Product promotion is our challenge

By L. Keith Lanning Executive Vice President & General Manager California Redwood Association

REPARING an industry forel- cast is always risky business. The week I sat down to write this article, the stock market wavered with record losses and record gains, making any attempts of forecasting seem even more reckless than usual. The business of building is inextricably linked to availability of money for constructionwhether it is a developer building a shoPPing center or a homeowner adding a deck to his house.

I'll gladly leave the debate about the availability of that money to the financial experts. Since a Primary DurDose of the California Redwood Association has always been promotion. I prefer to concentrate on the promotional challenges facing the redwood industrY.

Product promotion is a valueadded service that can take manY forms. The goals are to make Potential customers aware of your product and then convince them that they need it. This can be accomplished many ways, but the keY to effective promotion is always the same: Understand your customer's needs' The mills aren't the only ones promoting redwood and realizing the^ profits. Wholesalers, in all parts of ihe country, have discovered that the promotion of redwood results in higher profits. Time and agal_n, retailers have Proven that Profits grow when they offer service, adverIise projects and provide how-to information.

There is plenty of comPetition out there. Redwood and pressure treated lumber compete in the deck and outdoor living market. There is competition from other wood sPecies and other materials in the siding and interior paneling markets. And the competition is not standing idle. They are mounting Promotion camoaiehs of their own. Still, in everY inaitetwhether it is outdoor living or siding, new construction or reinodeling, commercial or residentialredwood offers advantages not available from the comPetition. The promotional challenge for 1988 is the same for everYone in the business of selling redwood lumber' We must understand our customers' needs, and we must Provide solutions to their Problems.

Story at a Glance

Best promotions meet cus' tomer's needs.. mills, whole' salers, retailers all gain from promotion . Profits grow with service, proiect advertising.