BOMA Calgary Building Guide

The Challenge

The Building Owners and Managers Association is a global organization founded in 1907 that represents the commercial and industrial real estate industry. Its members are building owners, managers, developers, leasing professionals, corporate facility managers, asset managers and providers of the products and services needed to operate commercial properties. BOMA Calgary was formed in the 1960s, and began publishing an annual magazine, the BOMA Calgary Building Guide, in the mid-1980s. The magazine was created through various funding methods, most recently a long-term partnership with one of the city’s daily newspapers. The magazine, however, was not meeting its goals of elevating the profile of BOMA Calgary, the advertisers within its pages and the commercial property industry as a whole.

The Solution

Sensing that there was potential for a reinvented Building Guide, RedPoint’s Marketing Solutions team approached BOMA Calgary to gauge interest in a proposal. With neither party rushing to push a deal through, we eventually arrived at a strategy, and a partnership agreement, through a process of discussions, brainstorming and planning sessions that took place over several months.

RedPoint and BOMA Calgary were both excited about the opportunity to bring fresh eyes to the content, design, photography, production and distribution of the magazine, and to tackle the challenge of ad sales. The goal was to create a profitable partnership and deliver a reimagined magazine with high visual standards, engaging content and functional features such as maps and building listings. We also rolled out a new distribution model that would give the magazine more prominence though visible pickup locations as well as targeted distribution to industry and business leaders.

The Results

Although they were moving into uncharted territory, RedPoint’s sales team members quickly zeroed in on the target advertiser group, generating excitement about plans for a refreshed, exciting new version of the magazine. Advertisers responded positively as RedPoint rolled out improvements in design and publishing quality, pushing ad sales through and beyond our targets. When the magazine was distributed, readers, advertisers and stakeholders were overwhelmingly positive in their reactions. The BOMA Calgary communications committee was very happy with it, and the redesigned maps were well-received. In addition, demand for extra copies of the magazine has been high, indicating reader interest and delivering extra impact for advertisers. We’re looking forward to a long and creatively inspiring relationship with BOMA Calgary.

See the digital version of the 2015-2016 BOMA Calgary Building Guide here.