Judging the effectiveness of marketing in the timber industry is a difficult task because the industry is so fragmented. An engineered timber component manufacturer targeting major housebuilders will have a totally different approach to marketing than that of a woodstain and preservative brand which will be marketing heavily to consumers and to the trade market.

Achieving focus is the main marketing challenge we face at Richard Burbidge where, for example, stairparts will be marketed to homeowners, DIY multiples and independents, to trade joiners, builders merchant stockists and housebuilders and specifiers.

Deciding the priority, the specific message and offer and the budget allocation for marketing to each of these targets is a complex task, but one which is essential to driving profitable growth.

At Richard Burbidge we have to recognise that we are competing in a very big DIY and building products market, and not just with other timber brands. When your products are in store alongside powerful brands like Dulux and Bosch, comparisons become problematic.

Perhaps the best answer to the quality of marketing in the timber industry – or at least the most honest – was a DIY multiple buyer who told us “Yes, your marketing is very good – for a timber company!”

So if marketing is to justify its role in timber companies’ budgets and expenditure, what are some of the lessons we can share from our experience?

Price pressure

Perhaps the first step is to refuse to accept that any product is a commodity sold purely on price. Price is a big part of the marketing mix and the relentless downward pressure on manufacturers’ prices imposed by customers is a fact of life. In the US, it is estimated that price pressure by Wal-Mart on manufacturers reduced America’s inflation rate by 1%.

The answer is not simply to give up and allow prices to go into free fall, but to find creative ways of providing value to customers.

There is probably no product that is more of a commodity than a dowel or quadrant moulding but, by range selling, merchandising, stock control and promotion it is possible to create margin and value. One of the most important steps in achieving this is product innovation and product design. This has been a major focus at Richard Burbidge, with a growing in-house product design team and valuable co-operation with the Design Council.

The company’s business plan now sets targets for the percentage of sales we want to achieve from products launched in the past five years – keeping the focus on innovation. This also means being open to thinking beyond timber. For example, one of the biggest hits in the stairparts range is Fusion, which combines timber and metal components to offer new functionality as well as a completely new aesthetic.

Timing

Another key factor is timing. Decking is one of timber’s recent success stories, with the Timber Decking Association and individual companies working hard to create demand. This was definitely a marketing led success.

Richard Burbidge and other companies monitored the US decking market for over a decade. The housing boom and the focus on the garden as the ‘outdoor room’ signalled that the UK homeowner was ready to embrace decking. Launched five years earlier and it may have failed.

Timing is also important when fashion creates opportunities, for example in flooring, where solid timber and laminates have made major inroads thanks to home interior TV programmes, fashion and some clever marketing. Timber flooring is likely to grow its market share – but we should also recognise that fashion will change and that carpets and tiles may have a resurgence.

Which is probably the final lesson for marketing effectiveness – knowing when to stop and refocus. In 1999 Unilever had more than 1,600 brands. The company decided to reduce these to 400 core brands over five years and by 2002 those 400 accounted for 90% of sales. Unilever saved US$500m on promoting the deleted lines but increased its overall marketing and promotion expenses from 13 to 15% of sales – an extra US$1bn per year on the core brands – confident that focused marketing would lead to growth, profit and dividends.