PR strategy gives BREEAM a voice

The Solution

Operated by BRE (Building Research Establishment), BREEAM is the world’s leading sustainability assessment method. Used on master planning projects, infrastructure and buildings, more than 530,000 BREEAM certificates have been issued on more than 24,000 projects around the world. There are currently over 2.2 million buildings and communities registered for certification.

Since its inception 25 years ago, BREEAM has been continually evolving and a catalyst for driving change, innovation and understanding around the creation of sustainable buildings.

It was acknowledged that there are many BREEAM advocates but that there are also many sceptics and non-believers who choose not to engage. Much of this is down to misunderstanding around how BREEAM operates and its benefits and value.

To address this Fabrick created a strategic plan aimed at leveraging the advocates and ambassadors to influence the sceptics and non-believers. This was supported with fact driven technical features and thought leadership from the BREEAM team as well as blogs and company news.

Outputs included the creation of a series of case studies looking at different applications of BREEAM. A blog programme was developed that allowed members of the team to address key industry topics, whilst subtly aligning BREEAM. A key part of the programme was a number of features driven by advocates looking at the importance of sustainability to them and their business and how BREEAM has aided this journey.

To add value, Fabrick used its industry knowledge and proactively helped BRE identify interesting projects where BREEAM has been used. We then utilised our industry contacts to increase the reach for these projects and the campaign.

A key element of the campaign was building direct relationships between BREEAM and the trade press, something that Fabrick successfully completed through a series of on-going media meetings and briefings.

The campaign allowed BREEAM to successfully engage with media across property, construction, government, architecture and sustainability as part of a strategic plan to influence at various key stages of procurement.

The success of the campaign is being measured against the ability to influence sceptics and non-believers, with reassurance provided in the form of reach and AER (Advertising Equivalent Rate) figures – an average monthly reach in excess of 255,000 and a ROI of 4.5.

The campaign, launched in the UK, has proved to be so successful that it has also been implemented, by Fabrick, across Europe. Fabrick are also providing ad-hoc regional support to territories including the USA, China and South America.