You market yourself and your company. Energy can become part of a market niche as well as part of your identity as a builder. Eich organizes his marketing strategy around those three points. His commitment to energy efficiency is important, but its value in winning customers is that it reinforces his carefully crafted quality image. The kickplate is imprinted with his company name and logo, as well as with the date the house was completed.
People can see it from the street when they drive by.
The kickplate then becomes an integral part of the marketing campaign, as a sign that the home is something special, with good design, durability, energy efficiency and indoor air quality. It goes on the house after Eich completes his final inspection. It wasn't long before word got around. An advertisement featuring the kickplate runs monthly in a local newspaper and quarterly in a regional magazine distributed throughout northwest Iowa. During a recent two-day Parade of Homes, nearly 2000 people walked through just one of his model houses.