Riding out storms by building value in a treated wood brand

If fnsN You rHINK about it, a lot V Y tras happened in the Past four decades in American businessSouthwest Airlines took off for the first time, FedEx created overnight delivery, companies like Microsoft and Apple changed our lifestyles forever, and something called Google was incorporated in a garage in California.

Even before those well-known corporate brands were launched, there was a guy in Abbeville, Al., with a problem and a dogged determination to make the most out of a bad situation. The result of his journey has been the creation of one of the bestknown brands in what was once a commodity category-pressure treated lumber.

Great Southern Wood Preserving got its start in 1970 when JimmY Rane, a senior in law school, tried to mediate a family dispute concerning his late father-in-law's estate, which included a small wood treating operation in the small town of Abbeville.

Now, four decades and a number of recessions later, Rane has built the YellaWood brand in a category where consumer brands didn't previouslY exist. Times are tough all around, but the Great Southern story is one that illustrates the principle that building a brand that stands for value and integrity in the eyes of customers can PaY handsome dividends in good times and help weather the bad times.

In the first decade of oPeration, Great Southern Wood grew, as many new small businesses do, by identifying a product and a market and working hard to add value, while squeezing out the thinnest of margins.

As business began to grow, Rane found himself restless to build something bigger than a single pressure treatment plant in southern Alabama. He recognized the opportunity to connect with his dealers and his consumers. That's when he accePted an invitation to attend a resident-study program at Harvard Business School.

One of the case studies that attracted his attention while at Harvard was that of Perdue Chicken and its patriarch Frank Perdue, a pioneer in brand- ing commodity products. It was then that Rane realized the importance of establishing a brand namc that consumers recognize and trust. And he set out to do.just that.

The company embarked on sponsorship of college football coaches' shows thrclu-rlhout the South, where college sports are followed with passion and enthusiasm. When the company began featuring collegiate fbotball and basketball coaches in hurnorous commercials, the spots becamc so popular throughout the South that one well-known coach once remarked that his appearance in the ad series helped his recruiting success.

Soon, however, the ambitious and marketing-savvy Rane realized that a broader approach was needed-resulting in the birth of both the YellaWood brand and Yella Fella chtrracter.

The message of the earlier advertising had always been, and continues to be. "look for the lumber with the little yellow tag on the end," signifying that the wood is a pressure treated product of Great Southern Wood.

The company continued to invest in the brand over the years through consumer advertising and has built a significant awareness in the marketplace. So much so, in fact, that it was able to obtain a federal registration fbr the "little yella tag" as its trademark icon. and YellaWood brand products became among the most widely recognized in the category.

Rane had never been afraid to be the f'ace of the company in its advertising, but Yella Fella took the notion to a whole new plateau in 2004. Rane didn't hesitate, slipping into a cowboy character that was a little bit whimsical and incredibly affable.

Cowboys had always engendered a good warm feeling among most Americans. Rane concluded. Old western movies had a message-that good triumphs over evil. It is a message that today's cynical society has all but fbrgotten, Rane believes. "lt's not a complicated message, but one that we need to continue to reinfbrce with people of all ages and especially young people," he said.

The messzrge emphasizes values of honesty. service. character. inteerity. patriotism and family, among others.

"We live in a time when young people need to hear that good guys don't finish last. that truth and justice can prevail, and hard work does pay off," Rane says. "lt is so easy for young people to get discouraged but thc rnessage of the Old West offers hope."

If it sounds like Ranc is a crusader. perhaps he is. Even though society often scnds messagcs that are 180 degrces from The Code of the West and The Golden Rule, Rane is fighting valiantly to get the message across. He has linked those values closely with the brand he hns created

Creating a brand in a comntodity cate-sory has taken Yella Fella a bit off the beaten trail. but it's not thc first time he's "gonc against the grain." One of the principles Rane learned early in his carccr was to blaze his own trail and not necessarily to -eo r.rhere everybodl else is loing.

"My philosophy is buy when cveryone else is selling and sell when everyone else is buying." says Rane. "That is the way real value is created."

Through recent acquisitions, Great Southern Wood has grown to I I facilities and added new geographic markets that now stretch from Texas to Missouri to Florida.

At thc end of the day, Ranc hopes the unusual approach will add market share as wcll as make the world better fbr the next scneration.

Bosed in Annopolis, MD, Fletcher Wood Solutionso is the lcrgest monufccturer of defect-free, oppeoronce grode rodioto pine products in New Zeolond. Distributing our cleor boords, mouldings, LIFESPAN! treoted wood, ond lumber to the North Americon mcrket through our proven cnd completely integroted supply choin, Fletcher Wood Solutions(-' mointoins direct occess to one of the lorgest FSC certified. pine plontotion forests in the worro.

By Huck DeVenzio, Arch