Coillte Panel Products - the panel products division of Coillte, the Irish forestry and forest products company - was one of three entries shortlisted for the highly competitive 2010 Excellence In Marketing award at the annual timber industry awards event. With an audience of over 360 industry leaders, the Timber Trades Journal 2010 Awards was held on 16th September at the Park Lane Hotel in London. The campaign theme was ‘2009-2010 Product Innovation and Brand Differentiation’, and Coillte Panel Product’s entry covered both its Medite MDF and SmartPly OSB brands. To achieve differentiation and competitive advantage throughout the second half of 2009 and in 2010, Coillte Panel Products launched new products coupled with a programme of innovative marketing initiatives aimed at raising awareness of key issues and engaging with customers and their clients on future-facing challenges. Activity in this period included Medite’s ‘CARB 2’ compliance (restricting formaldehyde emissions) from January 2010, the launch of new thicker Medite MDF, the continued promotion and demand for Medite’s FR Flame Retardant DVD, the joint development agreement with Accsys Technologies PLC on the research and development of a more durable Medite MDF using ‘acetylation’ technology, promotion of Medite Exterior, and continued awareness raising of SmartPly OSB’s FSC certification and its performance as ‘an uncompromising substitute’ to alternative panel products. Independently judged by a panel led by David Evington, managing director of Dynamo Marketing, the Excellence In Marketing award continues to be one of TTJ’s most competitive categories. Guest speaker and awards host, Karren Brady, arguably the UK’s most prominent businesswoman, said of the shortlisted entry, “In a tough market climate with business recovery very slow, Coillte Panel Product’s initiatives - led by high impact advertising campaigns, and supported by a full range of marketing tools - are impressive and innovative”. Coillte Panel Products has won the Excellence In Marketing award an unprecedented two years in a row; in 2008 for its multi-faceted “TIME2CHOOSE” campaign, which encouraged decision makers to be uncompromising in their choice of sustainable products, and in 2009 for the launch of SmartPly SiteProtect, a new coated OSB product for site hoarding and security applications. Geoff Rhodes, marketing and business development director for Coillte Panel Products said: “Following our success with this award in the last two years, it is a remarkable achievement to yet again be shortlisted, particularly with stiff international competition. It is fantastic to have the hard work which goes into our campaigns again recognised and respected in this way and it maintains the vital ongoing positive publicity for the group. Winning the award consecutively in 2008 and 2009, and achieving a shortlisted place in 2010 are all testimony to the skill set of the team involved, our company’s commitment to professional marketing, and press relations, and a strategic approach using all the tools we have available.” Coillte Panel Products also continues to sponsor TTJ’s “Panels Trader of the Year” Award category, demonstrating strong commitment and underlining its serious role as a major supplier of panel products to the market.
20 September 2010