Communicating the value (and values) of a century-old organization.
Last year, the Middle of Six team was presented with a unique opportunity to not only deepen our understanding of a valued industry leader, but to also expand our creative perspective. Our client, the American Institute of Steel Construction, tasked us with a goal almost deceptive in its simplicity: Strengthen the already substantial brand reputation of the renowned, century-old organization.
Founded in 1921, the AISC’s mission is to make structural steel the building material of choice, while serving as a leader in the construction industry through far-reaching market development, technical support, and advocacy.
The Challenge - Broad Reach, Meaningful Impact
At the highest level, AISC was looking for a fresh approach to communicating their history and values through a medium that would bolster their resonance and reach across the construction industry and beyond . Contributing to the task at hand, AISC possessed a robust archive of information, technical data, programs, and resources to assess, distill, and amplify.
The challenge was two-fold:
Deliver a meaningful message to a diverse audience with individual needs and motivations.
Champion steel's myriad benefits—sustainability, resiliency, design flexibility, innovation, design elegance, constructability, efficiency, productivity, to name a few—without diluting the message.
The Solution - What’s your legacy?
With a multitude of information and stakeholders, traditional facts, figures, and industry-speak were not going to suffice.
After exploring various concepts, we arrived at our strategic solution—a campaign to resonate with people on a deeper, more instinctive level. We prompted the audience to reflect on AISC’s mission—as well as their own—with a simple, yet thought-provoking question: “What’s your legacy?”
The Deliverables
Sustainability, resilience, flexibility, innovation, design elegance, constructability, efficiency, productivity, American-made, heritage—legacy. With a nod to significant issues faced in our country and within our industry, “What’s your legacy?” and the answers that follow present an opportunity for the A/E/C community to contribute to the next chapter of America’s story.
The campaign serves as a mirror to engage a wide audience. Architects, builders, engineers, artists, fabricators, and other stakeholders find resonance with this prompt as it pertains to their personal values, work, and lives.
To bring concept to fruition, Middle of Six developed an inspirational, conceptual campaign video, complete with imagery, music, voice-over, and captions:
Messaging In Action
To guide the message strategically, Middle of Six proposed “What’s your legacy?” as a multi-faceted marketing campaign comprising refreshed brochures and presentations, tradeshow themes and displays, and digital marketing and advertising. An immersive and memorable introduction and engagement tool for AISC representatives to leverage, and a vehicle to connect with and amplify AISC’s enduring value and legacy, the “What’s your legacy” campaign has the potential to transform from a concept into something tangible, real, and ever lasting.
Ready to communicate you firm's legacy? Reach out to hello@middleofsix.com
Comments