These are tough times for all of us. The timber industry is suffering badly in the face of the worst downturn in UK construction since the 1920s, not to mention contraction in other key end-user markets. Our sector, the media, is being hit hard too. Advertising is among the first victims of any economic slowdown and this one is no exception, as the recent announcement of swingeing job cuts at ITV made patently clear.
But while it may prompt many a sceptical shake of the head from businesses struggling to afford their raw materials or to cover their pay roll, there is a view that, if at all possible, businesses should continue to promote and advertise through tough times. Competition is more severe than ever in the current climate. Everyone is looking for that marketing edge. Keeping up a high public profile while others pull in their horns could be what makes that crucial difference. After all, in present conditions, with company failure rates still rising, some might assume that when a business vanishes off the advertising radar, it may have vanished full stop.
What applies to individual companies applies to industries too. OK, no-one’s going to assume that the timber sector as a whole has succumbed to recession if it’s not marketed as strongly. But it is going to lose out to rival materials if it’s not as visible as them and that will leave it at a disadvantage now and when the market does eventually start to climb out of this slump.
So the industry should continue to back Wood for Good to help it get through the recession and get ready to make the most of its inherent natural advantages when we see those first green shots of recovery. And it’s not necessarily just a question of pumping cash into the campaign. Perhaps now is the time for greater grass roots involvement in terms of using the wood for good logo and promotional material. The recently launched Get Britain Building campaign maybe has some pointers for it. This includes distribution of posters, leaflets and stick-on logos. If every timber merchant in the UK had a wood for good poster over its trade counter and a logo on the side of its vehicles and on its letterhead it would raise the profile of the campaign, underpin its advertising and reinforce the fact that UK timber plc is a big, coherent and coordinated industry with a great product and a good marketing story to tell.
What do you think?
