Need your advice :)

Inspiration
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#1

Hi everybody!

My name is Anastasiya, I am a designer and brand manager from Russia and I need your advice :pray:t3:

Our team produces wood planks and panels for indoor and outdoor design from high-quality barn wood and we want to sell our product internationally (particularly, we want to start with Amazon)!
Our production is made from exclusive wood from the center of Russia - Siberia. We find the proper barn wood that has a gorgeous pattern from sunbathing for at least 30-35 years, after our experts repeatedly process planks and make special piece of wood art from it.
And finally, after so much work and treatment, we have a combination of magnificent footprints of sun, wind, rain and our special wood treatment.
We are not about creating a new plank. We are about underlining incredible beauty and power of nature.

But, we are really confused with what a name we should start.
We have a Russian name, but it doesn’t fit the worldwide market, so I am here to ask you for some help).

We have two variants:

  1. Siberia reclaimed and
  2. Barn Wood Siberia

What do you recommend for our conception and product?
What would you choose?
We are not natives, so it’s extremely complicated for us to choose a proper name that will sound naturally and emphasize our philosophy.

I will appreciate your help A LOT!
Maybe you have other association and words for what we suggest, so please let me now, guys.
I know you are absolutely talented and creative :slight_smile:

Looking forward to your replies!
Thanks in advance,
Anastasiya

Brand image presentation and website design 🚀🌲
#2

Wouldn’t it be rather expensive to ship old planks from Siberia to all around the world — especially when barn wood is common most everywhere there are barns.

Your written English is superb, so I’m wondering why you’ve chosen names that don’t reflect typical English syntax. In addition, they’re more like generic descriptions than names.

Have you considered a more standard (but slightly Russian-sounding) name for the product with a tagline that’s alway beneath the name stating that it’s Siberian barn wood.

In the West, Siberia conjures up images of a mysteriously huge, exotic and remote place that gets very cold and is covered with endless spruce trees. Your product being aged wood from Siberia would seem to be a selling point, even if the wood itself isn’t all that different from what might be obtained locally elsewhere. In addition to that, the overall branding of your product could have a Russian or even a nostalgic Soviet look to drive the point home.

1 Like
#3

I kinda wanna call it “Got Wood?”

2 Likes
#4

Siberia Reclaimed sounds inspiring to me. I don’t think anything with the words “Barn Wood” in the name would sell in the states.

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#5

I don’t understand the product. How would your target audience use this wood? Crafting? Building a patio deck?

#6

I’ve seen buildings and restaurants using indoor paneling made of old, weathered barn wood. I don’t know how popular it is any longer, but several years back, it was a big thing.

As for using the term “barn wood,” for those looking for these kinds of weathered planks, that’s pretty much the standard term for it, so I’d be inclined to use it.

I grew up on a farm. We had three different barns — one was over 70 years old. When my dad torn it down, he was planning on a big bonfire until someone called him and bought the wood for precisely the reason I just mentioned. That was 30 years ago, though.

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#7

When we use it here in the Northeast US, It’s called “barn board” or “weathered barn board.” We’ve actually been using quite a bit of it lately, for all manner of oaty-crunchy things from microbrewery tap rooms to rustic clothing shops to, yes, dispensaries.

Here’s the thing though. There’s a saw mill just down the street from where I live that weathers boards outside in a big open-air lot behind their facility. It sits out there a couple years and weathers to a nice acceptable gray. It’s relatively low cost. Using authentic barn board, with its associated costs, is something that would have to be really high end, or really needing to be authentic. We did a place a couple years ago where we had to artistically distress some of those new boards to look much older, put nail holes in them and such, and added a bit to the cost of those boards too. But nothing like that can compare to naturally age-checked board for those that want it. Not sure how much you’d sell in California, but around here for the Northeast Rustic look, it’s a thing.

#8

First of all, thank you for your compliment, it means much to me :blush::pray:t3:

About the names, we thought that it’d sound contemporary and chicly :crazy_face:
Like yeah, reverse word order (not Siberian barn wood, but something more interesting)), but if you think that I doesn’t sound at all and, moreover, looks like we don’t know basic English rules, it does change the point :crazy_face::ok_hand:t3:

Soviet or Russian names?
We think that there are so mane stereotypes and negative association with the Russians and, generally, our country and its policy, so we are not considering to call our international brand something in Russian. We are sad about that fact, but it’s the way the things are in attitude to us, so :pensive:.

However, if you have some variants, let me know, its anyway interesting to hear them :ok_hand:t3:

#9

Yeah, exactly like what you were thinking, but the use of our production is a little wider :ok_hand:t3:

So we have production in many forms and for many reasons, but what we want to sell worldwide is planks for indoor cladding.
We know that in the U.S. wood wallpaper is a very popular product because 1) it looks like wood, 2) it’s cheap.
And we want to offer an alternative.
Yes, it’s more expensive, but not so much and its the REAL wood, not fake one :))

#10

Thank you for your comment.

Yes, now the areas to where we sell a lot are like the Alps or somewhere where this interior and exterior style is understandable and valuable, where people like to surround themselves with a real touch of nature.
But we believe that our product could and should be used not only in the mountains, but, literally, in homes, just homes of many ordinary people who would love to feel original and authentic beauty of our wood :heart:

#11

Yet you want to use the word Siberia, which in the West brings to mind the Soviet Gulag. It’s unfair for people to make such broad stereotypical associations about things that happened long ago, but if you’re concerned about mentioning Russia, I’m not too sure mentioning Siberia avoids the problem.

I don’t see how you can avoid the Russian angle, so you might as well play it up as a selling point. Russian imports aren’t all that common and there might be a certain mystique to it. Personally, I think Russian/Siberian barn would be sort of cool. People draw a distinction between government policies and the country of Russia and its people,

China has similar image problem in the West, but that doesn’t stop very many people from buying things made in China.

#12

Yes, you are absolutely right about Siberia, because many people understand where Siberia is)).

My teacher (he is British, from London) offered to use a word “patina”, and he said that “that would work for them and is a big buzz word now”.
He suggested a couple of variants, and one of them is “Authentic Siberian Patina”.

What do you think about this word?
I don’t know much about it. I thought patina is a film or something like a thin material or even paint, and didn’t know that patina means also wood, or authentic, or something else I don’t get for now :crazy_face:.

#13

I think it is not helpful (speaking as a Brit). Patina just means the ageing that happens to an object. It means nothing other than ‘aged’, without any specific cultural associations. It all comes across as a bit flaccid and meaningless really.

It is true that many stereotypes regarding Siberia are negative. Change it. Play into the positive associations that people outside of Russia have about Serbia. As B says, the days of the Gulag Internments of Solzhenitsyn are long passed (I hope). When I think of Serbia, aside from the obvious negative stereotypes, I think of Icy Taundra; miles and miles of conifers; hardy outdoor life; an elemental, almost brutal life-style. This is a perception that is absolutely perfect for your product. Play on this. Use design to sell that feel. I can see a trendy bar in London, Boston, New York that has that hard, rustic feel, clad in reclaimed wood that actually came from Siberia.

I would use the word Siberia in the name. Give the product a sense of place. Siberan Barn Wood is exactly what it is. I think you need to go for a hard, pragmatic, elemental brand that emphasises nature and the environment. The name is important, but the brand identity and how you place it in the market is far more important. Build real, positive stereotypes about Siberia. I can see a campaign that tells real stories of real Siberian people. Build this image around it. That said, a brand has to be true. If you start telling lies or elaborating unreasonably about a product, it will trip you up. It needs to tell the story of what is unique about your product.

There is nothing more pragmatic and elemental than the wood that built barns that protected people and their stock from harsh Siberian winters. Sell this. think about the way you see products advertised using the great Canadian Outdoors or Scottish Highlands. You build on heritage, a sense of place and hardy people who live in these environments. Your product is exactly of its place. Use this.

You need a good designer, who can help build an image for you. Don’t save money here. Don’t go for a cheap designer who can ‘make a logo’ for $50. You need an expert who can tell your story and who has the experience to be able to project what is unique about your product. After all, if somebody is going to spend the money on timber imported all the way from Siberia, it has to have something unique about it, otherwise why not just buy local reclaimed timber. You have to sell a rugged image of Siberan wilderness.

Hope this helps.

2 Likes
#14

Sorry, typo. I mean Siberia

#15

Patina generally refers to metals, as in the oxidation on them as they age.
“Authentic” might go farther in this age of “if it looks close, it’s good enough.”

I do kinda worry about the people selling their barns for cash when in need. Happens around here, usually just before a farm goes toes-up and the land is being sold to a developer. Sad…

#16

Oh my God, I think I nearly had an orgasm while I was reading your thoughts, comments and advice.
It’s incredible.
It’s more than incredible.
I didn’t expect such contribution in my question and in my request, from all of you.
Thank you so much!

@sprout, You said what I couldn’t name but was wondering and feeling.
Of course, it’s helped.
Thank you one more time.

#17

Don’t worry at all, the barns are abandoned and nobody lives there.

We don’t disassemble or destroy anybody’s barns. We buy this wood too, and we do that to give this beautiful creature the second life and provide the part of nature for many people to their homes.

#18

@Sprout is right.

There are connotations to Russia and Siberia, but not all are negative. Sprout stated it much more eloquently than I, but we’re saying much the same thing.

Most of Siberia is a vast and rugged wilderness — an endless taiga where amazingly hardy people endure amidst the immense forests and brutally cold winters.

It’s easy to describe Siberia in poetic terms because it’s a place of dreams — both dark and full of awe.

Yes, I know it’s not all like that (I have friends from Novosibirsk), but there’s a certain undeniable romance and mystique associated with Siberia and its people, even for those like me, an American.

You’re concerned about the negative impressions foreigners have of Russia and, by extension, Siberia, but you’re perhaps failing to appreciate the other side of the equation that is anything but negative.

How financially viable your plans are, I have no idea. From a marketing perspective, though, you have a wonderful opportunity to turn what you’re seeing as a negative into an unabashed and unapologetic positive.

There’s really nothing remarkable about barn wood, but your wood is different. You can’t and shouldn’t downplay where it came from since those are the very attributes that make it desirable. It’s Russian. It’s Siberian. It’s wood that has aged and weathered in one of the most rugged, harshest and amazingly wonderful places on the planet.

As I’ve mentioned in my other posts, don’t try to downplay what makes your wood unique. You really can’t hide where it came from. And if you did, all you’d be doing is turning your wood into regular, old barn wood that can be purchased locally almost anywhere — just another commodity.

In your branding, I would not attempt to downplay its Russian and Siberian origins or some of the iconography that accompanies it. I would not soften or sissify it by using words like patina. For people wanting genuinely rugged and outdoorsy wood, there’s nowhere more authentically rugged and outdoorsy than Siberia. Own it. Use it to your advantage.

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#19

All whole our team are applauding you, @Just-B, and @sprout.
We have found a perfect name and vision of our brand thanks to you.

You are literally gifted, guys, with mad and eternal creativity in your blood.
Thank you all for the involvement and participation in our deed!
It was nice meeting you here :heart::jigsaw::sparkles:.

1 Like
#20

Glad we could help.