Case 05 · Construction data · Brand & commercial strategy

Waking a brandborn in a fax room.

Dimension Express — Head of Brand & Strategy · Contract
2022 – Present · Ongoing engagement

A construction database of appliance specs — searchable by size, model, and more — serving builders, architects, and DIYers since the 1990s, when it was literally a room of fax machines. It had sat essentially untouched since 2012. The product still had value; everything around it had stopped evolving.

+10%
Subscription growth in the
first quarter of the rebrand
Fax → AI
From a 90s fax room to an
AI-maintained spec database
2022 –
Ongoing retainer
engagement
The situation

Dimension Express is a specification database for the construction industry — appliance specs that builders, architects, and DIYers can look up by size, model, and fit. It's been a genuinely useful utility since the 1990s, when the "database" was a room of fax machines fielding requests.

By the time I took it on, the platform had sat essentially untouched since 2012. The data was still valuable. The business built around it — the website, the brand, the offering, the messaging — belonged to another era.

The diagnosis

Opening the hood: a website that was 90s-old, not 90s-charming. Messaging with no clear value proposition. And the deeper structural problem —

Nobody could answer the two questions a brand exists to answer: who is this for, and what can you do with it? A utility with real value, invisible behind an offering no one could parse.
The work

An end-to-end rebuild — the entire company-facing surface, rebuilt from the data up: naming, identity, website, offering, and the commercial engine around it.

Positioning & messaging
Rebuilt the value proposition from scratch — defining who the product is for (builders, architects, DIYers) and what each can actually do with it.
Naming & identity
New naming and brand identity to carry the repositioned offering out of its legacy era.
Website rebuild
Complete rebuild of a 90s-era website into a modern product experience for a search-and-spec workflow.
AI-maintained data Newly implemented
Implemented AI to keep the spec database current and accurate — turning the product's core asset from a maintenance liability into a self-updating advantage.
Pricing & commercial model
Rebuilt the commercial foundation into a scalable subscription model, with pricing designed for the modern buyer.
GTM & partnerships
Go-to-market strategy and a partnership program to put the database where builders and architects already work.
Collateral & roadmap
Sales and marketing collateral, plus a product roadmap aligning what gets built next with the new positioning.
* Engagement ongoing — results continue to accrue.
Selected artifacts — the rebuild
Dimension Express website, 1990s era
Before — the 1993 site, essentially untouched
Dimension Express website, rebuilt
After — modern, benefit-led, subscription-ready
Dimension Express beta partner collateral
Beta partner program — new identity & messaging in market
← Previous case
Credibility in a skeptical category
Next →
Work with me
FAQ
What is Dimension Express?+
A construction-industry specification database — appliance specs searchable by size, model, and fit, for builders, architects, and DIYers. It's operated since the 1990s, when the “database” was a room of fax machines.
Is this an active engagement?+
Yes — an ongoing contract role as Head of Brand & Strategy since 2022, covering positioning, naming, identity, the website rebuild, pricing, GTM, and product roadmap.
What changed in the rebuild?+
The platform had sat essentially untouched since 2012. The engagement rebuilt the strategic foundation, brand, website, and commercial model end to end, including implementing AI to keep the spec database current and accurate.
Do you work with Walnut Creek-based companies?+
Yes — Dimension Express is one of several ongoing engagements I run from my base in Walnut Creek, CA. I take on brand narrative and branding work, including narrative architecture, for companies both local to the East Bay and remote across the US.