The wood. for good campaign is now well established in the timber industry as the UK’s largest promotional campaign. Importantly, its growth can be clearly demonstrated over the past three years as well as its contribution to year-on-year increases in timber sales over that period.
Recent research carried out for wood. for good by industry consultant Jaakko Pöyry found that:
With these achievements under its belt, wood. for good’s managing director Charles Trevor said the key objective of the campaign in the future will remain to make wood the leading solution – where suitable – for construction and decoration.
“This will be achieved only by sustaining the changes in attitude that have already resulted in an increase in UK timber consumption,” he said.
The campaign will continue to operate on two fronts: ‘Building with Wood’ targeting professionals such as architects and engineers and the building and construction sector, in particular the promotion of timber frame construction; and ‘Living with Wood’ which is aimed at consumers.
There will continue to be a strong emphasis on ‘Building with Wood’, said Mr Trevor. “There is still a sizeable group of people whose attitudes remain relatively unchanged with regards to wood’s suitability as a construction material,” he said.
Three areas will provide the main focus for work in 2004: wood’s performance, its aesthetic appeal and environmental benefits.
Capitalising on the campaign
While wood. for good will be targeting selected audiences with key messages over the next year, the campaign also wants to encourage individual timber suppliers, product manufacturers and merchants to put across similar messages in their own marketing and promotional literature.
One way to ensure this happens is by making use of wood. for good’s extensive library of information.
“Over the last three years we have undertaken considerable amounts of research and put together a large range of information on every aspect of building with wood,” said Mr Trevor. “This is all available to the timber industry to help with the promotion of timber and timber products.”
Wood. for good wants timber product manufacturers and merchants to conduct a dialogue with it in the same way that they would with a supplier.
“We are a supplier and can help in supplying knowledge and information about timber promotional issues, industry matters and provide expertise in marketing and promotion,” said Mr Trevor.
The campaign also wants to share that promotional expertise more widely in the industry, especially with those companies that are – or become – wood. for good members.
Existing members interviewed by Jaakko Pöyry were positive about their association with the campaign, with 63% believing that the wood. for good campaign has contributed to increasing sales over the past 12 months. The research also noted that the share of respondents who believe the campaign has contributed to increasing sales in either a “considerable” or “major” way has grown from 2% to 12% in the past year.
Sharing information
One thing wood. for good can help individual companies with is in reaching markets that perhaps they otherwise might not have the resources to target. By sharing information and promotional opportunities, the whole of the timber industry can gain access to more material, better ideas and greater opportunities for influencing decisions – all at a lower cost.
Arch Timber Protection is one of the most recent companies to sign up to the wood. for good campaign. Marketing manager Janet Brown explained why: “We have admired the work carried out by wood. for good over the last three years and believe it has done a fantastic job in raising the profile of timber in the UK. The wood. for good message has been cohesive and targeted towards a vast audience, but there is still more to say and more to do.”
Wood. for good says it can help with promotion on two levels: firstly by offering advice, and secondly by undertaking joint activity that uses specific products or an individual company to emphasise the core messages about living or building with wood.
“We spend 100% of our time working on promoting timber,” said Charles Trevor. “We’ve got a lot of knowledge and expertise that are there for companies to use.”
Marketing seminars
Part of the plan for 2004 is to work more closely with the marketing departments of timber companies. One project planned for 2004 is a series of marketing seminars to enable members to exploit the campaign’s activities more effectively.
As well as helping towards consistent marketing across the industry, wood. for good hopes the seminars will make it easier for timber companies to understand the aims of the campaign and to link their promotional activities more directly to those of wood. for good. For example, if wood. for good is promoting the use of timber in loft conversions, companies supplying products such as structural elements, floors, windows, staircases and walls could target their marketing and promotional activities to tie in.
“We need the right conditions to maximise the campaign’s effectiveness for its members and one of the most effective ways of ensuring this is by making sure the members know in good time what opportunities the campaign is creating for them,” said Mr Trevor. “It is also very important that there is consistency in the message being communicated to our target markets.”
Early in the year, wood. for good intends to work with one or two companies as a trial to demonstrate how this integrated approach to marketing can work.
