Winning the TTJ Excellence in Marketing Award in September was “very special” according to Andy Hodge, Osmose Europe marketing director.

“It is something we have aspired to since the marketing award was introduced,” he said. “We are very proud of having had a good consistent history – the first year of the award we were a runner-up, then we worked with M&M Timber on its award-winning Playguard campaign, – and winning in 2006 with our Creating New Opportunities for Timber initiative.”

Osmose, Mr Hodge explained, sees the concept of marketing as a fundamental part of its business – and not just for itself and its products, but for the industry as a whole.

“One of our objectives is to bring marketing to our customers, some of which wouldn’t necessarily be able to access such resources. It is a partnership – we supply our products to a company and then help them market their treated timber.”

The Creating New Opportunities for Timber marketing programme initiative was developed to encourage the growth of its European business base.

Osmose, he said, had been very much a wood preservative business, but now timber is being used in many more applications and the company felt it had to find new ways to enhance wood. This would bring new innovative products to market.

“The challenge to move with the times and new technologies in wood preservatives is still the core of the business, but we have also introduced new products such as Osmose Royale for the timber cladding, fencing and pre-stain decorative timber market sectors, and Osmose FirePRO, the fire retardant treatment for wood products. We have also been one of the first to invest in and develop new wood hardening technology which goes under the Osmose Indurite Advance name.”

The new campaign, he said, is the first time the company has shown a uniform corporate look. “Like all good professional teams we are wearing the same shirt, which strengthens the business and capitalises the strength of being a European company.”

The campaign was developed in-house over an 18-month period which made it “very cost-effective”. “We listened to our customers so that we could understand the market they are selling into – and by listening we were able to develop three or four core themes.”

These themes were shown to Osmose representatives from across Europe. “We didn’t just say ‘it works here so it will work in your country’. The literature had to work in different languages and we had to use images local to the different countries. It was a challenge, which is why we were so pleased to have agreed a uniformed acceptance of one particular theme at all of our internal marketing meetings.”

The literature, said Mr Hodge, is in several different major languages “from English to Hebrew” – and the campaign has already led to stronger awareness of the brands.

“Our customers see it as a consistent family of products and the feedback is that it is very powerful.”

The launch of the brand has also included website redesign, market research, international trade shows and an advertising campaign in the trade press, including TTJ, Timber Building, Bois magazine, Fencing News and the Baltic Timber Journal.

“We are now looking at what we do for 2007 – we always try and plan our advertising. At the 2004 TTJ Awards the guest speaker PY Gerbeau said the timber trade needed to improve its marketing – and that it should always be the first thing invested in when times get tough – something we subscribe to.

“We are giving our customers the opportunity to invest in good quality marketing without having to break the bank. Many of them have never had access to anything like this before.”

Overall, Mr Hodge believes the timber trade is marketing itself better. “This leads to other companies trying to emulate them, which raises the standard across the board. This in turn will lead to an increased market as consumers see the trade as being more professional.”