Architecture, engineering and branding

Growing digitalization has now radically transformed the way companies must approach communication, making the adoption of multichannel strategies essential rather than optional. By fully leveraging the potential of the web and social media, these strategies promote and enhance the perception of brand identity. This is even more crucial when operating in a highly competitive and fragmented context like the AEC market (Architecture, Engineering, Construction), where a very large—and constantly growing—number of competitors from both the engineering and architecture sectors often go head-to-head by offering overlapping services and expertise. Companies that have had the foresight to understand the importance of this strategic need are now able not only to stand out in a densely crowded landscape, but also to gain a significant competitive advantage in terms of recognition, consideration and reputation.

The value of our work lies precisely in our ability to develop a brand identity that clearly communicates the company’s values, vision and uniqueness through a distinctive and consistent narrative that resonates in the minds of clients and stakeholders. This is paired with modern production of written and visual content, strategically distributed across all company touchpoints, enabling our clients to showcase their expertise and capabilities at their best—turning the adoption of advanced digital tools and a strong online presence into catalysts for new business opportunities and into key elements for strengthening customer trust and amplifying the added value of the brand.

But let’s start with a few numbers. Although the war in Ukraine, the conflicts in the Middle East, the energy crisis and the ongoing shifts in monetary policy had suggested a possible recession, the 2023–2024 two-year period turned out to be perhaps not as stable as hoped, but decidedly positive overall. The OICE/Cer 2024 Report confirms an 8.1% increase in turnover and a 9% rise in employment compared to 2023, which—with over €3.9 billion in production value (+24.9% vs 2022)—was already considered a year of strong growth. The positive trend of the Italian market has undoubtedly been driven by, and will continue to be at least through 2025, funding from the Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (PNRR) of the Unione Europea, which is supporting major investments in infrastructure, energy security and power grids.

Despite these encouraging figures, it’s important not to forget that the reality still hides several factors of concern that the sector experiences as real constraints on growth and that, for us brand designers, represent elements to evaluate carefully:

• Tighter monetary policy and rising interest rates;
• The conflict in Ukraine and uncertainties in the Middle East affecting global geopolitical balances;
• Sharp increases in energy and raw material prices;
• High inflation and reduced household purchasing power;
• Reduced tax incentives for energy-efficiency upgrades in buildings;
• The continued rise in the costs of construction materials, labor and site expenses;
• High levels of debt among sector companies;
• Growing difficulty in accessing credit;
• Difficulty in finding qualified staff (technicians, designers, engineers, architects, project managers);

Despite the necessary differences in size and specialization among companies, firms and freelancers, Italy’s engineering and architecture landscape includes over 250,000 professional entities—an extremely high number. Italy also ranks second in the world for the number of internationalized companies, behind only superpowers such as the United States and China. Considering the sheer number and complexity of players, the Italian AEC (Architecture Engineering Construction) industry shapes up as an extremely competitive environment, a factor that clearly has a significant impact on any strategic repositioning strategy.

Another aspect that matters from a branding standpoint is that—from design to feasibility studies, from BIM to bid preparation, from on-site technical management to Project and Construction Management—both large architecture firms and major engineering companies often offer integrated, multidisciplinary services that overlap, making it difficult in some cases to clearly understand the true nature of their core business.

High fragmentation is in any case a typical feature of Italian SMEs, and the AEC market is no exception. Fortunately, in Italy it is possible to access major contracts such as public tenders also through the legal structure of the Consorzio Stabile: an entity предусмотрено by the “Codice dei contratti pubblici” that allows the technical capabilities, resources and requirements of multiple consortium companies to be combined without this constituting subcontracting.

The AEC market also features specific topics and trends that influence the development of an effective brand identity. By 2050, nearly 80% of the world’s population is expected to live in cities. A progressive and ongoing urbanization process that is driving a radical shift in the way urban settlements are designed, organized and built. No longer just functional clusters of buildings and services, but true growth-oriented ecosystems where people can live according to the highest human and environmental standards. It is undoubtedly a complex and highly responsible task that construction engineering and architecture are called upon to address within a limited timeframe. Environmental, economic and social sustainability, Project and Construction Management, Building Information Modeling (BIM), resilience, lifecycle and long-term management of the built environment are all themes that already provide a clear indication of the key elements to consider in terms of positioning.

Both verbally and visually, the AEC world’s “vocabulary” refers to clear, defined parameters. Driven by the rigorous and modern stylistic approach of major architecture firms, the engineering and construction sectors are also recognizing the need to build the right brand perception. While allowing for the necessary distinctions and customizations, trends are therefore becoming conceptually more uniform. In the architecture and engineering sector, rigor and synthesis—almost like in the world of fashion brands—are predominant, while in the world of consortia, project management, real estate investors and construction companies there is still greater formal freedom. Knowing in detail the stylistic references to follow and their nuances, having internalized them in our approach to design and content production, being familiar with the different trends, and having tested and applied them across multiple successful projects is undoubtedly an added value that Zaki can bring to the table.

Zaki has already delivered numerous projects in the AEC sector, a field in which we have built solid experience. Below are two successful rebranding examples completed for two leading firms on the national scene.

ATI Project: a rebranding project that set the standard

With an annual turnover of over €25+ million, ATI Project now ranks third among the largest architecture firms in Italy. Founded in Pisa in 2011 by Branko Zrnic and Luca Serri, it is now an international firm that, in just over ten years, has grown to more than 350 collaborators with an average age of just 32 years. In addition to its Tuscan headquarters, the company has offices in Belgrade, Copenhagen, Geneva, Milan, Odense, Paris and Tallinn.

View the case study

B&B Progetti: promoting BIM specialists

Founded in 2009 by Giampiero Brioni, B&B Progetti is an architecture and engineering company specialized in cost engineering and project & construction management that, over the last three years, has tripled its turnover and reached 30 collaborators across its offices in Milan and Pescara. The company’s standout strength is the high level of specialization achieved by its team of engineers and architects. The use of the most up-to-date software, within a BIM framework, enables the production of high-level deliverables that can be perfectly integrated across all engineering disciplines (structures, systems, services).

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