While the residential market undergoes profound change - between the new-build crisis and price wars - the commercial property sector (hotels, healthcare, education...) offers an altogether different playing field. Driven by energy performance requirements, regulation and high expectations around expertise, it is reshuffling the cards for construction manufacturers and distributors.
But beware: to exist there, adapting a product pitch is not enough. You need to know how to speak to the right players, with the right content, and address their concerns!
In this article, we unpack the subject: why is commercial property becoming a strategic priority for construction industry brands? How do you structure communication that speaks to decision-makers? How do you put value back into specification through solution-oriented content?
One objective: (re)position yourself where expertise is expected (and recognised).
Residential: a sector under pressure
The verdict is clear: France's new housing market is at rock bottom, down 21.9% in 2024. Barely 253,000 housing starts - unheard of since 1954. The result: a sector dominated by budget trade-offs, where price all too often takes precedence over performance or durability. (source: lecommercedubois.org)
In this context, it is difficult to promote technical innovations, or to talk about comfort in use or longevity. The conversation too often boils down to "cheaper, faster".
Commercial property: fertile ground for high value-added brands
By contrast, the commercial property sector (healthcare, hospitality, education, offices...) is being energised by regulatory requirements - the BACS decree, the tertiary decree - and by project owners' growing desire to commit to an overall performance approach.
The figure to remember? 996 million m² of commercial buildings in France. That is a lot of space to transform, improve and renovate. (source: climplus.com)
But above all, a paradigm shift: in commercial property, you do not sell a product, you provide a solution to a challenge. Here, energy performance, ergonomics, modularity, ease of maintenance and environmental quality are at the heart of the concerns. And every project becomes an opportunity for concrete demonstration.
Sharing knowledge rather than selling: a solutions-oriented approach
Commercial property is not just a new "market": it is a stage for expression. Far from the price-driven logic of residential, it offers a setting where content can (and must) carry genuine added value.
This is where an effective demand generation strategy comes in, in three stages:
- Visibility: (re)assert your presence in these markets, establish your legitimacy and become visible within the commercial property ecosystem
- Consideration: feed the thinking with useful content: figures, feedback from experience, trends, comparisons, case studies, research data…
- Specification: build preference among technical decision-makers, by proving that your solution is the right answer to their problem.
The project owner wants a profitable, sustainable, compliant operation. The contractor is looking for technical, well-documented, long-lasting products. The key? Stop talking about yourself, and start talking about their challenges.
A concrete example with Recticel
How do you generate qualified leads in commercial property?
Recticel, a brand well established in residential, wanted to build legitimacy in the commercial buildings segment. We designed a targeted inbound campaign, with a downloadable e-book, expert content and a conversion funnel to generate specifier leads. A twofold objective achieved: gaining visibility and demonstrating product effectiveness with an educational approach.
In conclusion
Today, manufacturers looking to restore value to their offering must look beyond residential. Commercial property is more than an outlet: it is a terrain for expertise, specification and image - an opportunity to restore value to your products and your brand. And that is precisely what we help our clients build at Convergence.