Nature’s Master Builders Renew a Commodity Category

Challenge

Pressure-treated pine is a traditionally low-interest product in a sleepy category. Easily forgettable, predictable, and uninspiring brands had become the norm for the category. And this approach found the YellaWood brand at risk of losing their category leadership. It was time for a pivot. The brand needed something iconic that could maintain long-term interest and be immediately ownable. We needed a campaign the distribution channel wouldn’t just tolerate but covet. No brand in the category had that, so we decided to create it.

Insights

People covet things more when there is an emotional connection. It’s difficult to connect with lumber but humans apply the same level of emotion to animals that we do friends and family. Also, in a cluttered world, customers look for a shortcut to understanding why a brand is loved.

Strategy

We created a ragtag team of lumber-thieving beavers working tirelessly to get their paws on the best of the best. Brunner combined breakthrough creative with a data-driven disruptive communication to reach both the trade and consumer. The omni-channel campaign included social media, in-store point of sale, website integration, a leading-edge predictive analytics tool for highly targeted TV, sports sponsorships, email, and high-impact traditional print and out of home.

Results

• Lumberyards embraced the campaign like nothing the client had ever seen with a previously unseen POS compliance of more than 75%
• The campaign metrics showed the beavers driving a lift in awareness among homeowners and deck contractors’ intent to purchase the YellaWood brand by nearly 10 points
• Homeowners took to social media, visited the yellawood.com website in record numbers, and more importantly drove record YellaWood sales