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8.3 Marketing of Wood Products
Authors: H Bigsby, L OzannePublication: NZIF Forestry Handbook, Volume Section 8 – Forest products markets, pp 3, Dec 2023
Publisher: New Zealand Institute of Forestry
Abstract: Marketing as an area of expertise within the forest products industry is a relatively recent phenomenon. Its development was facilitated by a change to the character and practices of the forest industry, including increasing costs, decreasing availability of timber and a shift to global competition. In order to continue to compete, producers had to focus on the needs and wants of consumers. This meant a shift from looking at their business as one of primary processing of commodities to the manufacture of secondary or value-added wood products. The focus on secondary products required a change to the way that customer relationships are managed, as secondary products are different from commodities. In particular, secondary products need to have a strong link to consumers, which is where the marketing function becomes important. The adoption of marketing in the forest products industry followed the wide use of the marketing approach to management and corporate strategy in the 1960s (Sinclair 1992). The key change was that decisions were made based on perceived needs of the customer. There were many changes in the market place during this period that drove this change. These include competition from concrete, steel, aluminium, and plastic, new consumer groups, (particularly the do-it-yourself (DIY) market) and new distribution channels. Businesses also began to look at product differentiation and specialty products, for which marketing was more important than when the focus was largely on commodities.