David Pead, CBE Marketing Network
The conversation at the Construction Marketing Roundtable turned next to questions of influence: who actually shapes decisions in construction today, where knowledge is gained or lost, and how marketing fits into that picture.
What emerged was a more fragmented view of the supply chain than many traditional models assume. While specification remains critical, participants highlighted how decisions are increasingly shaped by installers, merchants, estates teams and peer networks, often well beyond the reach of formal specification documents.
Education, rather than promotion, was repeatedly described as the thread that holds this system together. Where understanding is strong, intent is carried through projects. Where it drops away, value engineering, substitution and compromised outcomes become far more likely.
Education gaps across the supply chain
Education emerged as a shared concern, from colleges and apprenticeships through to merchants, installers, estates teams and end users. Several of our expert panel spoke about knowledge loss, changing skill sets and the challenge of ensuring information reaches the right people at the right point in the process.
“There’s a lack of understanding right across the chain, from colleges through to site.”
“We spend a huge amount of time educating people, not just about what the product does, but why it matters.”
“Marketing has become as much about education as promotion.”
When participants referred to “end users”, they were careful to distinguish between different groups: installers and trades, builders’ merchants, facilities managers and estates teams, as well as homeowners in some contexts.
“The person using the building isn’t always the person making the decisions.”
“A lot of the real influence sits with installers and merchants, not the end customer you might assume.”
Knowledge is not being carried consistently through projects, and when understanding drops away between specification, procurement and installation, the original intent is often lost.
“You can have the right product specified, but if the understanding isn’t there further down the chain, it gets value engineered out.”
“Once that knowledge drops off, the original intent just disappears.”
This highlights the importance of sustained engagement with designers, consultants and specifiers, rather than relying on one-off interventions or assuming information will naturally flow through the system.
How people connect is changing
Attention then turned to how relationships are formed and influence is built, particularly as new generations enter the industry with different expectations and habits.
“Younger people are less inclined to drink together. They don’t want to spend their evenings networking in the way previous generations did.”
“They’re happy to sit at home, look things up online and make decisions without picking up the phone.”
“A lot of the informal learning that used to happen through experience and conversation just isn’t happening in the same way.”
The roundtable was careful to distinguish between younger professionals entering the supply chain as buyers, specifiers or project stakeholders, and younger marketers entering the profession. Both groups were seen to be reshaping expectations around how information is accessed, how trust is formed and how decisions are influenced.
Several participants noted that while traditional hospitality-led relationship building is becoming less effective, this shift is not necessarily negative.
“People don’t want to be sold to in the same way. They want information when it suits them.”
“There’s still a need for human connection, but it has to feel purposeful.”
“There’s more appetite for smaller groups where you can talk properly, rather than big events where everyone’s performing.”
This change was framed as both a challenge and an opportunity. Marketing teams are being forced to rethink how they create credibility, build relationships and support learning in an environment where influence is increasingly shaped by access to information rather than access to people.
Roundtable participants
Liam Bateman (Chair), Managing Director, The Think Tank
Helen Cooper, Head of Marketing, Altecnic
Emma Cox, Head of Marketing, Watts Group Limited
Charmaine Dean, Marketing Manager, Catnic
Stuart Devoil, Group Head of Marketing, James Latham
Catherine Fyfe, Group Marketing Director, Genuit Group
James Hulme, Group Global Director of Communications, Broadway Malyan
Amy Law, Senior Marketing Manager, Eleco
Stacey Lucas, Commercial and Marketing Director, Sontay, & President of the BCIA
Gareth Osborne, Associate Marketing Director, Pick Everard
This is the second of four reports from the Construction Marketing Roundtable. The next article looks at social value, commercial pressure and how procurement is reshaping the role of marketing.