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As
the Real Cedar brand continues to gain recognition and
exposure in the marketplace, it becomes increasingly
important for members to ensure they tie this brand
to their own products.
Powerful Positive
Press cont...
John
Kenmuir, CMC
Marketing
Consultant
How To Article Generates Big Time US
Media Interest
The WRCLA has scored a major media coup with the issuance of its How To article to US community and daily newspapers though a content syndication service. At last count, the article had been published by 134 newspapers, in most cases with WRCLA photography and frequently in full color. Combined circulation of this article is estimated at 3.7 million readers and the ad equivalency value is over $102,000 USD!
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San Antonio Express - News Circulation: 360,341
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Brainchild of the WRCLA PR firm, Rockey Company of Seattle, the 700 word article was entitled "Planning Your Outdoor Living Room - How-To basics for a ground level deck". While the opening paragraphs were generic, most of the article continued on to promote the benefits of Western Red Cedar - in short, an editorial "stealth" approach. Cedar finishing and maintenance tips were incorporated as were quotes from Peter Lang, reference to the WRCLA and publication of our website.
The How To piece was promoted to US Dailies and Community newspapers
through a syndication service which offers article content to these mediums.
Initially, it was viewed for publication consideration by over 300 newspapers
and as of June 30th, 134 of them had published it, from all over the US.
Far from editorial snippets, in most instances the entire article was
printed verbatim together with WRCLA-supplied photography, often in full
color. In several cases the article enjoyed section-front, full page
or page dominant billing. An example of one of the more high profile
articles is depicted in this newsletter.
Advertising equivalency is determined by pricing column inches of editorial
published per publication and calculating what a similar-sized ad would
cost in the same publication. Of the papers publishing our article, the
aggregate publication run was 1,515,710.
Click here
to view listing of publications that ran the "Planning your outdoor
livingroom" how to article
Using a standard industry multiplier of 2.5 readers per paper on average,
total circulation of the article is estimated to be 3,798,275 persons
to date. Rockey fees and syndication costs for the How To article were
less than $10,000 USD so the fact that at last count we'd generated over
$102,000 US dollars in ad equivalency, the payback on this initiative
has been nothing short of spectacular. In fact, we've generated more
advertising value from this one initiative than the cost of all PR efforts
to date, and this does not include the substantial coverage our campaign
launch received.
Given the stellar performance of this approach, we'll be pursuing additional
articles, at least once per season, with subjects including building safe
playground equipment (a shot at CCA), siding maintenance, creative yardscaping
and so on. We welcome any thoughts readers have on interesting editorial
approaches. Drop me a line at jkenmuir@shaw.ca.
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PCBC San Francisco
2003 cont...
Cees
de Jager,
Marketing Consultant
Despite a relatively small footprint compared with our competitors, Cedar
made an enormous impact at the PCBC show held in San Francisco June 17-12.
The warmth and beauty of Cedar stood out in a show full of drab and bland
non-wood substitutes. The booth, positioned near James Hardie and Trex,
drew builders, architects, landscape architects and consumers alike. The
clock tower along with the inviting environment turned the booth into
a meeting place and rest stop for many attendees.
Consuming approximately 28mmfbm, California is in a three way tie with Illinois and Colorado as the sixth largest market for Western Red Cedar in the US. Based on feedback at the show, there are significant opportunities to build on this success. Many of the architects and builders who toured the booth were unaware that such high quality materials were available in their market. Collectively we will need to improve our communication and distribution to ensure we don't lose these buyers to alternative products.
The booth was also an effective means of attracting media representatives from various publications. Supported by our PR firm, a number of interviews were held during the show which enabled us to get the word out about the Real Cedar Campaign to a wider audience in both the local and national market. Additional promotional opportunities became apparent and will be pursued over the coming months.
In order to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of the booth, visitors were asked to complete a brief survey. In exchange, they were entered into a draw for a Cedar Cape Cod chair supplied by Classic Cedar (the proud winner of the Cedar chair was Ms. Lisa Lipps of Petaluma, California). The booth scored very well, particularly when it came to questions about the booth's influence on purchasing Cedar and reconsidering substitutes. The success of the show highlights the need for a comprehensive promotional effort. Featuring our products in ads, brochures, and on the internet must be complemented by an effective trade show presence where the product is "seen" and in use, when we do, there is no substitute.
Below are two excerpts from the survey results relating to the booth:
click table to enlarge
click table to enlarge
The survey along with full results available by clicking on these links:
PCBC Survey.pdf
PCBC Survey Results.pdf
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Leveraging the Real
Cedar brand cont...
Cees
de Jager,
Marketing Consultant
As the Real Cedar brand continues to gain recognition and exposure in the marketplace, it becomes increasingly important for members to ensure they tie this brand to their own products. The Real Cedar brand promotes the species while it is member brands which promote specific products and ultimately convert the promotional dollars into a sale. An effective co-branding effort will provide further legs to the program and result in a positive return on members' investment in the WRCLA.
Certain projects such as the addition of the Zip Locator tool to the websites already help point consumers to member companies, distributors and retailers who sell Real Cedar. That said, to be truly effective, a more conserted co-branding program needs to be considered. The goal is to complete the loop for consumers, builders and architects. The importance was highlighted in a recent report from the field where a contractor stated "I see some products that are stamped Architect Knotty and others that are not. I stick with the stamped products because that helps me to be different from my competitors. The consumer feels more comfortable as they see that identification on your website." Due to the pervasiveness of our campaign, the same will be said of the Real Cedar brand.
Opportunities abound in all aspects of the business:
Office Communication: letterhead; faxes; business cards.
Product Merchandizing: end stamps, end tags, end caps, lumber wrap, plastic
strapping.
Company promotions: advertising, POP, literature, websites, tradeshows.
Many of these opportunities can already be implemented (see sample
of Sawarne
Lumber end tags below)
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Over the next few weeks, we will be developing materials that make it even easier for members to incorporate the Real Cedar brand and message into their business. For example, we will make available an ad mat for ¼ page, ½ page and full page ads. We will also provide templates for lumber wrap, end stamps and point of purchase materials.
We welcome member requests regarding co-branding and are available to work with you to address your specific needs & interests. Call me to discuss how we can help you leverage the Real Cedar brand, you can reach me at 1 877 852 3757 (toll free) or via email cdejager@hunterconsulting.ca
Ultimately, the success of the Real Cedar campaign is based on our ability
to close the sale for Western Red Cedar; co-branding helps ensure
that member product benefits directly from that effort. Leveraging the
Real Cedar brand. . . it is up to you.
WRCLA Funding Secured for year 2 cont...
Peter
Lang
General Manager
On June 11, our funding partners at Forestry Innovation Investment (FII) announced the approved funding levels for the current fiscal years' programs. We are pleased to announce that WRCLA earned strong support with a total award of $1.37 million for our North American promotion program. We are grateful to FII for recognizing the importance of the cedar industry to British Columbia and for sharing our vision of how to promote our products in the face of enormous challenges.
For the last 2 months our promotional activities have been somewhat constrained as we awaited confirmation of the funding levels available for our program. We now have the green light to proceed with implementing our plans. We have a long list of activities to complete by March 31, 2004. Stay tuned to our Real Cedar News as we keep you updated on program developments.
More information on Forestry Innovation Investment's funded programs can
be found on their website http://www.forestry-innovation.bc.ca/
Member & Distributor Conference Update cont...
Beth
Hird
Executive Assistant
Preparations for the Member & CCD Conference are on
track for July 16-19th in Kelowna B.C. Canada. This year marks the 49th
Annual General Meeting of the WRCLA.
For a current list of attendees click
here
This once a year opportunity for Members and Distributors to meet in a formal and informal setting will once again outline this past year's achievements and put forward the plans for the current year. As we move into year 2 of the partnership with Forestry Innovation Investment (FII) many new promotional initiatives and ideas will be presented.
When:
July 16 - 19, 2003
Details of the event can be found on the wrcla.org website at this link.
http://www.wrcla.org/aboutus/memberconf.asp
Where:
This years' Member and Distributor Conference will be held @ the Grand
Okanagan Lakefront Resort and Conference Centre.
Chairman's Banquet Guest
Speaker 
Five Time Olympian and Olympic Silver Medalist Charmaine Crooks represented
Canada for close to 20 years in Athletics. As the first Canadian woman
to run under two minutes over 800 meters, she has won gold medals at the
Pan American, Commonwealth, World Cup and World Student Games. In 1996,
she had the honour of being named Flag Bearer at the Opening Ceremonies
of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games.
MORE...
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Members Corner cont...
The WRCLA Board of Directors are pleased to announce the addition of McIlveen Lumber Norman Lumber and Welco Distribution as new Certified Cedar Distributors.
1) McIlveen Lumber is located in
Calgary, Alberta Canada
2) Norman Lumber
"Norman Lumber Company was founded in 1978. As a family owned and
operated wholesale distributor, we recognize that the benchmark of success
is the happiness of our customers"
Norman Lumber is located in Phoenix Oregon, just outside of Medford.
3) Welco Distribution - The distribution arm of WRCLA Member Welco-Skookum Lumber