Projects

MediaMap Connecting Architects to the World’s Architectural Media

We very rarely talk about how important media is for architects. Media is also often a secondary consideration in architecture practices, we have tools for project management, and office management, but nothing for media management. MediaMap seeks to solve that problem. MediaMap is a new media kit and campaign tool for architects that maps the world’s architectural media. As someone who works in both architecture practice and media I know how exhaustive it is to promote and track your projects through media campaigns. Even finding the right media channel can be problematic but this becomes much easier when you have access to over 1800 magazines, blogs, newspapers, TV shows, freelance editors and writers.

The media kits help architects give the information to editors which they require in order to publish a project. Each media kit includes the basic ‘who, what, when, where and why’ prompts for architects, as well as storage for one-click downloads of high-resolution photography.

After entering their project info, architects can search the extensive database of publications and send their simple, clear and beautiful media kits to architectural editors across the globe. Users can then utilise the campaign tools to track where their stories have been published.

While the initial idea was instigated 3 years ago, the code behind MediaMap has been 9 months (and many rebuilds) in the making. MediaMap builds upon the inefficiencies of Word doc Media Kits, which I still use from time to time and which I am sure most architects can relate to.

Nic describes the making of MediaMap as the fruition of building an online ‘something’. Nic describes “We are literally living through a technology revolution and it is exciting to be part of that. Being an architect and an architectural photographer it made sense to focus on what I know and build a product based on my experiences. In software design you look for problems, or pain points, because ultimately it’s all about solving problems. The biggest problem I saw in my world was how architects engage with the media and how they get their projects published.”

MediaMap seeks to help architects by providing access to more publicity with less time spent on the management of said processes. Another issue for architects is often not knowing who to contact, with MediaMap these contacts are at your disposal. MediaMap also helps the media (and not just architects) by creating ready to use content for journalists, allowing them to spend less time chasing up project details (photos or text) to finalise a story. As we all know architects are notorious for not responding quickly.

Nic points out something that PR professionals say often “the money’s in the list”. MediaMap begins to level the playing field, Nic writes, “Up until now, the architects who had ‘the list’ tended to be large practices, or architects ‘in the know’. That’s because dedicated media staff, or PR professionals are expensive. What MediaMap does is make the media more accessible to architects and smaller firms without said resources. That’s exciting because what’s clear in my mind is the connection between media exposure and the architects who rise to prominence. Media doesn’t just report on who’s doing good work, it actually influences who gets the opportunity to do good work.” Both Nic and I agree this could instigate a fundamental shift in the industry.

MediaMap is designed for small practices that have no budget to engage an agency, as well as large organisations with dedicated media resources. MediaMap is now up and running, visit mediamap.co to find out more.