StoVentec®: Defining the Rainscreen Category to Accelerate Specification

In 2020, StoVentec® entered the U.S. market with a highly engineered rainscreen facade system and a differentiated point of view. The product was proven in Europe, but the broader U.S. category lacked shared language. 

“Rainscreen” was a misunderstood word, used to describe everything from individual panels to partial assemblies, making it hard for architects, contractors, and owners to compare solutions and understand what “complete” really meant.  That ambiguity created an opportunity. StoVentec® was one of the few truly complete rainscreen systems in the market, but the market lacked shared language to communicate that advantage consistently.  

The goal was to increase meaningful activity across the business by creating clarity: define the rainscreen category, establish StoVentec® as a flagship facade system, and align marketing + sales around how AEC audiences evaluate and specify performance materials. 

The Challenge

StoVentec® had a strong system story, but the market conversation was fragmented, and their go-to-market wasn’t yet built to educate and convert across multiple stakeholders.

Key challenges included:

  • Category confusion: Competitors were simplifying the conversation by positioning panels as “rainscreens,” blurring the line between components and complete systems.
  • Website messaging: The website needed to more clearly communicate the full rainscreen system and guide different audiences (architects, contractors, owners) to the information they needed.
  • Sales enablement consistency: The sales team needed clearer, more consistent tools to defend value engineering and support specification conversations.
  • Demand + follow-through: Lead activity needed more structure, visibility, and nurturing so marketing and sales could track momentum and prioritize the right opportunities.

StoVentec® needed a connected, category-led strategy that made the system easier to understand, easier to defend, and easier to specify.

The Strategy: Define the Category, Then Build Demand

We started with our AEC Strategy to understand audiences, competition, and the full specification lifecycle. That work clarified how StoVentec® could lead the rainscreen conversation, especially around:

  • System engineering and proven performance
  • Testing, compliance, and risk reduction
  • Installation support and constructability
  • Mixed-material facade capability and design flexibility

We mapped how architects, contractors, and owners evaluate risk and performance from early design through procurement and installation, then aligned messaging, content, and tools to support those decisions at each step. 

The insight was clear, the fastest path to increasing qualified activity was to define the category around system-level value and consistently reinforce that story across every touchpoint. 

The Solution: Building Systems That Scale

01. Positioning StoVentec® as a Complete Rainscreen Façade System 


We reframed StoVentec® around what makes it different – not a panel, but a complete rainscreen facade system. 

This included: 

  • Refined core messaging rooted in system performance and risk reduction 
  • Audience-specific value narratives for architects, contractors, and owners 
  • Sales tools to support specification conversations and protect against value engineering 
 
02. Strengthening the Marketing + Sales Foundation

To support growth beyond awareness, we reinforced the infrastructure needed to educate, capture, and nurture demand. 

This included: 

  • Built audience-based messaging and content modules that the Sto team could plug into their existing nurture programs 
  • Identification of high-impact digital touchpoints where system education could be strengthened 

The result – a clearer connection between education and action, and a foundation for consistent follow-through. 

 

03. Launching Audience-Based AEC Campaigns 

Campaigns were structured around how different stakeholders evaluate facade systems: 

  • Architects: design flexibility, performance, compliance, and visual outcomes 
  • Contractors: constructability, installation support, and risk reduction 
  • Owners: durability, long-term consistency, and lifecycle value 

Each campaign was supported by targeted content, spec tools, and paid media, built to move audiences from curiosity to confidence. 

 

04. Modernization and Retrofit Positioning 

 

Our AEC strategy also identified the retrofit market as a key type of project activity that aligned well with the StoVentec® system. In many commercial and institutional projects, teams are under pressure to improve performance, address moisture issues, meet updated energy and code requirements, and modernize the building’s appearance, all while minimizing disruption. That combination makes a tested, system-based rainscreen approach especially compelling. 

We translated that insight into a retrofit and modernization growth play, designed to create demand and support specification conversations: 

  • Clarified retrofit-specific messaging focused on performance upgrades, risk reduction, and long-term durability 
  • Built content that helps AEC teams evaluate retrofit scenarios, including what to expect during design, detailing, and installation 
  • Developed owner-focused talking points and benefit-led assets that help teams communicate value in terms owners care about, including performance, risk reduction, durability, and long-term consistency 
  • Structured targeted outreach to reach the right project types and decision makers with the right proof points at the right time 

The Results: Clearer Story, Stronger Alignment, More Momentum

While performance data is proprietary, StoVentec® now operates with greater clarity and alignment across marketing, sales, and product management. 

Outcomes included: 

  • A clearly defined category position rooted in system-level value 
  • A roadmap for a more modern, AEC-focused digital experience that is actively being used to guide priorities and execution 
  • A scalable campaign framework for driving activity across priority initiatives 
  • A more defensible rainscreen story that supports specification, protects value, and builds growth momentum 

Most importantly, StoVentec® now has a rainscreen narrative that’s easier for the market to understand, and harder for competitors to dilute. 

Looking Ahead

What began as a U.S. market launch evolved into a category-building effort designed to drive sustained business momentum. As StoVentec® continues to expand its facade portfolio and deepen engagement with the AEC community, this foundation ensures every initiative reinforces the same system-led story, so demand compounds over time. 

“We weren’t looking for an agency to simply execute marketing. We needed a strategic partner who could elevate our thinking and help us clarify how StoVentec should be positioned in the U.S. market. Point To Point helped us define that story and translate it into messaging our sales team could actually use.”

Schoeny Jones

Marketing Leader, Sto Corp.

A Message to Building Materials Leaders

StoVentec’s story reflects what we see often in high-performance building products – you can have a great system, but if the market doesn’t have clear language to understand it, you’ll fight uphill for every spec. At Point To Point, we help building materials manufacturers define the story, build the system, and activate the market, connecting strategy, content, and demand generation so marketing and sales are aligned and growth is measurable. If you’re ready to strengthen your category position and drive more specification activity, let’s talk.
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