SOCIAL MEDIA ZEITGEIST

 

Last month, Beedier had the great pleasure of visiting the ‘WilkinsonEyre at 40’ exhibition at the Royal Watercolour Society gallery in London. The drawings, models, and photographs on show provided a fantastic reminder of the strength and depth of the studio’s work over the past 40 years. We remember the back-to-back Stirling Prize win in 2001-2 for the Magna Centre and Gateshead Millennium Bridge, when Beedier’s editor was still at the beginnings of a career in architectural communications – that double success illustrated the importance of awards as a way of building an architectural brand. Now there are only a handful of studios in the UK whose name carries the same confidence as WilkinsonEyre.

Recent communications successes have been noticed by the Achiboo Awards, who have longlisted WilkinsonEyre in the Best Brand, Best Visual Design and Best Use of Video and shortlisted for Best User Experience categories. So, we approached their Comms team with some questions – in conversation with James Hulme, Head of Communications, and Natashia Boreham, Communications and Marketing Manager.

 

Beedier: WilkinsonEyre is 40 years old – in that time the world of architectural communications has changed from physical cut and paste, print based and traditional formats to digitally led, instant, global messaging, and video. How conscious are you of your studio’s communications legacy, and does it still, to some extent inform your current practice, or have you embraced a brave new world of reinvention?

James: I’m not quite old enough to have routinely worked with transparencies but I certainly remember burning jpegs onto CDs and biking them around town. That all seems laboriously slow and wasteful now; methods and speed of dissemination have definitely improved, but quality will always reign and we neglect that at our peril.

Chris Wilkinson used to say “you’ll only appear as good as your worst image” and that remains true in a media landscape that gets more and more competitive with each passing day.

Fortunately, WilkinsonEyre are able to satiate the unending thirst for fresh social content with a steady output of new design work as well as an enviable back catalogue, into which we can dive at appropriate intervals.

 

Beedier: Further, the average age and demographics of the senior management of UK architecture practices perhaps creates a disconnect between the perceptions and expectations of what makes good contemporary architectural communications. How does the Communications team at WilkinsonEyre go about bridging this gap, to create understanding and consensus for changes in approach?

James: Our senior leadership team have been around a long time, which is invaluable for corporate memory and project knowledge, but less good for objectivity and receptivity to new approaches.

In the post-pandemic era we are all seeing that social media and digital do not constitute a threat but present an opportunity to reach new audiences, creating (or continuing) conversations with a broader spectrum of industry peers.

With this in mind we have shared good practice on standard platforms like LinkedIn across the management team, with good take up.

Adapting content for multiple outlets and audiences doesn’t have to be painful but does require some advance thought and dexterity. While print is desirable and a nice to have, reaching an international audience is our main objective at present and this means optimising digital channels. Where traditional media still has enormous value is the editorial authority and trust associated with known titles, with positive commentary on our work adding to visibility and the strength of the brand.

 

Beedier: It is clear from WilkinsonEyre’s presence in the upper echelons of Beedier’s Social Media Zeitgeist, that social media and digital communications is high on your agenda. The advantages to this strategy are clear – rapid and far-reaching audience appeal – but what are the potential downsides to proactive social media campaigns – things to be aware of?

Natashia: I started my career in architecture during the golden age of social media. This was a period when social media platforms experienced significant growth, major platforms like X (Twitter) and Instagram launched and studios were signing up for all of them, trying to find their place and voice.

And while it was once tempting to appear on all platforms, especially exciting new ones, from a resource and ROI perspective – it’s just not feasible. Investing in the platforms that have the greatest return for your brand is important, and for us, it’s LinkedIn and Instagram.

It can be a challenge to measure campaign success and keep up with social listening. I’ve found that social media management platforms like Hootsuite and Agorapulse are such game changers and worth the investment for both large and small teams. Agile content creation is also key, we have a long and short-term planner, but we finalise content the same week allowing for maximum responsiveness.

 

Beedier: One thing that we notice on the socials, from Instagram to LinkedIn, is that peer support is so much more direct and spontaneous. But is this just one marketing team cheering on another for mutual benefit? Perhaps there is room for a forum for architectural communications, critical peer evaluation in a rapidly changing digital environment?

James: We are very conscious of tone of voice. The language used by our company channels is deliberately anonymous, while we encourage individual team members to be much more spontaneous and authentic in their posting and reposting.

Peer recognition is great, but a large proportion of our audience won’t manifestly engage with content for a variety of reasons, and it’s important to factor in this “silent majority”.

As representatives of a wider organization, its particularly important for our content to avoid personal opinions and virtue signalling, the Achilles’ heel of social media! The main channels have been now around long enough for users to be conscious of their strengths and weaknesses, sustained digital dialogue still proving an inadequate substitute for direct engagement on more complex issues.

 

Beedier: A practice of WilkinsonEyre’s size and experience naturally veers towards B2B communications strategies – your clients are large corporations and public bodies – but do you think there is anything to learn from B2C communication techniques – especially within the digital channels, and socials?

Natashia: B2C communications offer valuable insights due to their extensive consumer interactions online. This understanding of communication preferences often translates into trends that impact B2B strategies.

I’ve noticed several communications trends from B2C becoming more popular for architects, including a focus on user experience for website design and video as a primary communication tool. What was once uncommon a decade ago, like producing short films for key projects, is becoming a priority for studios of all sizes.

Furthermore, there has been a notable shift towards authentic and emotive content in architectural communications. You can see this reflected in the work of filmmaker Jim Stephenson, who champions this style of architectural filmmaking. It’s also present within the films longlisted in this year’s Archiboo Awards.

 

Beedier: What is the future of architectural communications? Are there any cutting-edge developments or campaign strategies that you think will come to the fore in the next decade? How will WilkinsonEyre stay ahead of the game?

Natashia: Architectural communications will increasingly turn to B2C channels for trends and inspiration. I anticipate a significant shift towards simplified messaging to engage broader audiences, particularly for conveying harder to grasp concepts like sustainability-related content.

As online attention spans shorten, the important of delivery content that is simple and easy to absorb become essential. I have always emphasised that if I can’t grasp the concept quickly, it’s unlikely a wider audience will invest their time in consuming it.

With AI gone mainstream, I foresee a shift towards more content that feels authentic and humanized. While I don’t foresee a return to social media as a purely social space, there will likely be a shift towards less polished, more genuine content. For WilkinsonEyre, this translates to increasing behind-the-scenes, more in-house film production and prioritizing quality over quantity.

 

WilkinsonEyre’s story over the past 40 years has been that of growing a practice that strikes the balance between cultural and commercial success – and their communications, in its various forms, has been instrumental in communicating that success. Its also clear that their eye is still on current methods of communication and the future.

We see this platform as a forum for professional and critical discussion, so Beedier will continue to seek the thoughts of contemporary practitioners in architectural marketing and communications – who maybe approach things from different angles.