Allied/Cook Construction is a general contracting business, founded in 1958. Based in the greater Portland area, the company’s fingerprint can be found on projects all over Maine and in parts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. Allied/Cook is celebrating its 50th anniversary and was looking for a way to commemorate this important milestone and to communicate to the larger community its expertise in the construction industry, the numerous services the company offers and its unique project delivery method (construction management). Additionally, the company sought a cost-effective, high-quality means of showcasing its strengths, its longevity and its role as a contributor to the economic growth in the state of Maine.
Solution
Allied/Cook believed that a print publication would most effectively showcase its projects, which focus on commercial properties including medical facilities, academic institutions, hotels, retail stores, automobile dealerships, and historic renovations. This type of publication would also offer an opportunity to point out the philanthropic efforts of the company and to honor and recognize loyal employees. Allied/Cook approached New England Business Media's Custom Publishing division to reach their target audience. Mainebiz presented an ideal distribution channel to reach Allied/Cook's target audience. Mainebiz has a total subscriber base of 11,650 — 94.5% of whom are key decision-makers in their companies.
Allied/Cook also boasts an extensive list of suppliers, vendors and subcontractors who have a vested interest in the company’s success. The Custom Publishing team suggested that Allied/Cook could offset the expense of a high-quality publication by inviting their business partners to advertise their own services/products within the pages of the publication, a win-win situation for all parties involved.
Content
The Custom Publishing team met with owners of Allied/Cook Construction to develop the content and design of the publication. Concurrently, the principals of Allied/Cook developed an extensive list of suppliers, vendors and subcontractors who would benefit from exposure to Maine business leaders, while helping Allied/Cook Construction commemorate its anniversary. The content included a message from the current leadership, textual and visual highlights of ten major projects, owner biographies, employee profiles, an article on Allied/Cook’s support of non-profit organizations, testimonials from several community business leaders, a congratulatory letter from Governor Baldacci and sidebars that explained various construction terms. Full-color photographs related to the various projects accompanied the written material. This format enabled Allied/Cook to underscore the historical significance of a thriving three-generation company, its past, present and future projects and the philosophy that has enabled the business to enjoy five decades of success.
Success
The resulting custom magazine was a spectacular publication with content that achieved its goals. New England Business Media's Custom Publishing division was able to capture Allied/Cook’s impressive accomplishments in a 24-page custom magazine that brought widespread visibility through distribution via Mainebiz. In addition, because of their many loyal business partnerships and the strong sales effort on behalf of the Custom Publishing team, the net cost of production and distribution was much less than traditional pricing. Allied/Cook also received a significant number of additional publications for their own distribution, which they will use for ongoing marketing purposes.