Consumer & Builder
Perceptions & Preferences Researched cont...

In February and March of this year the WRCLA launched two internet-based research surveys, one for consumers and another builders.

Our primary objective was to "benchmark" consumer and builder awareness of, attitudes towards and purchase propensity for cedar siding and decking, together with the same measurements for substitute products and directly competitive products.

This will enable the WRCLA to track promotional program reach and effectiveness later on this calendar year when we re-survey and compare future results to our benchmarks.

Internet surveys were distributed to consumers via subscription lists from some of the lifestyle and home improvement publications the WRCLA is advertising in. Builders were reached through the Professional Builder magazine data base. Surveys were sent out a number of times via email in order to generate the requisite number of responses. A contest to all participants to win Classic Cedar garden furniture was promoted as an incentive to respond. Almost 300 consumers responded and 90 builders. Both survey forms can be viewed on the internet at the following links:

Builder Survey: http://www.consumerscan.ca/builder/index.htm

Consumer Survey: http://www.consumerscan.ca/outdoor/page1.htm and
http://www.consumerscan.ca/outdoor/page2.htm

Full results of both surveys will be distributed to members in a separate mailing however of interest to report at this time is that the flame still burns for Cedar in the minds of consumers (we just have to work harder to fan it). For instance, when cost was factored out of the equation, consumers indicated that Cedar is tied with Redwood as their first preference for deck surfaces (23%), its their number one choice for garden structures (32%) and also their number one choice for exterior siding. As to reasons to purchase Cedar, consumers cited looks, quality and personal taste as most important. Not surprisingly, substitute products earned high marks for low maintenance, warrantees and in some cases ease of installation. Clearly, we're on the right track promoting Cedar's "cachet" and pulling on the heartstrings of customers inclined towards the "real" thing.

Congratulations to Olga Vengerovsky of Warren, NJ who won a Cedar patio set in the consumer survey contest and to Henry Olender, Jr. of Olender Building Corporation who won two Cape Cod chairs in the Outdoor Renovation Builder Survey.

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Continuing with the Consumer advertising campaign, two new ads are going to be launched in this next flight of advertising.
The second round of media placements have been booked. Once again, up to 5 million upscale consumers are going to hear about the "real" thing throughout the Spring and early Summer.

A suite of high circulation home improvement and lifestyle magazines have been selected to run the WRCLA's cutting edge messaging with expansive coverage in the US Northwest, Midwest and Northeast. In addition to the WRCLA's toll free number, readers will be driven to the new WRCLA "portal" website through the clever use of "spoof-sites" depicted in the ads.

Responses to the ads are supported by selected mailout materials, technical advice from WRCLA Field Reps; our cedar experts, and WRCLA websites.

In addition to last months ads, two new full page advertisements will appear in the publications listed below. These Media insertions for April and beyond 2003 have been booked and confirmed for the consumer advertising program.

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Peter Lang,
General Manager

Publicity, getting the word out on Cedar cont...

Increasing the public's awareness of cedar is one of the major objectives of our promotional campaign. One of the most effective methods of doing this is through the generation of publicity and editorial about cedar. The challenge is how do you go about generating publicity?? The answer for WRCLA was to engage a professional public and media relations firm - the Rockey Company of Seattle.

Rockey was responsible for generating and issuing a press release announcing our campaign launch, complete with backgrounder articles, to 250 publications across North America. From that launch, we have had high profile articles about WRCLA in Business in B.C.; front page coverage in Home Channel News; 2 articles in Merchant Magazine; a feature in the Puget Sound Business Journal, coverage on the business wire services in Canada and U.S. and a radio feature on KIRO news in Seattle.

Rockey have also crafted a "How To" article about cedar usage and ease of maintenance which was sent to a community newspaper syndicate. At time of writing almost 200 community newspapers were considering the article for publication. Rockey are also in the process of developing an article on historical homes that will speak to the proven, long lasting performance of cedar. The strategy is to distribute this story both nationally and media in the locales of historical homes covered.

In addition, we are being provided with a "Radar" service which tracks media articles on cedar and competing products - to keep us informed about what is happening in the news. All members will be receiving copies of the radar reports on a monthly basis.

The table below shows articles on Cedar, if you click the table you will see the entire "April Radar" (in PDF format) that includes listings of articles for competing products.

On a separate initiative, WRCLA will also be generating regional publicity in the Seattle area through our taking on a "Title" sponsorship of this year's Seattle Street of Dreams in July/August. We see this as just the beginning of the process of generating more news about cedar.

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Cees de Jager
Marketing Consultant

Internet Update & Linking Strategy cont...

As part of our overall Internet strategy, we have just launched our latest website (www.cedar-deck.org). This site complements the Cedar siding website completed earlier this year and will be followed by a website dedicated to Cedar outdoor products.

The goal of all sites is to raise awareness of Cedar products and drive business through to the members. After all we're here to help you sell more Cedar.

We have had great success presenting cedar siding to our target audience. There were over 11,000 visitors to cedar-siding.com in March and 22,900 visitors in April. Over 5% of these people are searching for a cedar retailer near them. Because this popular web site links to our members, certified retailers, complimentary suppliers and interested parties, ranking has also increased within the major search engines, thus bringing more qualified prospects to the WRCLA websites.

We need your help to influence even more prospective cedar siding and decking customers. We are asking you to link your web site to www.cedar-siding.com and www.cedar-deck.org. This will provide a service to your web site visitors and dramatically increase the popularity of these two sites, and your own site with popular search engines such as: Google, MSN, Yahoo, etc.

This is a win-win situation for all involved.

To link to the sites, please pass along the following instructions to your website manager:

For each site, apply one of the links, descriptions and optional logos within your web site.

Cedar-Siding.com

Linking Option 1:
For exterior cedar wood siding information visit www.cedar-siding.com .

Linking Option 2:
Visit www.cedar-siding.com for information on how to purchase, specify, install, paint, stain, maintain and care for your exterior cedar wood siding.

Cedar-deck.org

Linking Option 1:
For deck building information, please visit www.cedar-deck.org.

Linking Option 2:
Visit www.cedar-deck.org for information on building, maintaining, finishing and maintaining a cedar deck.

If you have any technical questions, please contact Jason Truman at Graphically Speaking (Jason@graphicallyspeaking.ca, or (604) 682-5500).

PCBC "Under Construction" cont...

Construction is well underway on the WRCLA's dramatic booth for PCBC (www.pcbc.com). The booth incorporates ideas used at Cedar Lane as well as new structures designed to be modular and reused at later shows.

For example, the main stage area can be used as a stand alone booth in a 20x20' space. The presentation/host center will fit in a 10x20' space. This element of the booth can also be incorporated as a backdrop for our hospitality suite (part of our overall show strategy). As construction proceeds we will continue to provide progress updates.

click image to enlarge booth concept above

A key part of our PCBC show strategy will be the participation and involvement of members. We encourage as many of you as possible to visit the show and help us promote Cedar to leading builders. The show is being held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco from June 17th-20th. If you have any question, please contact me directly (cdejager@hunterconsulting.ca or 604 536 1143).

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Tony Bonura
Eastern Field Report - March 2003

FIELD SERVICES

There were two seminars performed this month. Both were in New England. The seminars were arranged by a Certified Cedar Distributor (CCD) and a Certified Cedar Dealer. There were a total of 27 attendees at these seminars. Attendance was kept down due to a heavy snowstorm that hit the New England region.

Some comments from these meetings:
1) “The deck categories have certainly brought a better understanding of what deck products are in terms of their appearance but I don’t see many of your Member products with any category information on them.”

2) “This has been a rough winter up here but our customers have indicated that they have a fair amount of work to do as soon as the weather breaks.” (The comment was made by a retail distributor.)

3) “The WRCLA website (www.wrcla.org) and your literature have been very useful tools for our company and my customers. The information on the Western Red Cedar (WRC) products and how to specify and install the products that your Members produce is excellent. The coatings publication has been especially valuable in reducing the number of claims due to misunderstanding and or misinformation regarding the proper type and application of coatings to WRC.”

The WRCLA exhibited at the Home Builders Association of Maryland trade show. The show was held in Timonium, Maryland (Just north of Baltimore.) The show attracted over 7,200 builders & contractors along with a few architects. There were approximately 380 pieces of literature distributed at this event. There is a definite interest in WRC decking products in this area (due to the phase-out of CCA treated products).
The concern of many who had questions about WRC decking products, as well as siding products, was about getting products “that have no holes.” Many had used WRC products in the past but were victims of opportunistic producers and distributors selling “STK hole & better” products. There were many complements about the information (on WRC) that was received in both verbal and in published form.
NOTE: There were 250 WRC ‘information cubes’ distributed at this event. As in all previous events, people not only took a cube but read the information on the cube. One fellow exhibitor enthusiastically commented that the cubes drew in people to the booth “like a bear to honey.”

MARKET COMMENTS
A number of CCD’s raised concern over a trend that has been evolving over the last few years. A number of retail distributors who had traditionally inventoried a large schedule of WRC deck products have been, year after year, reducing the amount of inventories that they will stock. “Large schedule” buyers now just may purchase a “couple of truck loads at a time” or “just keep a basic core inventory on hand and replenish as they may need to maintain a minimum inventory.” One CCD suspected that “inventory ‘dollars’ are being used to inventory high cost composite deck products.”

PROGRAM FEEDBACK
Positive comments were made by CCD’s regarding the WRCLA marketing ads in the Boston Globe and The New York Times. Many felt that this was a good start but maybe “other publications that have more ‘legs’ (such as those that are placed in professional offices by the subscriber) and ‘staying’ power (people tend to save a magazine for future reference) should be explored for future advertisements.” Some commented that more regional publications of magazines would better serve the promotion due to the fact that there is more wide spread movement amongst people in the market of a single copy of this type of publication versus a newspaper ad where one person may or may not read the ad and then the newspaper gets discarded.

The number of ‘ad’ responses and their source received by this office this month were a total of 14. ‘The Boston Globe’-3 responses. ‘The New York Times’-11 responses.

‘New (phone) Contacts’ for the month (does not include ‘ads’ mentioned above);
1) Architects-3.
2) Builders-1.
3) Contractors-1.
4) Industrials-1.
5) Producer/Distributor-1.
6) Retail Distributors-7.
7) Wholesale-1.
8) Wholesale Distributor-1.

Note: A list of the above ‘phone’ contacts is attached at the end of this report. Many individuals were also assisted via e-mail.

Literature orders were very good for the period.

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Paul Mackie
Western Field Report - March 2003

FIELD SERVICES
Nineteen training sessions were held during March at eleven different locations. Eight were full Dealer Certifications sessions and eleven were one hour long sessions covering quality WRCLA member products and basic information on Western Red Cedar. Sixteen of these were held in new markets to the WRCLA. These included five locations in Alaska two in Alberta and one in British Columbia. One was held in conjunction with a group of educational seminars conducted by the Western Building Material Association. A member mill and our sponsor distributed WRCLA literature at the tabletop show during this event. Two sessions, sponsored by a CCD were held for the contractor sales staffs of a Puget Sound retailer with multiple locations. There were a total of 145 participants at March’s training sessions. One Alaskan participant commented that of all the educational programs he had attended, ours was the most informative. Five architects were assisted with their technical questions last month and eight builders inquired about nailing and pre-finishing recommendations for WRC siding. One builder was hoping to find a source of VG Knotty channel rustic because the clear grades were more expensive. It appeared that he had incorrectly bid the job. Seven distributors/lumber yards contacted the western office for assistance. Many were inquiring about training sessions. One distributor asked for help in locating sources of supply for their new cedar program. WRCLA members’ names and phone numbers were provided. One manufacturer was assisted with possible sources for his outdoor furniture plant located in Mexico. Fifteen consumers contacted this office during the month looking for advice. Some needed help with sources while others had their siding and decking restorative questions answered. One consumer complained that his WRC decking had prematurely decayed. It was discovered that the material was two years old and that decay was probably caused by improper storage. None of the deck boards involved was grade stamped or otherwise marked. A Portland homeowner whose synthetic stucco had been replaced with cedar inquired about recommended nailing patterns for bevel. WRCLA recommendations were furnished. A northern BC homeowner looked to us for help in identifying the source of black stains all over their clear cedar deck. Possible sources of the stains and suggested remedies were provided.

EXHIBITIONS AND MEETINGS
Participated in the Canadian Wood Council’s Wood Solution Fair in Vancouver, BC. Approximately 1,100 architects and engineers attended the one-day event. WRCLA literature was in such demand that several titles were gone by 11:00 am. Even though additional literature was brought in from home office, all but promotional tri-fold literature was gone by day’s end. Over 2,500 pieces of literature were distributed.

OPPORTUNITIES / COMPETITION / CEDAR TRENDS
An article on the WRCLA Dealer Certification Training program appeared in a western trade publication. Inquiries resulting from this article have already resulted in the scheduling of two training sessions. A Puget Sound retailer inquired about the availability of WRCLA advertisements in poster form for display in their stores. Availability has been investigated and limited production should begin soon. Unfortunately, the day after the WRCLA ‘Deckadent’ vs. REAL CEDAR ad first appeared, several inquiries were received looking for sources of the fictitious plastic deck product. All were informed that the ads were ‘poking fun’ at all the environmentally unfriendly extruded products and that they intended to point out that REAL CEDAR is really available. An insurance underwriter inquired about the flame spread rating of another ‘cedar’ specie. Apparently a large, commercial job was involved and building codes called for a Class II rating. It was suggested that the job be converted to Western Red Cedar because its flame spread rating was known to meet the requirements. Unfortunately, the material was already on the job-site, so it was suggested that the underwriter contact the manufacturer of this other ‘cedar’ specie. It was learned that that manufacturer had hired the underwriter to determine its flame spread rating.

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Arnie Nebelsick
Midwest Field Report - March 2003

FIELD SERVICES
The WRCLA was the featured speaker at an invitation only open house at the corporate offices of a leading Chicago area retailer. The event was well attended by key accounts of the retailer. Comments back to the retailer were very positive about the WRCLA presentation resulting in the retailer committing to have the WRCLA at future events.

A training session was coordinated by a WRCLA Certified Cedar Distributor for their customers and builders. This is the third year this distributor has sponsored an event with the WRCLA being the featured speaker. Commitments have been made for next year as well.

The WRCLA presented two sessions during a state Lumbermen's Association Product Knowledge (PK) University. A WRCLA Certified Cedar Distributor was the sponsor making it possible for the WRCLA presence. The Executive Director of the Association stated that the WRCLA presentations have always been among the highest rated.

Two homeowners associations were assisted with maintenance issues. In both situations, the association board was divided over doing some maintenance on the cedar, after being on for 15 years with nothing done, or replacing the cedar with some other product. Both were convinced to stay with the cedar.

There are increasing questions about fastening cedar siding products only to 7/16" OSB or ½" plywood. Research and field studies support the WRCLA recommendation that for a ring-shank nail to be held in place, the shank should be imbedded into 1 ¼" of wood. Fastening only to sheathing is not adequate to keep the nails held firmly in place.

Two field inspections of member product were done. The members involved have received their written reports.

Phone calls requesting assistance were received from 21 home owners; 13 builders; 14 wholesale distributors; 14 retailers; 16 architects. In addition, many emails asking for recommendations and assistance were responded to.

MARKET COMMENTS
The cedar purchasing manager at the corporate office of a US retailer with several hundred locations stated their cedar sales during 2002 increased 33% from the previous year.

An increasing number of distributors and retailers are questioning the difference between Western Redcedar and incense cedar. The main differences are Western Redcedar is more stable and more durable.

Most questions from homeowners centered on maintenance issues equally divided between siding and decking. Some asked for sources of supply. Architects wanted assistance in writing specifications; builders sought assistance for application and finishing recommendations.

EXHIBITIONS & MEETINGS
Three presentations were made as part of the education program at a home & garden show. It was stated that over 6,000 attended the three day event. It is not a strong cedar market but the WRCLA's presence was made possible by a retailer in the area desiring to increase the use of Western Redcedar.

PROGRAM FEEDBACK
With the approaching building season and companies promoting seasonal products, again there are products being promoted as WRCLA member production that are not produced by members. Please contact your WRCLA area office if this is happening in your area.

A request for the WRCLA Outdoor Guide was received from advertising placed in Better Homes & Gardens. It has been over five years since advertising was placed in that publication.

Some WRCLA Certified Cedar Distributors are asking when advertising is going to appear in their markets.

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Member's Corner cont...

NEW Member
Pacific Lumber Remanufacturing (PLR) is a manufacturer and broker of wood, lumber and timber that specializes in western red cedar and hemlock. PLR is located in the Greater Vancouver area in British Columbia (BC), Canada. (click on logo to go to their website)
13482 116th Avenue
Surrey, British Columbia (BC)
Canada V3R 9W4 Phone: (604) 582-0705
Fax: (604) 582-0704

NEW Certified Cedar Distributor
Lake States Lumber Inc., is a wholesale distributor in Minnesota and Wisconsin. They offer a wide variety of lumber and plywood. Lake States Lumber has four strategically located distribution yards as well as full manufacturing facilities . (click on logo to go to their website)

9110 83rd Ave. No.Brooklyn Park, MN 55445
(763) 425-0204
TOLL FREE: 877-457-7746
FAX: (763) 424-9196

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You Said It cont...

BY EMAIL

Subject WRCLA NEWSLETTER

It is refreshing to see the WRCLA taking an aggressive marketing approach to spread the news about "REAL CEDAR". The Point of Purchase material has already generated excitement and questions in our office. We are ready to sign up and take these to our retail customers, when will they be available?.
We read the entire newletter, it increases our knowledge and renews our energy in marketing "REAL CEDAR" Keep up the good work.

Paul Zartman
Cedar Sales Manager
OrePac Building Products, Wilsonville, OR.

BY EMAIL

Subject: RE: Article in LBM Daily

I am not sure I agree with your strategy of knocking the competition in your new ad campaign.
The real problem as I see it for WRC is two fold:
1) Price volatility
2) In terms of what you see is what you get does not necessarily apply to WRC.
Going further, we see S1S2E boards sold as TK-and they don't even come close.
At MAC we spend a lot of time being the "cedar police" counter acting these shady moves by some of our competitors. Is that our job?
As a result of the above, dealers are losing confidence in the products.
Up until now alternatives had provided the consistency that WRC has not--and until this changes they will continue to make inroads into the market share of WRC.
I suggest we clean up our act--not knock the competition.

Dick Figura, Mid America Cedar

Response to the above email
By Peter Lang, WRCLA General Manager

Thank you for your comments on our campaign. I am encouraged to see that our Press Release is being noticed.

There is no doubt that the cedar industry faces a number of challenges, and certainly the points you raise - (1) impact of CVD on pricing and the resulting negative effect on the value of cedar versus substitutes; and (2)inconsistencies in cedar manufacturing practices and product representation versus high consistency of substitutes- are high on the list. They are also factors that are contributing to the fundamental problem the cedar industry is facing -which is the loss of market share by cedar to alternative products. They are not however, the only factors.

As a trade association whose mandate is to promote cedar as well as to provide training and education about its usage, there are activities we can do that can have an impact and others where we have limitations. One limitation is that we are not a grading agency for the industry and as such cannot police the industry. However, recognizing the need for improved consistency WRCLA has developed product categories such as Architect Knotty that set a baseline standard for improved grade consistency. As well, WRCLA has developed standardized patterns for sizing consistency.

The WRCLA promotion program has been developed to combat the market share loss cedar is facing as a result of the dramatic growth of substitute products. The substitutes are being widely promoted at the consumer and trade level with sophisticated marketing campaigns that are often contrasting the benefits of composites against the negatives of wood (no maintenance, no durability issues etc). To date, our industry has been doing nothing and the reality is that we are becoming invisible. We want to change that.

One component of our program (and there are a number of components)is an aggressive advertising program directed at the consumer. It's purpose is to make us visible. For this program to be effective, our ads must be noticed. Given that we have a very limited budget, we have to be creative in our approach - and we have chosen to use humor to poke fun at ficticious products while getting the message out about the benefits of cedar. So far, we are getting a lot of positive feedback on the ads.

I should also bring to your attention that prior to launching the campaign we met with representatives of our distribution members in each of our target markets - including the midwest (and including your company)- and presented the concept for input and feedback. We received a strong endorsement, with many saying that it was about time we took action. As well, the program was presented to the same companies at our AGM. Although feedback we received led to modifications and improvements to individual ads, it was supportive of the program.

The reality is that we are both right on the approach the industry needs to take. If we fail to provide consistent quality the consumer will go elsewhere - however if we become invisible (as we rapidly are)we won't even be considered in the selection process.

BY EMAIL

The point of sale brochure holders etc look fantastic. I am very interested. How soon will they be available and have you worked out pricing.

Tom Pearson
Nicholson & Cates

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