How a thought leadership campaign raised awareness for wienerberger
Bringing our B2B PR expertise to the manufacturing sector, our recent campaign for wienerberger has helped to shift brand perceptions with architects.
Internal brand research by wienerberger revealed a significant awareness-to-action gap among its target customer of architects and specifiers, with moderate awareness but low conversion rates.
We identified an opportunity to reposition the brand from commodity supplier to trusted industry partner, by authentically promoting wienerberger’s depth of expertise around the issues that were impacting architectural practices today. Through research, whitepaper production and the launch of a podcast series, we were able to build credibility and put wienerberger at the heart of one of the profession’s most topical issues: compliance.
Understanding the audience challenge
Despite the introduction of the Building Safety Act 2022 significantly transforming the regulatory landscape and introducing new responsibilities for architects, its practical impact on practices remained poorly understood.
We sought to quantify the real-world cost of compliance to create editorial value, while demonstrating to target customers how wienerberger’s products and services could help to reduce the burden.
Through independent research of UK architects, we found that:
Increased responsibilities under the BSA had accelerated concerns around professional liability, driving risk-averse specification behaviour;
95% of architects reported an increase in the time spent on compliance-related admin since the introduction of the BSA, compounded by a lack of trust in product information; and
80% felt that mounting regulation was hindering their creativity.
Crucially, the research revealed that architects were spending an average of four hours per week verifying product information – equating to an average annual cost of £16,700 per employee.
By translating anecdotal frustrations around compliance into a tangible commercial cost, we could clearly demonstrate how issues related to poor product transparency were directly impacting both productivity and commercial performance.
Creating a conversation
The headline stats from our B2B PR campaign boosted the launch of The Cost of Compliance whitepaper - an authoritative report that called for greater transparency of product information to ease the burden of compliance for architects. This also created an opportunity to engage with the Code for Construction Product information (CCPI) - an independent, industry-leading framework, designed to ensure manufacturers’ product information and marketing is clear, up to date and unambiguous.
The whitepaper featured in-depth interviews with representatives of smaller practices, larger firms and policy influencers - including a foreword contribution from the CCPI - to provide valuable context around the challenges being faced by architects, and understand why there was an urgent demand for manufacturers to provide clearer, more consistent product information.
Working in close partnership with wienerberger’s in-house marketing team, we managed the full whitepaper production, delivery and launch over a six-month period.
Delivering an integrated B2B campaign
Press coverage was secured in leading architecture and specification titles, including RIBA Journal, Building Design, Specification Online and Architects’ Datafile, and the whitepaper was supported by amplification across social media and digital marketing.
Combining our PR strategy with the client’s marketing strategy ensured that the gated whitepaper received more than 1,700 downloads with 60% of leads identified as architects and specifiers - demonstrating how the resource provided highly relevant and topical content for our target audience.
The thought leadership campaign continued to provide value beyond the initial launch too, as wienerberger later developed the research insights into a structured CPD programme, to enhance opportunities for further learning and nurturing leads. To date, more than 400 people have attended the brand’s webinars on compliance, and approximately 70% of attendees reported being more likely to specify wienerberger products after the training session - highlighting a measurable shift in brand perception and conversion.
Building momentum through a podcast series
With high engagement from architects, we identified an opportunity to build on the momentum of the campaign and delve further into the challenges around compliance.
Using the whitepaper as our foundation, we developed the findings into a six-part podcast series, allowing us to re-engage with architects, deepen brand trust and continue to amplify campaign reach.
Ahead of launch, we crafted a full editorial framework and episode schedule for the podcast, sourced credible industry voices to bring the discussions to life, and prepared all supporting content. Building For What’s Next went live in September 2026, bringing together architects, technical specialists, and industry experts to explore some of the biggest questions emerging from the regulatory landscape.
With new episodes dropping weekly, contributors include representatives from the Code for Construction Product Information (CCPI), the Architectural Technical Leads Group (ATLG), the Association of Building Control Approvers (ABCA), Birmingham City University and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).
In its first week, the series attracted more than 200 listens - well above the industry benchmark, with the median podcast series launch receiving 27 downloads in the first seven days.
Shifting perceptions through strategic PR
This thought leadership campaign was built around a distinct commercial challenge: increasing specification consideration among architects, within an evolving regulatory environment.
From identifying a genuine customer concern and transforming independent research into a long-term content platform, we have been able to continue boosting brand engagement, drive meaningful customer interactions, and directly influence specification decisions.
In turn, this has strengthened wienerberger’s relationship with architects and repositioned the brand as a trusted and authoritative voice at the forefront of industry issues.