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In position and firing

I N PUTTING together this special issue on I redwood, we have been reminded again of the tremendous strength and popularity that redwood enjoys in the marketplace.

Yet it was not always so and it didn't happen by accident. It is very much the result of a marketing program conducted over decades that has resulted in widespread trade and consumer recognition that no other wood has all the positive properties of redwood. Industry companies individually, and collectively through the California Redwood Association, have had the wisdom to keep up the promotion even when some unwisely suggested that the job had been completed. Successful marketers point out that the day the advertising and promotion stops is the day the decline begins.

As the redwood industry enters the 1980s, it is undergoing marked changes. Since the inception of the Redwood National Park sup- ply has declined dramatically and prices have risen to new levels that have inevitably drawn away former customers to competing species and systems. We are told that by the early years of this decade only l00lr of the total supply of redwood will be old growth. One of the outcomes will be the necessity for companies to develop new products, markets and customers for second growth, which is a very different product, in appearance, performance and other categories. It is going to call for fresh thinking from both manufacturers and sellers.

While some startling changes may occur, the industry is, nonetheless, well-positioned to compete because it has in place its marketing artillery, firing now and prepared to continue.

The realization that nothing sells itself, no matter how good it is, will serve the redwood industry well in the competitive times that will surely come. As old pros in developing and maintaining market demand for their products, they have the proven commitment and experience in what it takes to continue the job that must be done.