Colour has the unique ability to communicate a feeling and brand association without the use of words or imagery. It can heighten the brand recognition by up to 80%. When designing logos and style guides, the colour wheel is often looked at to decide the feeling that is required to be portrayed. This could be the passion of Ferrari red, the cheerfulness of orange or the optimism that yellow exudes.
Brands like Ikea and Caterpillar have their yellow, Harrods have their distinctive green and if you come home with a gift bag that is ‘robin’s egg’ blue then your partners heart might skip a beat and you will be a very popular person. If you did not know, ‘robin’s egg’ blue is the turquoise blue colour of Tiffanys. There is actually a shade of blue that PMS created named ‘1837 blue’ which was the year Tiffany & Co started.
Within the building and construction industry, pink primed timber has become synonymous with Woodhouse and our Weatherproof range. While people may not always recall our name or products, most know the ‘pink primed’. ‘Get the pink primed’ is a phrase used by many a foreman on the building site or in trade stores.
From a brand perspective, it was important for us to protect our association with pink, and as such we recently took out a trade mark on this colour (in relation to timber product).
We have often been asked about the history of the pink timber and why we chose this particular colour. What was the story surrounding this? While we would love to say that it came about through a scientific process or research group, we simply took advantage of the fact that many years ago (pre 1980’s!), any timber that was used externally was primed a pink colour. Pink primer was the default colour for external timber.
Chris Woodhouse, who founded Woodhouse Timber, had the idea to continue this trend but also treat the pine timber. This is how our Woodhouse Weatherproof pink primed and treated timber came about. We were the first to market with the pre-primed timber so why not stick with the colour that everyone knows and is familiar with. Having the pink colour also ensures that it is very clear that there is only primer on the timber and external coating is required. The fact that this primer colour is easier to top coat than some other products is an added bonus. Over the years, we have refined and lightened the pink to ensure ease of top coating.
Earlier this year we entered into a strategic partnership with Dulux Industrial Coatings for our Weatherproof range which allowed us to extend our warranty to 25 years and cover both the product and paint.
You will see our pink being used across more and more of our marketing collateral. Our new pink trucks are out and about on the streets of Brisbane and Sydney.
Next time you are passing a building site or a property being renovated, have a look for the pink primed timber. If it is pink….It is Woodhouse Weatherproof timber.