(Introduction by zemeunvalsts.lv) When a capsule containing a message for future generations was placed in the foundations of the LLU Forest Faculty's Interdisciplinary Scientific Laboratory building last July (where zemeunvalsts.lv was also present (1)), Māris Peilāns emphasised the new brand name ZAZA TIMBER in a short address. Our colleagues at “Baltijas Koks” have learned more about this and written about it.
In the second half of last summer, three Latvian timber industry companies – SIA IKTK, SIA Rodentia and SIA “Igate Būve” – put an end to a year-long process of creating a new brand. “It is clear that it is important for Latvian entrepreneurs how they appear to the world. When thinking about exports, it is appropriate to have a name that is understandable to foreigners, easy to pronounce, memorable, and conveys the manufacturer's values and business style. That is why a brand uniting three companies belonging to one sector was created – ZAZA TIMBER,” Āris Dreimanis, the company’s communications and brand consultant, who also had a hand in the creation of the new Latvian manufacturer’s brand, told the magazine “Baltijas Koks”.
The task: three companies, one brand
In fact, it is a very old habit to authenticate one’s property or artisan product with some special mark or symbol. Nowadays, this is called a brand, and it has a value that is measurable not only in money but also in feelings.
The shareholders and top management of the three companies that effectively belong to one Latvian business family – SIA IKTK, SIA Rodentia and SIA “Igate Būve” – had been thinking about this for quite some time.
A company name can be compared to a person's name. However, for a company, it means much more, especially if this proper name has to communicate its identity to the world – in this case, both its belonging to the Latvian timber industry and its ability to carry out all work tasks – from design, production of glued timber structures, delivery of finished construction components to the client, and finally the construction itself – from A to Z.
This is very significant both when one hears about the company for the first time and starts making contact with it, and also when its achievements are already known.
Therefore, a name was needed that was distinct from others, memorable, as well as easy to pronounce and understand for most other nations' entrepreneurs, architects, builders, and in fact anyone interested as a client in non-standard glued timber structures, and one that evokes positive emotions.
Three companies – one goal
If it is clear what needs to be done, one must think about how to do it. The springboard from which to jump was everyday life. In fact, ever since 2015, when SIA IKTK, SIA Igate Būve and SIA Rodentia were founded one after another, the products they created together gradually won their place not only in Latvia and Northern Europe but are also known in North America and South Korea, as the production and service of high-quality glued timber structures is becoming increasingly in demand globally.
The portfolio of work completed by the three companies includes glued timber transport bridges in Norway, glued timber structures for the pedestrian bridge over the highway near Tērvete Nature Park, roofs for the “Mītava” open-air concert hall and the ice rink in Jelgava, transport bridges in Jaunpils and Ječupe, bandstands in Penkule and Krimūnas, the office for a/s “Latvijas Valsts meži” in Dundaga, the Talsi library and other buildings. Not so long ago, a unique large-scale project for the production of spherical acoustic panels for the Mežaparks Grand Stage was also implemented. Specialists of the current ZAZA TIMBER group have also provided design and construction services to more than 50 clients.
However, to clients, the association, which was essentially doing work that complemented one another, looked like a colourful patchwork quilt. Likewise, the meaning of the company names was not always well understood by clients. Thus, SIA “Igate Būve” was perceived more as any construction company that might not be related to timber construction, and SIA Rodentia – even as something related to small rodents. Not every client was able to pronounce the combination of letters IKTK, let alone remember it. And furthermore, from these separate names, it was not clear whether all three companies, figuratively speaking, were the swan, the crayfish, and the pike from the fable about the strange cart-pulling company or, instead, a cohesive team acting in one direction. Understanding this was also in a sense hindered by three separate websites and seven different accounts on social media.
It was clear that choosing one name – a brand that would unite all three companies – could dispel doubts that all three companies were not competing with each other, but rather cooperating harmoniously and serving one goal. A clear signal had to be given that turning to one company actually meant visiting a one-stop-shop. Therefore, introducing a unified brand would solve many problems, indicating to the client that the manufacturer could produce what their own engineers and architects had designed, and that there was good understanding with their builders who would construct it all to a high standard.
And so, in about a year, undoubtedly stepping out of the comfort zone and overcoming the egoism of the individual companies – it turns out that this is not only a human trait – the ZAZA TIMBER brand was created. And so, since the end of the summer, while maintaining independence, the glued timber structure manufacturer SIA IKTK operates under the name SIA ZAZA TIMBER Production, the designer SIA Rodentia as SIA ZAZA TIMBER Engineering, and the builder SIA “Igate Būve” as SIA ZAZA TIMBER Construction. They also have a common website and social media accounts. There is reason to believe that now, any client or architect associated with the woodworking industry and construction will have no doubts that these three companies under one brand are a unified team.
Why ZAZA and what does it mean?
One of the most important criteria in creating a new brand that is recognisable in the international environment was the aforementioned message about the coordinated operation of the three companies. However, alongside this, there were also other equally important tasks.
The new brand, including the name, definitely had to differ from the brands of other similar manufacturers.
Practically, while searching for a name, a very simple consideration was taken into account: the company or brand name should fit well into the answer to the question, who manufactured this for you? And if so, that is already a significant recommendation for the manufacturer. Therefore, it was important to find words or concepts that could be easily pronounced both by themselves and, for example, by Norwegian or other nationalities' builders, to remember this name and recommend it to others. In any case, it was clear that the situation should not be like the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull, which came to life in 2010, causing trouble not only for pilots but also for those who tried to repeat that Icelandic word fluently.
Even here in Latvia, there are many good examples of how to choose a brand name that is understandable to everyone. Such, for example, is UPB after the name of the firm’s founder Uldis Pīlēns, the oak parquet line Amber wood offered on the international market, Stalgen, whose name was chosen after a place name, cafes with the name “Gardumiņš”, and others.
While racking their brains, they needed to find a word that would characterise the essence of three companies associated with the timber industry, namely, that they are all connected to the full cycle of design, production, and construction of glued timber structures, or from A to Z. This would be a good message for architects, bridge designers, and timber building developers, that in Latvia, on the outskirts of Jelgava, one can order and receive everything needed – designs for building components and their connection nodes, taking into account fire safety requirements, manufactured glued timber constructions of appropriate thickness and length, both straight and curved, for which high-performance CNC machine tools purchased in Switzerland are used – and finally, the transportation of finished building components to the construction site is ensured.
Thus, by stringing together the letters A and Z, the brand developers arrived at the letter combination Z-A-Z-A. Out of several options, the shareholders acknowledged that this was what they were looking for – a short, sonorous, easy to pronounce and internationally understandable name. The final word this time belonged to the Chairman of the Board of ZAZA TIMBER Production and ZAZA TIMBER Construction, and the founder of these companies, Māris Peilāns. (Of course, it had to be checked whether it had any misinterpreted meaning in the languages of other world nations, but it did not.) Then, all that was left was to add the word Timber to the name, which unambiguously points to the timber industry.
Once the brand name was clear, local designer Reinis Eglītis, who also studied in Germany, was called in to help with the choice of logo and the company's characteristic colours. He understood very well that this time it was not about a supermarket product, but the ZAZA TIMBER brand is oriented towards a relatively limited circle of clients – builders, architects, contractors, whom one does not need to convince with shiny, tactilely pleasant packaging, sounds, or smells. Latvian designers handle this well, refuting the claim contained in a frequently heard question: how can we please a Norwegian, a Dane, and someone else all at once? It turns out it is possible if one does not think about how to please everyone, but instead creates a brand that is true to its owner. In the case of ZAZA TIMBER, the logo is dominated by a yellow-brown colour, which associates with bright, pleasant wood. In turn, the special blue-green tone provides contrast and highlights the association's name. Of course, a serious client – a builder, an architect – does not choose business partners just by looking at brand logos. However, undoubtedly, it is significant that the logo is not some kind of Frankenstein's monster, but creates positive emotions and reminds one of the manufacturer’s essence, confirming that the people behind the brand logo understand the client’s business language and values.
Don't be afraid to be yourselves
The ZAZA TIMBER website and e-mail address end in lv, and not eu or com. When creating the brand, it was already important to show in the international circulation that ZAZA TIMBER is specifically Latvian, and not some abstract manufacturer to be found within the territory of the European Union or part of some international company. Honestly stating that one is dealing with a Latvian company and everything that is produced and offered to clients is made here, in Latvia, is only a benefit.
It is clear that for Latvia's relatively small manufacturers, entering and staying in Scandinavian and other international markets with their brands is not easy. It can be seen that one of the ways to facilitate this is to abandon one's authenticity and try to pretend to be some mystical European company. There are European countries, such as Poland, where manufacturers do this very often. However, a connoisseur will guess anyway where the product was made.
Likewise, there are also local manufacturers that try to present themselves as a Scandinavian company or at least part of one, by adding, for example, the word Nordic to the Latvian or Anglicised name. Of course, this is not bad, but if such nordic timbers or nordic woods multiply too much, no one on the outside really understands who is who, and industry competitors are easily confused with each other. It may even accidentally happen that a client, while recommending their acquaintances to choose a company whose service they are satisfied with, quite accidentally recommends a competitor. That would not happen if manufacturers were not afraid of their authenticity.
Article first published in the October 2021 issue of the magazine “Baltijas Koks”.
Photographs of ZAZA TIMBER have been used.
1. https://www.zemeunvalsts.lv/meza-fakultates-starpnozaru-zinatniskas-laboratorijas-ekas-sakums-foto