Home & Building Blog

Each year our team’s economic reports help provide our clients with direction. Confidence or concern. Smooth sailing or rougher waters. At mid cycle, the story this year is more nuanced. Yet signal-to-noise metrics provide opportunities for building product brands....

For years, building product brands could rely on a relatively predictable growth environment. Steady project flow. Familiar specification cycles. Established dealer relationships. And brand preference built over time. That environment has changed. Project timelines...

For years, the digital strategy playbook had a familiar starting point. Rank on Google. Earn the click. Land the visit. Convert the lead. That model still matters. But it is no longer enough. AI search dominates the conversation today. And for good reason....

When Apple announced this week that Tim Cook would hand the CEO baton to John Ternus, the story was not simply about succession. It was about the opportunity to extend a brand’s most important asset. Trust. Cook has shared what Steve Jobs advised him before he took...

Short-form video has quietly become one of the highest priorities – and a pressure test – to lead brand content. Audiences seek to understand how solutions work. They want proof and clarity. Yes, most importantly, they want to view products in action. For building...

Brand loyalty doesn’t work the way it used to. For years, building product brands could grow on familiarity and long-standing relationships. A trusted rep who cultivated dealer recommendations. Or a contractor – who always uses – the same manufacturer. That model has...

With Artemis back in the news this week, one detail stood out to me: when something important breaks, email is not the solution for jobsite communication. Roughly seven hours into the mission, NASA’s crew reportedly ran into an Outlook email issue and had to call...

In crowded categories, the brands that win need not be the biggest. The Building Product Brands that are gaining the greatest momentum provide dealers, contractors and specifiers with a clear reason to believe. A compelling promise to remember. And a relevant...

Entry level homeownership affordability remains stubborn. And many in the single-family residential channel have understandably asked the same question: Are younger Americans simply giving up on owning a home? First-time buyers feel squeezed. Yet, that demand seems to...

Start listening harder. Because when building product brands invest too much time trying to persuade audiences – no matter how eloquent the scripts – often they miss the signals that are clearly resonating from the channel. Messages from customers that are stalled, in...