Canadian Engineered Wood Products

Rebrand and new website for an industry leader with 25 years of history, plus a relationship for success.

With a desire to take a more active approach to their marketing, CEWP knew that one of the first things they had to do was clean up their visual identity to ensure they were investing in building the right perception with their audience.

A Time for Transformation

After learning about their business, their market, and their competition, we gained great insight into who they were as a company, how they operated, and what set them apart.

As a growing, Canadian-based lumber distribution company, their visual identity felt out-dated and indifferent. They needed a brand that would accurately represent their history, credibility, and industry leadership, while modernizing their image, and helping them to stand out... and be remembered.

Our strategists carved a path based on a thorough competitive analysis, while our creative team conjured up concepts in the vision pot. Drawing from their previous logo, which had substantial brand equity, we aligned our concepts towards what people would expect from a company with a stellar reputation. Their core colors, green and gold, were carried forward in a deeper hue, and the typeface was updated to a clean and modern sans serif font.

Before

After

Lumber in the Digital World

With a new brand in hand, we met with CEWP to discuss our next project together - a new website. The partnership group at CEWP wanted the new website to emphasize their size and geographic reach, as well as represent the various products and services they offer.

Drawing from the research and strategy that was done during the branding process, it was clear that one of CEWP’s primary business values is the long lasting relationships they have built with so many of their clients over the past 25 years. With this principle as the underlying message for the entire site, we entered the project planning process and came away with 4 key objectives the new website had to meet.

01 Highlight the products they supply and commitment to exceptional service
02 Illuminate their growing distribution across Canada and the U.S.
03 Ensure they come across as the distributor and not the actual sawmill or a home hardware company
04 Communicate in an approachable tone, and use messaging that reinforces their position of leadership with the lumber industry

We knew if we leveraged their true personality and down-to-earth approach to business, we could position CEWP as authentic and approachable across generational audiences.

It was time to get to work.

As we got to work on their digital strategy, we remained cognizant that there was a new generation of lumber buyers emerging, while their existing, more traditional, clientele was the foundation of their business. We knew if we leveraged their true personality and down-to-earth approach to business, we could position CEWP as authentic and approachable across generational audiences.

We crafted the site’s content to focus on the value they put on client relationships, while clearly representing the size of their team and the multiple locations they have, visually demonstrating their growing, thriving company.

We developed a wireframe prototype of the website to communicate our vision for how the finished site would come together. The wireframe was fully interactive and functioned much like the finished website would, allowing you to click from page-to-page, and get a sense for how the content works into the layout and flow of each page. This provided a great opportunity for their team to proof the website's content in a very digestible format, without the distraction of the visual design.

Clean. Simple. Modern. Authentic. Mobile.

With everyone aligned in the direction the website was going, we finalized the content and moved into the front-end design and development phase.

The warm tones in their brand colours offset the expansive use of whitespace and simple presentation of the content to make sure the site came across as anything but cold or corporate. Custom photography was taken of their team, and various jobsites, to ensure the images used on the website were as authentic as they are.

With the frontend completed, all of the mobile and responsive styling in place, we successfully launched their website on time and on-budget.

Wood Goes Social

Now we were faced with applying our strategy to social media. We had to demonstrate that CEWP is up-to-date with today’s digital landscape, position them as trustworthy thought leaders, garnering the attention of like minded fellas (and gals!) in the lumber industry.

Our carefully curated and original content would assist in this role, but to be successful on social we also had to tap into a common thread amongst young and mature generations alike. So, what was this common thread? Lifestyle. These two targets share a similar, outdoorsmen lifestyle. If we tapped into that, we could capture each generation in their audience, without alienating one or the other.

Results

The new visual identity has been embraced in all facets of the company and continues to position CEWP as leaders in the lumber industry. Since the website's launch, it has grown to include a resource section with white paper style articles that are used to support their existing sales process and provide content that can be marketed through email and social channels.

The collaborative process between our company and theirs has resulted in a long-standing partnership, and we continue to play an active role in CEWP’s ongoing marketing.

What We Delivered

Logo & Brand Design
Web Development
Marketing Strategy
Graphic Design
Copywriting
Social Media
Email Marketing

Rave Design Showroom

Canadian Engineered Wood Products

A Time for Transformation

Before

After

Lumber in the Digital World

It was time to get to work.

Clean. Simple. Modern. Authentic. Mobile.

Wood Goes Social

Results

What We Delivered

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