Tick five

Summary
• Entries for the TTJ Excellence in Marketing Award must show creativity, clear proposition, strategy, integration and results.
• Last year’s TTJ Excellence in Marketing Award winner was Simpson Strong-Tie.
• Head of the judging, David Evington runs his own marketing agency, Evington.

David Evington took over as head of the judging panel for the TTJ Excellence in Marketing Award in 2002 and says the job has got tougher year on year.

In the past the timber trade was not renowned for its promotion and advertising campaigns. But Mr Evington, a marketeer who runs his own consultancy, maintains that many entries for the Award, which is sponsored by Combilift, now compare with anything from even the most marketing-savvy business sectors.

And last year’s competition was among the most difficult to judge yet. The calibre of the shortlist hit a new high and picking out the winner involved “quite a tussle”. That doesn’t, insisted Mr Evington, detract from the achievement of the winner, Simpson Strong-Tie. Quite the opposite. It made it the best of the best.

Underlining just how impressed he was, Mr Evington broke with his previous policy of sending in his comments on the shortlist. He decided to attend the presentations and give his views on the runners-up and the winner to the 420-strong audience, face-to-face!

Besides Simpson Strong-Tie’s marketing for its timber and engineered wood steel joist hangers, the other shortlisters were the campaign from TimberWindows.com for its online business and the OSB industry’s generic awareness raising promotion, “JOSB Done”.

Eye-catching features

All three, said Mr Evington had stand-out features.

“TimberWindows.com’s entry was a stunning example of an online business model, covering each stage of the customer’s purchase motivation and providing in-depth measurement of success, while JOSB Done stood out because it used humour appropriately and spoke the language of the people it was communicating with,” he said. “Simpson Strong-Tie’s campaign was simply exceptional in terms of creative quality and, in using the metal human figures in place of its hangers, the artwork gave the brand a personality that people will warm to.”

But, Mr Evington stressed, it wasn’t individual aspects that got these campaigns through to the shortlist.

“The fundamental rule for the TTJ Excellence in Marketing Award is that entries must tick the five key boxes for any marketing campaign: they have to demonstrate strategy; a coherent proposition; integration; creativity; and, finally, results,” he said. “Basically, if you don’t tick all the boxes, what you have is not a campaign but isolated elements of marketing. If that’s the case, you should probably re-examine what you’re doing overall.”

Strict though they may be, companies should not be intimidated by these guidelines or in devising a campaign that meets the five key criteria.

“Creativity is self-explanatory, while proposition entails developing the brand’s single-minded message; past entries that stand out in this respect are Ultrajoist, Weatherdek, Playguard and SmartPly, all of which immediately evoke what the brand’s about,” said Mr Evington.

Strategy entails devising a campaign that is a focused response to the demands of the market. “That could be changing market conditions, legislation, competitive pressures, or latest trends in taste or fashion,” said Mr Evington. “This can be seen as a challenge in a market with a lot of generic products, but there are always ways of refreshing a product’s image and presentation to make them more interesting.”

Businesses can also see the prospect of creating an integrated campaign as daunting.

“But it doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive,” said Mr Evington. “It can, for example, entail tying in a campaign with your people doing the selling, your most important communicators, ensuring they are equipped with effective sales aids to take the message to market – and don’t forget advertising for brand awareness to ensure the customer knows who you are when the salesperson knocks on their door.”

Websites

“Stretching a campaign to e-media” is also increasingly important. “The days are over when websites were just for geeks,” said Mr Evington. “They are now often the first source of reference for customers.”

Clearly if a campaign can’t show results, it’s not going to get anywhere near the TTJ Excellence in Marketing Awards shortlist. But companies which have not seen a 50% rise in turnover as a result of their promotional push should not be deterred. “Results don’t have to be sales. They can also be steps on the way to sales; web statistics, changes in market perception, customer satisfaction,” said Mr Evington. “The rule is to measure whatever your campaign aims to achieve!”

Looking forward to this year’s awards Mr Evington is sure he’ll be judging another batch of high calibre entries.

“In fact, I’d be surprised if we don’t get more than ever,” he said. “Judging by the advertising and marketing I see in the TTJ through the year, there are certainly a lot of potential winners out there. So send them in!”