The Built Environment Has a Marketing Problem: We’re Putting the Tactical Cart Before the Strategic Horse

1. The Strategy Gap: Marketing as a Cost, Not a Catalyst

One of the report’s most telling statistics is that only 55% of respondents believe marketing is seen as an investment in their business. Which means almost half of firms still treat marketing as a cost — a discretionary spend to be trimmed when margins tighten.

This is a spectacularly short-sighted position in an industry that’s crying out for transformation, talent, and trust.

If marketing isn’t seen as a driver of value creation — of reputation, differentiation, and long-term growth — then it’s no wonder so many marketing teams are locked into cycles of “doing” rather than “directing”.

CMDi’s experience across the sector tells us that when marketing is confined to tactical delivery — campaigns, collateral, content — it becomes a function that serves, rather than a force that shapes.

Marketing needs a seat at the board table before the brief is written, not after the budget is signed off.

2. Short-Termism: The Industry’s Brand Blind Spot

The report’s data on brand investment is jaw-dropping.

• 31% of respondents spend less than 10% of their annual marketing budget on brand.
  Only 11% spend more than half.
• That’s the polar opposite of the 60/40 split recommended by Field and Binet — 60% for long-term brand building, 40% for short-term sales activation.

The result? A sector hooked on the quick hit of lead generation, while starving the very brand equity that would make those leads cheaper, faster, and more loyal in the long term.

And it’s a vicious cycle: because if you only ever measure marketing by its immediate returns, you’ll never justify the investment needed to build the long-term brand value that drives future returns.

The built environment has always prided itself on planning for the long term — decades-long projects, masterplans, and infrastructure lifecycles. So why is our marketing mindset so chronically short-term?

We wouldn’t pour a foundation and call it a finished building — yet we’re doing the marketing equivalent every day.

3. Relationship Reliance: Networking Is Not a Strategy

When asked what has the biggest impact on winning work, networking and relationships came out on top, well ahead of digital presence, thought leadership, or PR.

Now, relationships absolutely matter — this industry runs on trust, reputation, and partnerships. But when personal networks remain the primary growth engine, we’re effectively saying success depends on who you know, not what you stand for.

That may win work in the short term, but it entrenches the perception that construction is a “closed club” — hard to enter, slow to change, and resistant to new voices.

This inward focus is reflected in another devastating statistic:

Not a single respondent believes construction is significantly better at marketing than other industries.
Only 10% think we’re even a little better.

That’s an identity crisis hiding in plain sight.

If the people responsible for marketing our industry don’t believe in its marketing competence, how can we expect the world outside to see construction as modern, innovative, or aspirational?

4. The AI Paradox: Awareness Without Action

Then there’s technology — and specifically AI.

The report finds that 94% of respondents believe AI will have a major or moderate impact on the built environment within five years. That’s almost universal agreement.

And yet, more than half (52%) have no plans to build AI into products or services — and one in five don’t even plan to use it internally.

This is the very definition of awareness without action.

AI will not replace marketers in this industry, but it will replace marketers who fail to use it strategically. The question isn’t whether AI belongs in construction marketing — it’s whether we’ll let it amplify human insight or just automate more noise.

As the report rightly warns, “before you jump into using AI, ask yourself if what you’re creating is worth putting into the world, or whether you’re just doing it because it feels like what you ‘should’ be doing.”

That sentiment captures the whole issue perfectly — too much of our marketing is done because we can, not because we should.

5. The People Imperative: Talent Before Tech

One encouraging insight from the report is where leaders would put their money if budget were no object.

The top answer? Hiring another team member.
The second? Investing in training and professional development.

In other words, leaders do recognise that people are the true source of marketing value.

But if those same people are stuck firefighting — managing endless tactical outputs with little strategic alignment — then we’re wasting their expertise and energy.

The report notes that marketing teams across the built environment are “struggling to keep their heads above water.” That’s not just an HR issue; it’s a strategic failure.

If your team doesn’t have the headspace to think, it can’t lead. And if marketing isn’t leading, business strategy suffers.

6. Leadership: The Missing Link

The most consistent predictor of marketing success, according to the report, isn’t company size or turnover — it’s leadership advocacy.

Firms where leaders see marketing as strategic consistently have larger teams, bigger budgets, and stronger brand spend.
That tells us everything we need to know.

The problem isn’t capacity — it’s conviction.

Until leadership stops seeing marketing as the “colouring-in department” and starts recognising it as the growth engine of reputation, value, and trust, we’ll continue to underperform as an industry.

The Way Forward: Strategy First, Always

So where does that leave us?

This report should be mandatory reading for every construction CEO, CMO, and C-suite team. But more than that, it should be a wake-up call.

Because the data doesn’t just show an industry that under-invests in marketing — it shows one that fundamentally misunderstands it.

Until marketing is integrated into business strategy, rather than appended to it, we’ll continue to build great structures with weak stories.

The built environment is literally about constructing the future. Yet too often, our marketing is still stuck in the past — reactive, transactional, and tactical.

It’s time we built marketing foundations that are as strong, as long-lasting, and as visionary as the projects we deliver.

It’s time to put the strategic horse back in front of the tactical cart.

The Real Case for Marketing Investment in the Built Environment

(What the report didn’t quite say — but should have)
The Barbour ABI report reveals an industry still confusing marketing activity with marketing strategy. If the sector wants to grow sustainably, we must stop funding short-term hope and start investing in long-term brand intelligence.

For marketers in the sector:
If you want to win bigger, longer-term investment from your board:

• Educate up: Share data linking brand strength to profit.
• Prove value: Track brand metrics, not just campaign metrics.
• Bridge worlds: Tie brand strategy to business strategy, not to comms.
• Demand research: Insist on market insight before activation.
• Think 60/40: Fight for at least 60% of spend on long-term brand.

For boards:
Boards that treat marketing as strategy, build brands not product ranges and own customers not branches, will own the future. Those that see it as spend will keep buying short-term hope — and selling long-term value short.

Dianne Lucas, Managing Director, CMDi Ltd