Urban Tree ForgeBrand Analysis and Opportunities

part one- Analysis

brands market form language

part two- Opportunities

seven opportunities to investigate

Urban Tree ForgeBrand Analysis and Strategy

Urban Tree Forge, LLC is an admirable young business with a lot of interests. This document is meant to help clarify each branch of the company and, in the process, discover opportunities for growth of the brand.

Urban Tree ForgeAnalysis > Brands

Urban Tree Forge is comprised of three main parts: the flagship mate-rial City Wood™, the core business of The Mill, and the artists-in-resi-dence in The Studio. Clearly defining these three brands will keep the business on course by making sure each new endeavour fits into the overall model.

city woodby Urban Tree Forge

the millby Urban Tree Forge

the studioat Urban Tree Forge

“By utilizing locally available and sustainable natural resources, we are removing trees from our landfills, and placing salvaged wood back into a productive life cycle.”

City Wood™ is the heart of Urban Tree Forge. It is used for all of the Urban Tree Forge products and is also sold at retail to local crafts-men. This in-house brand of wood is cut from salvaged trees in Pitts-burgh after the years finally take their toll and naturally fell a tree.

The trees are scouted out by Urban Tree Forge studio members, neighbors, and landscapers. The logs are cut into slabs and quarters for various projects or kept whole for furniture and sculpture pieces.

City Wood is a wood unlike any other. The trees it comes from av-erage 3 feet or wider in diameter making sustainable, large-scale lumber at a variety of lengths available at a lower price than other similarly-sized lumber. Many of these trees have lived in Pittsburgh for 10 generations or more and carry the history of the city with them in stunning grain patterns.

Urban Tree ForgeAnalysis > Brands > City Wood

city woodby Urban Tree Forge

The Mill by Urban Tree Forge creates sculpture, custom furniture, and millwork such as flooring, molding, and tree stakes on commission and for sale in local galleries. The Mill’s body of work is the primary output of Urban Tree Forge.

The City Wood™ used in the mill is used to its fullest extent. The larg-est pieces become furniture, sculpture, or large slabs. The quarters of logs and cut-offs are made into small-scale projects ranging from shelves to jewelry. Even the sawdust made in The Mill is composted to become nutrients for the next generations of City Wood™.

Urban Tree ForgeAnalysis > Brands > The Mill

the millby Urban Tree Forge

The Studio at Urban Tree Forge is the collection of artists and crafts-men and women who lease space from Urban Tree Forge. The Studio provides workspace, use of machinery, gallery space, and office space for creative individuals.

The Studio is a multi-disciplinary environment with residents working primarily with City Wood™ as well as metal and stone collaboratively and individually.

Urban Tree ForgeAnalysis > Brands > The Studio

the studioat Urban Tree Forge

Urban Tree ForgeAnalysis > Market

Customers

The value proposition of an Urban Tree Forge product is a sustainable alternative to other lumber and custom furniture or millwork. Owning a piece also saves “waste” from going into the landfill and supports lo-cal business and conservation. This is a powerful idea that influences customers to come to Urban Tree Forge.

The primary market for Urban Tree Forge Products are wealthy, lo-cal people who are interested in small scale projects and the green movement. Urban Tree Forge pieces range from $1,200 to $70,000 and average around $5,000-$10,000. Dipping into a lower price range would expand the target market.

Many craftsmen and students are drawn to Urban Tree Forge City Wood™ because it is cheaper than similar-sized pieces of farmed lumber, better for the environment, and is one of a small handful of lumber providers in the city.

Keeping these customer typologies in order will help to serve each better:

Local, wealthy people looking for custom pieces

Local, average people looking for Urban Tree Forge products

Professional craftsmen looking for City Wood and Millwork

Weekend and Student Craftsmen looking for City Wood

Urban Tree ForgeAnalysis > Market

Partners

There is a strong movement in Pittsburgh to support local and en-vironmentally conscious businesses. Urban Tree Forge has had suc-cessful partnerships with many of these organizations, particularly Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest and the Pittsburgh Tech Coun-cil. The list also includes Hack Pittsburgh, Green Sign Experts, McNul-ty Landscaping, Wilkinsburg Shade Tree Committee, Ritenour Lumber, as well as a number of local galleries.

These partnerships serve to expand the Urban Tree Forge business by reaching into the community of environmentally conscious contrac-tors, craftsmen, and public.

Urban Tree ForgeAnalysis > Form Language

Form Language

The form language of The Mill at Urban Tree Forge is fundamentally natural. Pieces are sculpted along the grain of the wood rather than straight lines. Bowties are often added in places that risk splitting. Hard lines are eased giving a fluid, wax-like form to the work. The proportion of pieces changes based on the stock it is carved from, though, there is a constant thickness to The Mill’s slabs.

Urban Tree ForgeOpportunities

Seven opportunities to investigate lower price point products

profitable offcuts unique bowties

The JM Series

Urban Tree Forge t-shirt

branded samples

business cards

Lower the Price Point

By offering a lower price product, Urban Tree Forge can bring more people into the sustainable movement. Many people subscribe to the philosophy but can’t afford even the cheapest pieces. A product line with a price point of $20-$30 would sell more volume, accumulating more interest in the brand.

These products could be kitchen utensils, light fixtures, toys, boxes, games, even educational urban forest kits. Because Urban Tree Forge is unable to add on any manufacturing stress in-house, the design specifications and City Wood™ could be sourced to a local manufacturer. Production pieces could be housed in each of Urban Tree Forge’s partners’ spaces, local vendors like Quiet Storm, Maggie’s, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Market District, as well as the Urban Tree Forge Gallery for maximum exposure to the target market of local, eco-conscious buyers.

Revitalize “Waste”

Not much goes to waste around Urban Tree Forge as it is, however, oppor-tunities exist to make a profit off wood-working byproducts. Quarter rounds become shelves, offcuts could be made into limited run products, saw dust sold as mulch along with seedling kits to locals.

Urban Tree ForgeOpportunities

Embrace Your Form Language

Currently, there is a dichotomy between the soft, fluid curves of The Mill’s pieces and the rigid, straight-lined bowties that prevent cracks from splitting further. Exploring the form of those butterflies, while still ensuring their ease of manufacture will add value to Urban Tree Forge pieces.

Avoid Confusion

Another step in defining the brands, creating a JM Signature Series within The Mill by Urban Tree Forge could help to differentiate molding and flooring with high-end custom furniture pieces. Currently, two very different custom-ers are funneled towards the same brand: contractors and private commis-sions.

Spread the Word

Urban Tree Forge t-shirts, screen printed with soy-based inks on organic cotton t-shirts are a relatively cheap way to get more advertising in the com-munity. Giving these out for free with the purchase of a JM Signature Series piece or a couple of slabs gives the customer a mobile conversation piece.

Lose the Stickers

By having shop resident Jennifer Bechack create a literal Urban Tree Forge brand, samples of City Wood™ could be entirely sustainable by using heat generated from a City Wood™ cutoff fire to sear a brand on each sample.

Stand Out

In the spirit of the literal Urban Tree Forge “brand,” actual City Wood busi-ness cards and other takeaways could help Urban Tree Forge standout and further educate people about the benefits of using urban trees.