There has never been a better time to market wood, and effective promotion must play an important role in that function.
Turnstone Communications was created in 2000 with the sole purpose of doing just that – promoting wood. We discriminate against other materials and we fight discrimination against wood. We have also waged a quiet war with the business media to encourage it, when writing about projects using timber, to name the wood species in question. This is to reverse the current situation in architectural journals where often the most detailed mention of timber is simply “the timber floor…”.
We hold the view very strongly that journalists in the business-to-business press have a responsibility to inform their readers – architects, designers, engineers and manufacturers. For many of these specifiers timber remains a mysterious material, but by naming the wood species, the media can provide the pointers which professionals need if they are to find the most appropriate wood – timber that is fit for purpose.
The three Ps
At Turnstone we refer to “the three Ps”, or “provenance, price and performance”. The names African iroko, Scots pine or American oak, provide the clue as to the three Ps just as the names Italian marble, French slate or York stone do.
The three Ps are now much in evidence at the Wood Awards. When Turnstone was appointed to re-launch and develop the much respected Carpenters’ Awards (temporarily known as the Timber Industry Awards), we made three main commitments – to engage the sponsors, target the appropriate market hard and raise the profile of wood in buildings.
When we received the Special Marketing Award at the TTJ Awards in September, the judges acknowledged that our initiatives were “designed to benefit the timber industry overall” and recognised that “turning the Carpenters’ Awards into the new-look Wood Awards has been far more than a name change. It has dramatically raised the profile of wood amongst specifiers and is re-opening the eyes of the architectural profession to the design possibilities wood offers to the ultimate benefit of our entire wood industry”.
With two successful Wood Awards behind us we now have a firm foundation on which to develop further. With 85,000 copies of Wood Awards supplements distributed in 2003 and 2004, a well-known and well-visited website, and press coverage beyond even our dreams, the timber trade should know that it owns an inclusive promotional campaign. There are now few wood organisations outside its growing network of supporters.
The three Fs
The team at Turnstone also has three “Fs” – promoting wood is “fun”, currently “fashionable” and “focused” and they give our clients and us a clear direction. Our other secret “F” is actually a “Ph” – for photos. We are blessed with the most varied and photogenic material for the world of construction and interiors, so we invest heavily in photos and use them liberally.
One problem with public relations is measuring its effects; evaluating its benefits to clients and convincing budget controllers of its merits. But there are recognised ways of assessing its impact and they have to be the way forward for PR programmes. For one timber industry organisation, the American Hardwood Export Council, it is already a way of life. It runs one of the most successful global wood PR programmes ever, but it’s the law for any US organisation, funded fully or partially by US tax dollars, that its work is evaluated.
What is good for large organisations is good for small ones too. We are less bureaucratic with our smaller clients but if we can’t be seen to be making a difference then we shouldn’t be there. We recently pitched for a PR contract with a client who was very familiar with all the leading architectural practices, but our question to him was did those architectural practices know and understand his business? We are now doing the research and setting the benchmarks and, thereafter, we will have a basis for evaluation.
The timber construction specialist Gordon Cowley wrote to us after winning the Award for Innovation in Wood in last year’s Wood Awards and asked; “doesn’t everyone love wood?”. Unfortunately not all Gordon, but we’re working on it!
