC member employers and available to the public.