A campaign promoting the benefits of wood as a sustainable material has kicked off with a three-month pilot program, trialling a new strategy to provide year-round coverage and drive an increase in consumer perceptions of forest and wood products. Source: Timberbiz
Fresh off its full-page feature in the AFL Grand Final Record magazine last month with an estimated one million views, The Ultimate Renewable campaign is testing a more long-term, targeted approach to reaching consumers.
Forest & Wood Products Australia (FWPA) has run The Ultimate Renewable campaign annually since 2019, communicating the environmental benefits of wood and wood products to a broad audience.
The campaign directly contributes to FWPA’s strategic plan to improve consumer perceptions and position wood as a preferred material – in turn, growing customer demand for wood products and supporting members and industry across the supply chain.
Traditionally run as a 1–2-month mass media advertising campaign encompassing television, radio, billboards, print and digital media, the June-July 2023 campaign gained more than 22 million impressions and increased support for our industry among consumers, as measured in post-campaign tracking.
However, a more recent consumer survey conducted in June 2024 showed fewer people perceived wood as a preferred material than the previous year, with perceptions of wood as an environmentally friendly material also dropping.
Sarah Downey, Head of Marketing and Communications at FWPA said the shift in public perception was potentially caused by a mix of societal factors as well as campaign strategy.
“While the current economic climate and rising costs have influenced buying behaviour around the country, these survey results also suggest that a two-month, mass media campaign may not be driving the lasting impact on consumer sentiment we aim to achieve,” she said.
“While this approach can be highly effective for boosting brand awareness, it does not always translate to behaviour or attitude change in a largely passive audience with little to no knowledge of the forest and wood products industry.” To drive a more long-term and impactful increase in consumer perceptions, FWPA is trialling a shift in campaign strategy to a more targeted, ‘always on’ approach to keep the campaign message front of mind year-round.
With this strategy, the focus will move from the more expensive, large-scale, and hard to measure TV and billboard advertising to a more targeted digital, radio and print campaign, stretching the budget further.
Ms Downey said the plan is to run the campaign throughout the year rather than a short, concentrated campaign.
“Extending the campaign across the whole year will build a consistent market presence where consumers are repeatedly inspired to make choices that benefit both people and the planet,” she said.
Using the strong messaging of ‘Wood. Grow. Harvest. Repeat.’ and repurposing creative from 2023, which was shown to resonate with audiences, the new ‘always on’ campaign strategy will also allow for better tracking of results and return on investment for FWPA members.
In developing this new approach, FWPA undertook extensive campaign evaluation, consumer market surveys and leveraged the social license research to form a plan backed by evidence.
Using this data, the campaign will target audience groups who are best placed to receive new information and be positively influenced by the messaging, including younger audiences, home renovators, builders, designers and retargeting those who have previously visited The Ultimate Renewable website or watched campaign videos.
Results of the pilot campaign will be gathered in November and shared with FWPA members and industry in the coming months, along with plans for the remainder of FY2024/25.
