David Newey, Recast founder, has been hard at work with the Valspar Corporation over the last year. Newey was hired by Valspar to help coordinate the design and implementation of a new marketing department for their Industrial Wood Coatings division. A growing division with no prior marketing resources, Valspar needed help with building the brand, product management, and developing new product and service innovations, from the ground up.

Valspar’s needs

A winning marketing strategy in order to grow the Wood Coatings division and become the leader in the industrial category
Project management and Innovation fundamentals to optimize performance and develop new Products/Programs
Marketing communications to support the new sales and marketing effort
Brand management efforts to build the Valspar brand name in the industrial wood coatings category

Building the strategic marketing plan

Recast was instrumental by providing the following expertise:

Market Research – performed market share, market trends, segmentation, and competitor analysis

Marketing Plan – Collaborated on the Wood brand “Promise,” the Innovation Plan, and Marketing Objectives and Tactics.

Innovation / Voice-Of-Customer – Led the Wood Distribution VOC marketing research project in order to capture and define new opportunities and opportunities for improvement. Designed and distributed the customer survey built to capture Needs and Satisfaction ratings, then calculated Opportunity Scores, reflective of heavy needs mixed with low satisfaction scores associated with Valspar’s services and/or products. Ultimately, this survey and resulting analysis led to a complete overhaul of the Distribution channel strategy and program in terms of go-to-market, pricing, product mix, service, and promotions.

New Distribution Channel Program Enhancements and Innovations

Launched new product line – ValPro – Our new line of entry level products. As a result of the VOC findings, an opportunity presented itself for a specific category of product at a specific price and performance level that Valspar did not offer. Once the need was clearly defined, Newey led the efforts to develop this new product line by leading cross functional teams comprised of Technical, Manufacturing, Finance, and Marketing. The result was a new product line launch in November2011 that has been met with huge success in the marketplace.

Optimized the national pricing model and instituted new Volume Order Discounting program

Developed the new Distributor Rebate program for large end-users

Designed the new Product Sampling program for our Distribution customers.

Led SKU rationalization project – Reduced SKU’s by 30% and optimized product mix.

Develop New Marketing Communications

Recast led the development of the following innovations:

New Website – Produced a new, industry leading website for the Valspar Wood division; www.valsparwood.com

complete with:

Enhanced Product Finder

Val-Vault - Wood Finishing Community Resource Center:

Community Discussion Forum and “Ask The Expert” functionality

“Post Your Project”

“How-To” Wood Finishing Video Series – Produced 13 professional videos showcasing Valspar products, tips, and tricks.

http://www.youtube.com/recastidea

Enhanced Web-based Distributor Portal

Suite of resources available online for our Distribution partners

Online Marketing Toolkit

Online wood finishing training modules

Sales support resources

Online shopping for Valspar support materials

Online Marketing Toolkit – An industry first. Considered to be one of the most significant innovation in the wood finishing distribution industry.

Created and developed by Newey, the Online Marketing toolkit is a web-based tool aimed at helping Distributors create advertising and promotional collateral based on various templates.

Allows Distribution partners the ability to leverage the Valspar brand with the flexibility to develop and customize their message.

Contains a suite of templates that allows for a multi-pronged approach to any advertising campaign or promotion. i.e., Direct Mail Postcards, E-blast, Flyers, Customizable newsletter, etc.

2011 PEEK Style Guide

Newey led the creation and development of the 2011 PEEK, published as a guide to showcase the latest furniture, cabinet, and wood finishing styles and colors.

Contains all original photography, shot on-location in fine homes around North Carolina as well as distinct custom architectural wood samples.

All wood samples shown in this publication include a code associated with the product/technique finishing schedule that we provided to our Distribution partners only. The purpose here was not only to promote the brand by launching an innovative marketing tool, but to mainly drive potential customers to our Distribution partners in order to showcase our partners as experts in the field who can help end-users achieve the unique finishes found inside the 2011 PEEK

New Product Packaging Innovation – The innovative, new face of Valspar Wood Coatings

Recast led the development, design, and production of Valspar’s new packaging. Valspar’s new labels represent an innovative change to the label process.

Designed for a premium look and to leverage Valspar’s consumer brand image, the new labels are created using a template and imprint process. Rather than print thousands of labels for every single SKU, Newey devised a system where color coded label templates are created for each product family and printed in bulk in order to gain cost efficiency, followed by on-demand imprinting of the specific product SKUs. This has reduced printing costs, inventory, and label waste.

.Product Sell Sheets / Presentation folders / Quarterly Newsletter

Produced various new ales collateral consistent with new branding elements

Wood Chip Sample Finishes display box

Considered an innovation over standard fandecks, Newey developed the concept and managed manufacturing of Valspar’s Industry leading retail wood sample display box. Designed with a lid, graphics, and handle, this display box supports both field sales and in-store retail display purposes.

Advertising and Public Relations strategy

Trade Advertising

Developed magazine advertisements with original photography and graphic design in order to communicate the brand Value Proposition to the industry.

Handled all media buys, placements, analytics and ROI analysis.

Public Relations

Developed Public Relations, media, and Industry target list

Drafted and distributed various press releases for PEEK Launch, Trade Shows, and new product introduction launches.

Valspar has enjoyed numerous high-profile placements in industry trades, both in print and online.

Trade Shows

Recast has led the tradeshow efforts at both the 2010 IWF (Atlanta, GA) and 2011 AWFS (Las Vegas) International Industry trade shows as well as numerous smaller, regional events.

Recast designed, produced, and implemented all aspects of each tradeshow presence, including Booth and Collateral Design, Booth Construction, Staffing, Lead Capture, and Video and Photography documentation.

Creative Samples

Coming Soon!