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Tolko - Product Marketing

Helping Tolko brand and market their wood products

Who said B2B can't be fun? Tolko tasked us with identifying, branding, and marketing their remanufactured milled wood products in a creative way.
Bringing a new product to market

Bringing a new product to market

Tolko, a well-known industry leader in world-class forest products, is all about sustainability and has a clear vision for growth and product diversification. Their remanufacturing division, based in Lake Country, BC, pulls some of the best lumber, OSB, and plywood from the mills and transforms it into an array of products, including crates, bins, flooring substrate, fencing, shipping containers, and ISPM-certified packaging products. Tolko has manufactured and sold more than one million crates and bins to markets worldwide, and they came to BlackBean to help them brand, design and launch a fun new product: the Tolko Firebox.

Launch your product
Results Image

Challenge

Tolko’s team is highly creative and has many ideas for remanufacturing products. The challenge was to identify which product would best fit the needs of the market and how to introduce it to various audiences. In navigating the complexities of the firewood market, Tolko faced challenges such as fierce competition from independent operators and the limitations of selling by the cord. Furthermore, the utilization of milled wood in their firewood presents potential challenges, as the rapid and even burning characteristics may alter the conventional rustic campfire experience, potentially impacting consumer preferences.

Navigating these challenges while emphasizing the convenience, affordability, and innovative packaging of Tolko’s firewood boxes was going to be crucial for establishing a successful market presence.

Solutions

Market Research: To understand the demand for firewood in the Lower Mainland, we identified target customer segments such as Residential (Corded Wood and Fire Boxes), Recreational (Campers and Outdoor Enthusiasts – Fire Boxes), and Commercial (Campgrounds, Restaurants, and Resorts). The residential and recreational market appeared most promising in terms of the potential market size, with the boxed firewood as an entertainment use case being the most significant.

Positioning. To overcome the challenges, a strategic shift towards a “DIY” or “IKEA-style” firewood kit, encapsulated in their firewood boxes, emerges as a distinctive and marketable solution. By offering mixed log sizes catering to various use cases and targeting occasional firewood consumers through retail partnerships, BlackBean positioned Tolko as a versatile and accessible choice in a market dominated by traditional offerings. 

Marketing and Promotion. A strong brand identity was developed, focusing on themes like outdoor living convenience (IKEA), sustainability, and craftsmanship. Digital marketing strategies, including social media advertising, SEO, and email marketing, were created to reach potential retail partners and direct customers.

Results

Firebox instructions

Oh, we had fun with this one!

  • Leaning fully into the idea of ease of use, convenience, and sustainability, a Firebox brand was developed using icon-style designs and humour. The fire assembly instructions were printed on recycled paper to be used as fire starter and included safety recommendations about disassembly and a QR code to FireSmartCanada.
  • The Firebox features a tree-shaped cutout showing the logs and half-logs inside the box and the burn time indication. These help the buyer make a faster and informed purchasing decision.
  • A landing page was developed to offer further information, provide a distributor login with specifications, and attract a target audience of novice campers, young people, or anyone inexperienced with lighting fires.
Bring your product to market

Bring your product to market

Traditional marketing is all about promoting a company and its brand as a whole – and creating demand for it. Product marketing, on the other hand, focuses specifically on the products your brand sells and driving demand and adoption for the product. That’s why it requires a partner experienced in identifying and communicating a product’s unique value to customers. This means articulating what your target audiences are struggling with, how your product or service can solve their problems, and what sets it apart in the market. As an industrial marketing team, we aim to provide your customers with enough information about your product’s functionality and how it can solve their problems to make a purchase. Investing early in product marketing allows you to stay on top of customers’ needs and empowers you to create better, more meaningful solutions.

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