This signals the start of the largest marketing campaign ever for wood and wood products

The Timber 2000 campaign gets approval This signals the start of the largest marketing campaign ever for wood and wood products The Timber 2000 campaign is set to begin now that the Nordic Timber Council AB's board of directors unanimously approved the campaign. The Swedish, Finnish, and Norwegian sawmill industries have approved the largest marketing campaign for wood ever. The campaign will start in England and the campaign cost is set to SEK 60 million the first year. The campaign is financed by the sawmill industry and forest owners in the three countries. The English forest industry and English timber trade are also providing funding for the campaign. The Timber 2000 campaign will mainly be financed by the Nordic forest owners and the sawmill industry based on each country's own export. The Industry, trade and forestry owners in England has also showed an interest in financing parts of the campaign to a value of SEK 10 million. "Unique Effort" After the board meeting, Jan Hagstedt, managing director for Nordic Timber Council AB, stated, "This is a unique effort in many ways. Each of the countries' industries are supporting this effort and the decision was approved unanimously by the NTC board of directors. We will be increasing our efforts in England by thirty-fold. Co-operating with English companies to run the promotional campaign is also a new approach and increases both the enthusiasm for and impact of the campaign. We see this as the start of a new era for the wood industry." "Push" and "Pull" Work with the details of the campaign are already in full swing at Nordic Timber Council AB and the contracting of PR and advertising agencies in England has begun. The campaign will follow the push - pull model. "Pull" refers to the media campaigns with advertising and information about wood and wood products. "Push" primarily refers to work with the English retailers and is meant to encourage them in their wood projects. The pull part of the campaign will be conducted jointly with English partners while the push part may be conducted by the Nordic industry. For more information contact Jan Hagstedt, managing director, Nordic Timber Council AB, tel. +46 8 440 85 60, Charles Trevor +44 181 365 27 00 (pull), Erik Svensson (push) +46 90 14 26 90 or Charlotte Jonsson, press officer, tel. tel. +46 8 440 85 53 or tel. +46 709 499 137. The Nordic Timber Council AB, NTC, promotes Nordic spruce and pine and products made from these woods. The NTC focuses its efforts on architects, designers, the building industry, and the public in the European market. The NTC is financed by the sawmill industry in Sweden, Finland, and Norway. For up-to-date information, visit NTC's website at www.nordictimber.org. ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/03/17/20000317BIT00800/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/03/17/20000317BIT00800/bit0002.pdf