Marketing Strategy for Earthen Construction

Marketing Strategy for Earthen Construction 1. Executive Summary This chapter offers a wide overview of the nascent Earthen Construction market; A Marketing approach to the entire sector is hereby discussed, involving methods to pursue, researches to undertake, efforts to carry out, pitfalls to avoid, and ways to deal with all major issues presently related to this market. Basic Marketing tools like SWOT analysis and PEST analysis serve to better document the various market (non-technical) aspects of Earthen Construction. 2. Introduction There is no proper market of Earthen Construction thus far. Although there is evidently a product (earthen building), no clear product differentiation strategy was pursued at a global level. The result is that for most of the cases, the product is sold by companies that used to sell a most competitive product (modern building), which turns automatically Earthen Construction into a niche market, further creating impediments in the creation of a proper Earthen Construction market. Until now, few companies specialize exclusively in Earthen Construction worldwide. This implies that a Product Differentiation Strategy is possible for this market and product, and a lot is to be expected in this regard. The basic axes of Product Differentiation Strategy must involve market segmentation and segment targeting, value creation, non-price competition, brand loyalty, and substitute elimination. It will be essential to avoid mistakes of the type of selling all things to all people without any focus. Companies selling earthen building projects along with modern building projects should proceed through value creating strategy for their earthen building projects, and this means an independent Marketing policy. It may be difficult or impossible for a company to sell products that are highly competitive to one another, but their success lies on business diversification as the Ansoff Matrix makes clear. *1 A value creation strategy underscores to prospective customers the cost savings that can be made through earthen construction and by doing so it highlights the product earthen building) durability comparatively with other products. Non-price competition will help earthen construction companies to increase competition among them, and this will only help expand the Earthen Construction market. Competition in areas other than price involves notably quality, design, status symbol, and image enhancer to gain a competitive advantage in the market without however decreasing their price. Focusing on design and quality delivery, Earthen Construction companies will create brand loyalty, producing at the same time the perception that there is no substitute available on the market. Only when the leading Earthen Construction companies will make their customers view their products (earthen building projects) as unique *2, will a proper Earthen Construction market be instituted and new dynamics will follow. 3. Market Macro-environmental Earthen Construction can practically speaking address almost all types of construction need and deliver almost all types of construction worldwide. Under present circumstances, and with no Earthen Construction market clearly discernible except in few cases, Earthen Construction needs to be viewed differently in each country and ought to be best contextualized within the macro-environment of each country' economy. It will be totally different for an Earthen Construction market to be incepted in a developed country (as it already happened in Australia *3) or in a developing country like South Africa *4, let alone in an underdeveloped (or least developed) country like Ethiopia *5. Not only has the state of the economy, but also legal and governmental, technological and ecological, as well as socio-cultural and demographical issues varied greatly among the three aforementioned examples, and similarly among all the countries. It will therefore be necessary for Earthen Construction to offer highly different and enormously specialized proposals as best suited each country in question. To better specify the diverse approaches to the establishment of an Earthen Construction market and to highlight the possibly related strategies in terms of socio-economics, architectural design and environmental performance, Chi Nguyen Cam and Boon Lay Ong set up *6 a matrix of 10 different possible pathways towards sustainable architecture performance, involving the following: - pathway 1, introducing socio-economic incentives, policy controls, and educational means as stimuli to influence end user behavior to a more sustainable one - pathway 2, carrying out awareness campaigns in order to achieve end user self-awareness in terms of sustainable construction materials and practices; undertaking campaigns to make end user everyday activities compatible with sustainable architecture performance - pathway 3, conception and execution of architectural design geared to promote, encourage and support positive aspects in end user behavior, thus contributing to sustainable architecture performance - pathway 4, conception and execution of architectural design geared to contribute to sustainable architecture performance in terms of context, innovation, damage-minimization, and enhancement of the building site's ecological value - pathway 5, adaptation of the end user demand, desire and daily activity with the basic norms of sustainability. This development would greatly facilitate the proper architectural design. - pathway 6, socio-economic incentive, education and policy as a means to motivate and inform end users and regulate their behavior and lifestyle as per the needs of socio-economic sustainability and environment-friendly architecture - pathway 7, passing the necessary regulations and developing proper and qualified architectural professionalism in order to make of the sustainable design a condition sine qua non for all architects and of the sustainable housing the ultimate delivery - pathway 8, developing methods of environmental assessment as socio-economic incentives for the local administration and the end users, and in the process lead to the implementation of an environment-friendly housing policy - pathway 9, validating an environmental performance model in terms of goals, objectives, and technical assistance to the architectural design in view of an eco-friendly housing delivery - pathway 10, incorporating the proper contextual response and the necessary innovation in the architectural design in order to deliver built environment with excellent environmental performance 4. Focus on the market - Research the Earthen Construction industry A real focus on the existing Construction market, its demographics, growth, and trends will help Earthen Construction marketers quickly set up a competitive product (earthen or green building) and market it successfully, thus triggering the proper inception of the Earthen Construction market. What is valid at the global level is also valid at the nationwide level. Without proper market segmentation, and without properly profiling prospective customers, there are few chances for the Earthen Construction market to duly kick off. This means beforehand that there is no single way to sell Earthen Building successfully. This implies that diverse groups of individuals (market segments) must be addressed differently and professional marketers must first identify and then highlight the particular Earthen Building benefits that are most compelling to each of the market segments. Although the basic Mktg. techniques can be effectively used in the case of Earthen Construction, a market breakthrough will be achieved only following the current situation analysis of the market place and of the customers, be they present or prospect. Identifying the recognizable characteristics of a typical profitable customer, finding out the most profitable customer, segment and/or cluster, and getting the necessary customer insight are prerequisites for a thorough market penetration. 5. Identifying & targeting customers Finding out what the buyers really want is the key to market success. The features sought after by green building buyers must therefore be clearly identified because these elements must be highlighted as part of the Branding and the Marketing campaign of each Earthen Construction company. Energy-efficiency features are highly attractive as recent studies reveal, *7 but one of the main problems that prospect customers face is the vagueness of the term 'Green Building'. Devoid of easily identifiable content, the term is very often meaningless marketwise. As per customer feedback, the term may even discourage prospect customers because under different circumstances 'green' is perceived as 'expensive'. The term should therefore be abandoned for purposes of precision, clarity and meaningfulness. Highlighting specific benefits as per customer segment is the preferential option in this regard, and blanket categorization has to be avoided. The idea of a single Marketing message is therefore catastrophic; specialized research makes clear that specific parameters like age, gender, level of education, and geography play all an important role that forces marketers to convey different messages to different clusters of customers. The way a Marketing message resonates best per customer cluster gives an idea of how specialized a job is needed in this regard. For instance, it is difficult to sell Earthen Building by highlighting energy efficiency as basic feature (which translates to low operating cost) in an area / district whereby utility costs are already low. On the other hand, younger generations and women are more influenced by green features and care about features that reduce the building's environmental footprint. As it happens in every market, one sells benefits, not features; this is of seminal importance to Earthen Building marketers. Instead of trying to sell new technologies, features and specifications, Earthen Construction marketers should focus on advantages and adequately translate them into beneficial circumstances for the buyers' daily life in their 'green home'. In addition, the Earthen Construction advantages (or benefits) should be categorized and selected in a hierarchical order as per the results of a specific market analysis. The way buyers rate the categorized benefits per country, state, province or city has to be fully respected within the context of a proper Marketing campaign. One should better focalize around following three categories of advantages: I. A healthy home to live – Earthen Construction delivers homes that are dry, well-ventilated, and contaminant-free. These features appear to attract prospect customers more; it will therefore be essential for builders to highlight their practices that make sure their deliveries are really a healthier place to live. II. Lower operating costs – Customers are fully aware of the fact that energy-efficient homes and water-efficient buildings cost definitely less to operate and live in. In addition, earthen buildings are known to be more durable and demand less maintenance. All this should be properly highlighted. Practically speaking everybody is ready to agree for higher purchase expenses if the long term benefits pay back; this is rather viewed by customers as return on investment. It would therefore be quite useful for Earthen Construction companies to come up with proper calculations of the prospect customer's savings that are to be expected, although these estimations should never take the form of a guarantee. III. Sustainable, quality life – Part of every home purchasing process, and at times a strong motivation for it, is the desire for a life quality improvement. This can be achieved through a reduced environmental impact which is a typical feature of the Earthen Building. However, the ensuing benefits for the prospect customer mean, amongst others, a more durable home that is easy to maintain. The correct Marketing strategy in this case should reveal practices and ensuing benefits that make the green home the perfect choice for sustainable quality life, thus justifying a premium which in turn increases the customer's bottom line. Here comes the need for green-certified homes, the related certifications, and the issuing authority (see below). 6. Pitfalls to avoid In the process of initializing a proper Earth Construction market, one may fall upon major stumbling blocks that it is essential to avoid. 6.1 Making assumptions about what customers want and going ahead without a detailed market research and customer analysis can be detrimental in this regard. Customer segmentation and profiling are the first stages to go through, but further details may be critical for the commodification of the Earthen Building, At present, Earthen Building is still a non-commoditized product; as E. Jackson put it *8 "an earth builder or an earth designer in New Zealand is a bit like being a vegan in a meat eating society… totally over the top, totally extreme, you are up against it’ ". Field experts identify ‘the unfavorable perception of earth as a building material by members of the general public’ as the major barrier. In fact, the average person's perception of building materials has been impacted by industrialization, notions of progress, specialization, and the desire for economic growth. To systematically modify and change this perception, Earthen Construction marketers have to investigate in-depth their targeted customer segments and address successfully questions like the following: - What does profiling the prospect customers demonstrate? - What customer insight has been achieved through the research? - What does the customer database reveal in terms of Recency, Frequency, Value (RFV / also known as Recency, Frequency, Monetary Value – RFM) Analysis? - Who are the most profitable customers/segments/clusters? - What are the recognizable characteristics of a typical profitable customer? - Why are prospect customers buying the brand? Is this changing? - Are customers receiving the ideal brand/customer experience? - Does the brand positioning have to change for each audience segment? - What is the brand's level of customer loyalty? - What are the churn-rates (customer attrition)? - What media channels have been tested? Which do the prospect customers trust/use/respond to? - What marketing activity has delivered a return-on-investment? - Which segments should be the primary/secondary target audiences for this/next year's marketing? 6.2 Ignoring the competition would be another pitfall. For Earthen Building, as a new and rising market, Modern Building is the main competitor. In fact, Modern Building, which contributed tremendously to the alienation between the modern urban dwellers and the nature, became an integral part of the Western consumer society, which turned out to be the dominant global culture. As part of a consumption-based society, Modern Building became increasingly commoditized, and this implies that many buildings and building materials are produced for the purpose of exchange rather than use. This means that customer decisions regarding the built environment are basically reduced to mere shopping. Consequently, we realize that the main competitor (i.e. Modern Building) is far better embedded into the prevailing Consumerism, which leads us to the conclusion that Earthen Building Marketing strategy should primarily focus on types of Branding that strongly oppose and utterly demolish consumerist myths and misconceptions (or cultural misperceptions) that stand on the way. As it happens, Western consumers have a tendency to look at earth as a poor man’s material. This is corroborated by particularly focused case studies *9; in New Zealand, contrarily to urban communities, the rural Maori communities value earth in a higher manner, and "don’t look at earth as a poor man’s material; …. it doesn’t become a shameful or disrespectful thing to live within earth". 6.3 The aforementioned makes clear that it would be a serious error to try to compete with Modern Building on price alone. Public surveys reveal a tremendous lack of awareness and Marketing when it comes to Earthen Building even in countries where the sector is properly standardized like New Zealand. As potential reasons why the survey respondents did not desire to live in an earth building the following were mentioned: "because we don’t know enough", "because the concept is unfamiliar", "I’ve never heard of the concept, but it has me interested" and "I have no idea what is a house or buildings made from earth". One can therefore firmly conclude that the undesirability of the construction technique is basically due to ignorance, inability to visit earth buildings, and other options that all reveal the lack of systematic Marketing. It will therefore be the task of future marketers to undertake not only product branding but also material branding. This will be key to Earthen Construction market success. As a matter of fact, it is well-known that a lot of research and promotion work has been incessantly done over the past decades by Concrete and Cement Associations established in various countries. This implies that promotion and branding of earth as material must become the primary concern of the earth block manufacturing industry and of any Earthen Building Associations. Due to the nature of Earthen Construction, a certain promotion of production techniques and consumption process will have to take place. This will be a preparatory work which will impact the emergence of the Earthen Construction market greatly by creating more building process-aware and more technique-savvy customers than those of the Modern Construction market. 6.4 Earthen Construction marketers will have to also avoid another major drawback, namely the reliance on too few customers. Presently, Earthen Construction has all typical characteristics necessary for a new market under formation to end up as a niche market. This can be avoided by the awareness campaigns and the promotion techniques that Earthen Construction marketers will have to select and adopt successfully. Prospect customers must become better acquainted with the materials and the construction methods used in Earthen Architecture. As demonstrated by surveys, acquaintance matters greatly; more visits to earthen buildings someone makes, closer he gets to the purchasing decision. Longer experience someone has in earthen buildings, stronger his temptation is to express positive comments about this type of construction. Related issues involve the type of experience one may have got of earthen buildings (if associated with poverty and underdeveloped areas, it will be rather biased and negative), the need for public awareness as regard existing private and public earthen buildings, and the necessary dissociation of the earthen building from the concept of 'historic site'. To the last is evidently associated the wrong perception of the material itself, which needs to be addressed separately; in this regard, the misperception of earth as an old-fashioned material (if compared to glass, iron or timber) is due to basic structures of the Modern Western Thought (Enlightenment) as per which the 'new' is more desirable and the 'old' is rather avoidable. Opposing these structural elements of the Western societies is a prerequisite for Earthen Construction marketers to avoid a niche market perspective which is tantamount to overreliance on too few customers. 6.5 Trying to grow too quickly constitutes another pitfall for every Marketing effort; this is also valid for Earthen Construction. If we take into consideration the global contrast between Earthen Construction as practice, which is overwhelmingly majoritarian, and Earthen Construction as an independent sector of the Construction market, which is embryonic or marginal, we will realize that there are more serious impediments than the aforementioned that we have to address. As a matter of fact, if Earthen Construction remains still marginal within the Modern Western world, this is also due to the existing, significant divergence in terms of concepts of aesthetics. Finding the correct remedy for this deeply-rooted issue will take time. Surveys demonstrate that there is a strong relationship between the perception of attractiveness and the aspiration to live in an earthen building. Believing earthen building to be ugly (when compared to timber, glass and steel) is due to inherent issues pertaining to the very nature of the Earthen Construction. The industrialization process that started in Europe and America, in the 18th and the 19th century, highly reflected basic criteria of Renaissance and Classical aesthetics and definitely affected the perception of the beauty among people; the basic criteria of uniformity, balance, proportion, and precision do also apply to Modern Construction despite its ostensible contrast with Classicism. In the other hand, Earthen Construction does not involve a highly industrialized process and, comparatively speaking, lacks in terms of perfection, symmetry and precision. This makes the Earthen Building inherently less attractive to audiences that have become familiarized with the said parameters. The Marketing needs of the nascent Earthen Construction sector involve a great deal of preparatory work, including the promotion of concepts and ideas that are closer to sustainable life, such as imperfection, naturalness, imprecision, simplicity, humbleness, rusticity, mediocrity, smallness. It will certainly take time to diffuse these concepts and to make people regard them as of value, but it is on the adoption of alternative aesthetics that Earthen Construction as market will make a real breakthrough. 6.6 At last, becoming complacent about what you offer and failing to innovate remains always a serious drawback for Earthen Construction marketers. In this regard, several critical issues must be dealt with. Among developed nations whereby a proper Earthen Construction market can emerge more easily and more profitably, every resource's value is measured in a purely monetary manner, and this imposes an equation of the type "earth = cheap" in the minds of the average people. This leads to a low estimation of earth's status as material. Earthen Construction marketers must be free of any environmental activism and avoid eventual hiatuses. Although the Earthen Building's environmental benefits are highly valued by a wide range of activists, architects, ecologists, and theoreticians, they don't constitute an important reason or a high priority among prospect customers. So if a Marketing strategy focuses on these benefits, the effort will be misplaced and fail. Valued sustainability will probably never be highly prioritized by customers living within the Western context of consumerism whereby every product is commoditized; the average customer has long become accustomed to purchase finished products, and this stands in contrast with the evolving nature of earth. Even worse, built environment is mostly viewed by customers as separate from nature. Quit contrarily, as surveys suggest, a significant number of prospect customers view earth positively as a novelty. Still here the gap between 'novelty' and 'alternative' is very narrow, and Earthen Construction marketers should do their ingenious best to avoid any possible identification of the Earthen Building with alternative lifestyle, eccentric or marginal attitudes and behaviors, and anything that may be perceived as a threat to the social status. 7. Competitive analysis The Earthen Construction market by definition is the direct competitor of Modern Construction. Evaluating the competition is a key Marketing activity that not only ensures critical insight into the strategies and goals of the competitor but also provides an overview over the existing trends and the potential future of the overall industry sector. *10 Competitive analysis has therefore an important role to play in the Earthen Construction strategic planning. The following bullets outline the basic contributions of competitive analysis to the database needed by Earthen Construction marketers to shape their future strategy. - Understanding the competitors’ past, present and (more critically) future strategies - Sufficient documentation to develop the proper strategies needed in order to achieve competitive advantage in the future - Forecasting the eventual return from future investments, i.e. insight into the various possible ways the competitor will respond to a new market (Earthen Construction) or a new pricing strategy (of the Earthen Construction sector) - Improved understanding the sector's advantages and disadvantages relative to competitors The basic steps to follow in this regard involve the following activities - Identifying the competitor (in this case Modern Construction) - Unveiling the competitor's strategies - Determining the competitor's objectives and goals - Establishing the competitor's SWOT - Estimating the competitor's reaction patterns - Selecting the competitor's areas to attack or avoid - Creating a Positioning Map (also known as perceptual mapping) - Shaping a Competitive Intelligence for the Modern Construction sector From another viewpoint, leading specialists *11 categorize the competitor sources into three main groups, as per below: - Recorded data (published material, either internal or external, involving company annual reports, press releases, product brochures, analysts' reports, regulatory reports, etc.) - Observable data (material that has to be actively sought or meticulously gathered from many different points and activities, notably competitor pricing, advertising campaigns, promotions, tradeshows, tenders or patent applications) - Opportunistic data (anecdotal but original and often critical, this type of information originates from diverse discussions with a number of suppliers, customers, and former salespeople, managers and directors of the competition) As per two leading specialists, *12 competitive analysis should revolve around areas such as technology, market access, reputation and image, and operating knowledge and skills. As per this approach, there are four key knowledge areas, notably the competitor's marketplace strategy, the sources of the (competitor's) competitive advantage, the interpretation of signals sent by the competitor's actions and communications, and finally the competitor's response profile. All these issues are of great value for Earthen Construction marketers. As per another technique suggested by another Marketing expert, *13 profiling the competition should involve info concerning the background, the financials, the products, the Marketing, the facilities, the personnel and the corporate and marketing strategies of the competitor. As per the needs of this classification, it would essential for Earthen Construction marketers to collect data with respect to the products, the Marketing, and the corporate and marketing strategies of the Modern Construction sector. It goes without saying that the scope of a competitive analysis focused (not on a single company but) on an entire sector necessitates vast resources, great effort, and multilateral approach. It should rather be the undertaking of an Earth Building Society geared "to promote the development and conservation of Earth Building". *14 8. SWOT Analysis From the aforementioned, it becomes clear that Earthen Construction marketers must definitely opt for differentiated marketing, which is the process of addressing the market by tailoring separate product and marketing strategies to different segments of the market, namely high price and low price segments, etc. An analysis of the strengths (S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O), and trends (or threats / T) of a product, company or market reveals the current situation in all its dimensions and helps marketers shape the correct decision making process. What follows is a SWOT analysis of the Earthen Construction market; it is neither focused on a specific Earthen Construction company nor on the Earthen Building as product/commodity. STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES - A healthy home to live - Lower operating costs - Lower maintenance costs - Sustainable, quality life - Low cost construction – ideal for governmental projects of slum elimination, refugee sheltering, etc. - Due to material availability, it is the choice of preference when construction projects are to be undertaken in remote, quasi-inaccessible areas with no asphalt road - Minimal dependence on imports – minimized use of foreign currency reserves - Novelty in Construction among the developed Western nations - There is no Earthen Construction market properly speaking. - Companies sell Earthen Buildings along with Modern Buildings, which is an impediment in terms of product differentiation. - Companies selling Earthen Building do not have separate departments or subsidiaries for it, and do not offer to this separate line of products an independent Mktg. strategy. - A Product Differentiation Strategy is missing. - A Value Creating Strategy for Earthen Building projects is missing. - Earthen Building is still a non-commoditized product. - Little effort was made to contextualize Earthen Building within the macro-environment of every country's economy. - Earthen Construction Mktg. has not yet been properly and fully conceptualized - No Earthen Construction company carried out proper market segmentation and customer profiling. - Absence of highly individualized Mktg. messages that are necessary to address different market segments / clusters - Inaccuracy-impertinence-meaninglessness of Mktg. terms used thus far ('Green Building') - Product branding missing - Material branding missing - Not a highly industrialized process in an industrialized world - Skills shortage - Lack of technical standardization in many countries; lack of adequate search on material - Certain limitations (technique impossible for stadiums, etc.; no more than 1-floor structures allowed in several countries) OPPORTUNITIES THREATS - Environmental concerns on the rise & Sustainability policies promoted and implemented in many countries - Community purchasing power – more neighborhoods and groups are interested in increased efficiency and buy green products at significant discounts. - Lifecycle Analysis (LCA) - A new type of analysis will determine the impact of building materials over their lifetime, helping builders make more sustainable choices. - Small commercial certification - Alternative energy certification programs are becoming more popular to encourage smaller commercial buildings to go green (green-certified homes). - Building process-aware and more technique-savvy customers - Rethinking residential heating & cooling: the demand for ductless and furnace-less, 'passive' homes is on the rise, while geothermal heating & cooling becomes popular. - Sustainable building education The continued demand for info about the sustainable construction brings forth new learning opportunities, not only for designers and builders but for all types of professionals involved in the building industry, from real estate to finance to insurance. This helps place an appropriate value on a green building. - Increased interest in Construction labor force accreditation and certification - Modern Construction is better embedded into the prevailing Western Consumerism. - Built environment is mostly viewed by customers as separate from nature. - Unfavorable perception of earth as a building material - Lack of awareness about Earthen Building - Prevalence of Renaissance and Classical aesthetics that best fit Modern Construction - Environmental benefits: not a high priority among prospect customers - 'Alternative Construction' (a negative view to dissociate from) 9. PEST Analysis A typical Marketing tool is the so-called PEST analysis ('Political, Economic, Social and Technological analysis'); this approach examines basically macro-environmental factors that can be used in the environmental scanning which is undertaken by a company top management. It is part of the external analysis and offers an overview of all significant macro-environmental factors that the company has to take into account. As a strategic tool, it helps understand market growth or decline, business position, potential and direction for operations. More recently, further aspects have occasionally attributed, namely socio-cultural, demographic, technological, ecological, ethical, legal and regulatory. What follows is a PEST analysis of the Earthen Construction market. Governments can amend existing laws or introduce new laws to - limit the environmental footprint of the Construction sector - enforce the presence of Earthen Construction projects in tenders - offer the Earthen Construction sector the possibility to make most of the related capacities (remove 1-floor limitations, etc.) - introduce tax incentives for all Earthen Construction companies - impose that 50% of all governmental projects are Earthen - promote Earthen Construction in a number of varied sectors, i.e. Health, Education, & Infrastructure - include Green Building in the proper manuals of the Secondary Education - set up the necessary academic, research, vocational and professional institutions that will further diffuse, promote and popularize Earthen Construction Political Economic - Countries with limited foreign currency reserves can save greatly by offering Earthen Construction preferential or imperative status, and thus limit imports. - Indebted countries, bankrupt economies, developing nations and least developed states can save their limited resources by imposing import restrictions for construction materials with respect to any project that can be built with Earthen Construction techniques. - Inflationary economies will also benefit from a governmental support to Earthen Construction sector. - As labor intensive technique, Earthen Construction offers a greater number of job opportunities. - Countries with high population growth rate have to turn to Earthen Construction to accommodate more people with less cost. - Countries with emphasis on tradition and indigenous culture will widen, strengthen and underscore their policy making by adopting Earthen Construction as the default construction set of methods and techniques. - Countries with emphasis on environmental issues will complete their ecological commitment by fully offering Earthen Construction a preferential status. - Countries with emphasis on health consciousness have great interest in promoting Earthen Construction. Social Technological - Standardization of Earthen Construction is top priority for countries whereby it has not yet been institutionalized; it must be understood in every country that standardization affects cost, quality and innovation - Earthen Construction market can be tremendously affected by innovative methods, new technologies, and fresh trends in automation, like the Compressed Earth Block Machines. - A great deal of R&D activities has to be undertaken, and for this reason specialized laboratories have to be set up to methodically carry out the standardization codes, and the associated accreditation (the Green Building Initiative in the US being just an example). 10. Conclusions The aforementioned insight into the Earthen Construction market leads us to few basic, conclusive points. At a global level, we cannot pretend that, despite the existence of a product, namely the Earthen Building, there is a market for Earthen Construction. Contrarily to the prevailing Modern Construction market, a distinct Earthen Construction market will not be successfully incepted unless the product itself is highly commoditized. The current circumstances reveal the need for a tremendous effort and concerted commitment from the part of those interested to make it happen. Earthen Construction seems to have become a real market only in countries that have greatly advanced in the implementation of their environmental policies and standards like South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Innovative and successful practices introduced in these countries have to be properly copied and adapted / implemented in other, industrialized or developing countries with heavy environmental footprint. The effort to effectively raise awareness and suitably market Earthen Building involves a great deal of governmental involvement and private entrepreneurial commitment. It also takes a big deal in terms of Education and R&D; this task is to be undertaken and shared by several institutions. By setting up a Sustainable Building Research Center, the Ministry of Education would greatly facilitate the necessary restructuring of the academic curricula in the Faculty of Architecture in each and every university across a given country. By introducing courses of Sustainable Earthen Construction, the academic institutions of a country could significantly impact the future generations of architects and civil engineers. The examples offered by South Korea (SUSB-Research Center) and Germany (EnEd) are quite indicative. *15 Part of the tasks of this institution would be focused on further research and on the development of architectural engineering technologies able to protect the environment and improve sustainable life quality. New, sustainable, recyclable construction methods should be well documented and properly propagated. New sustainable technologies would then be rapidly incorporated into the academic curricula and help produce high caliber generations of architects and civil engineers. The problem of academic curricula in Architecture seems by the way to have become an urgent concern, as the establishment of the EDUCATE Action by the Commission of the European Union clearly indicates; the need to "overcome the pedagogical and professional barriers that currently hinder the implementation of sustainable environmental design in the education and practice of architecture" is the main reason of this consortium of seven European universities. *16 A new concept of professionalism for architects may come out of this effort, and this would greatly contribute to the emergence of Earthen Construction market. In an innovative approach to architectural professionalism and to the construction work, the building is seen as an information system, whereas the architect is rather viewed as the designer, the central coordinator, and the main mediator among specialists in pervasive computing. This approach should be incorporated within the framework of Earthen Construction works because it has a great potential for a positive, sustainable impact, involving designs with flexible usage and lower expense of operation for the client. The bottom line is to increase living comfort while reducing energy consumption - a major contribution towards social and environmental sustainability. *17 The next level links academic studies and professional life; this should be ensured by the institutionalization of a Sustainable Architecture Professional Education Center also to be funded by the Ministry of Education and Research. This professional institution should be tasked with the propagation of architectural development ideologies that promote concepts like environmental impact reduction, improved construction productivity, and sustainable life quality. It should also help produce highly skillful human resources in Earthen Construction. Another institution to be launched for the purpose of developing model apartment housing of low energy construction should be the Center of Sustainable Housing. Directly linked with governmental bodies and organizations, this Center would spearhead new policies for the establishment of new town communities, the institution of an eco-friendly public apartment market, the elimination of slum areas, and the fast incorporation of the increased numbers of refugees. South Korea has also set up a Bio Housing Research Institute in an effort to promote research combining eco-friendly material and cutting-edge construction technology. This would also add value to the overall efforts. Standardization and institutionalization of certifications would greatly contribute to the establishment of an Earthen Construction market. Assessment models for performance rating of housing projects have to be developed and accepted, and then pilot certification programs to be conducted and associated criteria to be adopted. Governmentally regulated, a nationwide system of eco-friendly housing certifications would greatly transform the existing Construction market, thus breaking ground for the emergence of the Earthen Construction market. An accreditation system for contractors specializing in building conservation and repair has been introduced in England and this should be effectively adopted in other countries as well. More specifically, the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS), an industry-led initiative driven by the Major Contractors Group (MCG), the National Contractors Federation (NCF) and a wide range of private construction clients, was set up as a tool to - keep a register of competent craftspeople, construction operatives, supervisors, managers and professionals who have achieved a recognized level of competence, skill and qualifications - provide a standard means of identification of construction workers - raise standards of health and safety to reduce risks and accidents throughout the industry - encourage construction employers to use skilled workers *18 Subsequent projects may include the establishment of sustainable new cities like the Multifunctional Administrative City for Korea and other similar paradigms. The topic was discussed also within the context of arid regions, *19 like the deserts of Sahara or Arabia, but it is clear that countries lacking the aforementioned institutional infrastructure cannot easily move toward this option. However, as the authors of the study postulate, "the absence of capital for development, and established habits of the people that make up these areas, cannot be discounted". This issue definitely pertains not only to market regulation and academic promotion, but also to social initiative. In addition, the absence of properly speaking free economy consists in a serious impediment, and several studies have focused on this point. As per the conclusions of Hanan M. Taleb and Steve Sharples *20 "recent studies indicate that having abundant oil reserves, heavily subsided electricity and water prices creates a lack of awareness with regard to environmental concerns as well as a shortage of regulations and policies in terms of sustainable construction implementation. These factors are among the most significant barriers to a flourishing sustainable architecture movement in Saudi Arabia". This shows that education and social initiative have a great role to play in modifying misperceptions and misbehaviors; in fact, they have to go hand in hand. Last, thanks to increased interaction with grassroots organizations across the earth, Earthen Construction marketers would utilize the lessons and the experience of earlier pioneering work, such as the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales, the Findhorn Foundation's eco-village in Scotland, the Canelo Project in Arizona - US, and BedZED (Beddington Zero Energy Development) Project in London. * 21 Involving thinkers and economists from the circle of New Economics and engaging theoreticians of the Spaceship Earth circle would also offer the nascent Earthen Construction an even stronger theoretical and ideological-political background which in turn should be reflected at the market level. REFERENCE NOTES 1. Ansoff, I.: Strategies for Diversification, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 35 Issue 5,Sep-Oct 1957, pp. 113-124 2. Luanne Kelchner, The Advantages of a Product Differentiation Strategy, Demand Media; http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-product-differentiation-strategy-17691.html 3. As per the Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Programme (http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home.html) 4. http://www.isi-web.org/component/content/article/5-root/root/81-developing (from the International Statistical Institute) 5. http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/least_developed_countries.htm; http://data.worldbank.org/region/LDC 6. Building Environmental Assessment Tools and the Multi-dimensional Pathways towards Sustainable Architecture (The 2005 World Sustainable Building Conference, Tokyo, 27-29 September 2005: www.irbnet.de/daten/iconda/CIB3760.pdf) 7. http://www.vivagreenhomes.com/articles/marketingagreenproperty 8. Jackson, E., 2010. Self-reliance and Earth Building in New Zealand: A case-study of the Struggle between Sustainability and Consumerism. MArch. Auckland: The University of Auckland 9. Ellen Jackson, Rosangela Tenorio - Accessibility of earth building in New Zealand, SB10 New Zealand, Paper Number: 17 http://www.branz.co.nz/cms_show_download.php?id=d3724b99488decc5cbbdc60cbaec3070b919331c 10. Michael Porter, Competition Shapes Strategy, in: Harvard Business Review (March–April 1979); David Stauffer, The Power of Competitive Intelligence, Cambridge: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2003. 11. J.H. Davidson - Anthony J.F. O'Reilly, Even More Offensive Marketing: An Exhilarating Action Guide to Winning in Business (Penguin business) 12. John A. Czepiel & Roger A. Kerin, Competitor Analysis, pages.stern.nyu.edu/~jczepiel/Publications/CompetitorAnalysis.pdf 13. Thomas O'Connor (2010). Strategic Planning for Distributors: Execution Isn't Everything--It's the Only Thing! Natl Assn Wholesale-Distr. p. 49. 14. Tom Morton, Unfired earth brick building, http://www.arc-architects.com/downloads/Building-for-the-Future-Article.pdf 15. Sungho Tae & Sungwoo Shin, Current work and future trends for sustainable buildings in South Korea, in: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 13 (2009), p. 1910–1921; International Education Center for Energy System (www.ened.com) 16. Dr. Sergio Altomonte, Environmental Education for Sustainable Architecture; in: Review of European Studies, vol. 1, no 2, December 2009, p. 12 - 24 17. Odilo Schoch, Applying Digital Smart Technologies for a Sustainable Architecture, in: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia, Kumamoto (Japan), March 30th - April 2nd 2006, p. 261-268 18. Simon Thurley - David Linford - Peter Lobban, Traditional Building Craft Skills, The National Heritage Training Group, London, 2005 19. Habib M Alshuwaikhat and Danjuma I Nkwenti, Developing Sustainable Cities in Arid Regions, in: Cities, vol. 19, No. 2, 2002, p. 85–94 20. Hanan M. Taleb and Steve Sharples, Developing sustainable residential buildings in Saudi Arabia: A case study, in: Applied Energy, vol. 88 (2011), p. 383–391 21. Gill Seyfang, Community action for sustainable housing: Building a low-carbon future, in: Energy Policy, 38 (12), 2010, p. 7624—7633