Seismic

Shortlisted for 12 awards, with 9 wins

300k+ views for the launch announcement

Seismic combines an innovative, standardised steel frame and components to deliver better quality buildings faster, with lower embodied and operational carbon. It was funded by Innovate UK and was initially developed in response to the DfE’s desire to use offsite solutions for new schools.

Challenge

One of the funding requirements from Innovate UK was that the outcomes of the Seismic project would be communicated to key stakeholders, helping to drive adoption of platform construction approaches within the sector.

LMC came on board to facilitate an initial workshop with the seven consortium partners. Each had delivered separate elements of the project, largely independently. Our challenge was to bring the team together and agree a structured and coherent narrative that would be easily understood by a broad range of audiences.

Strategy

This was a very intense period of work. Our first priority was to develop a structured communications strategy for the project. This included agreeing key messages, identifying where audiences might challenge this messaging, and implementing communications protocols between the JV partners to ensure consistency in any PR and marketing activity.

Our starting point was to understand the project from beginning to end. We explored each work package in detail and challenged the consortium leads to provide evidence for each of their claims, in areas including speed of delivery, reduction in carbon and improvements in quality.

It was imperative that we could take complicated, technical language and make it easier to understand. We had a broad range of audiences that we needed to communicate with and the additional challenge of needing to explain a new concept – platform-based construction.

Following the initial workshop, we were appointed to deliver the campaign in full.

Given the complexity of the joint venture, our priority was to develop a Seismic brand to bring the consortium together and to ensure that everyone communicated with one voice. This included creating a suite of brand assets, messages and marketing materials, including social media channels and a new keyword optimised website.

In parallel, we briefed important stakeholders, including at UK government level, liaising with the Construction Minister and senior civil servants within the Department for Business, MoJ, DfE and Homes England.

Our work culminated in an exhibition and launch event at a demonstrator building. We managed the exhibition design and delivery, invitations and guest-list management, and secured high profile speakers and endorsements for the event. This included coordinating the seven partners and 20 sponsors, and creating video, animations and more for the event itself.

Our media strategy was to secure an exclusive feature before moving into wider promotion. Due to the highly technical nature of the project, we felt that a longer piece would allow us to tell more of the story and achieve higher impact. Building Magazine was selected based on its audience profile, with a six-page article secured.

We also worked closely with the Construction Innovation Hub to ensure that the project was included as a case study within the Platform Rulebook consultation and final guidance. It became a core project within the CIH’s own legacy communications and placed Seismic at the heart of the platform-construction debate.

Results

Director - Seismic Group

“LMC drove the project forward and turned a wealth of information into clear and concise messaging that helped us tell the story about what we have achieved with Seismic. It was a huge amount of work and we’re grateful for the support.”