Natural Stone Council

Quarterly Activity Report / April-June 2008

 

 

The mission of the Natural Stone Council is to increase the understanding of, preference for, and consumption of stone sold under the Genuine Stone® brand. The following associations support the Natural Stone Council:

  • Allied Stone Industries
  • Building Stone Institute
  • Elberton Granite Association
  • Indiana Limestone Institute
  • Marble Institute of America
  • National Building Granite Quarries Association
  • National Slate Association
  • Natural Stone Alliance

There are some very exciting events developing in the stone industry. Most recently, a meeting at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) National Convention, made a push toward information sharing between Italian and U.S. stone associations. It is our hope that the Italian stone associations will join the Natural Stone Council. Through such a partnership, we could work together to share research, technical data, and promote the use of Genuine Stone®. The NSC’s Committee on Sustainability has made a commitment to speak at MARMOMACC in Verona, Italy. The International Exhibition of Marble Stone and Technology (MARMOMACC) is considered to be the world's most important tradeshow for the stone industry. It draws more than 1,400 exhibitors and 62,000 trade visitors from 120 different countries. The exhibition will take place October 2-5, 2008.

Branding Campaign

During the second quarter, the Natural Stone Council advertised in the following publications:

Publication: Architect
Circulation: 60,000
Impressions: 750,000

Publication: Architectural Record
Circulation: 113,486
Impressions: 1,838,473

Publication: Stone Business
Circulation: 16,292
Impressions: 32,584

Total Impressions: 2,621,057

The term "impression" refers to the number of times an ad is potentially viewed.

   

The Natural Stone Council is launching a new advertising campaign encouraging all stone companies who quarry, fabricate, distribute, sell, or install natural stone products to unify their message and promote the Genuine Stone® brand. The new campaign will launch in July/August trade publications such as Stone World, Stone Business, Contemporary Stone & Tile Design, and Architectural Stone & Landscape Design.

The NSC would like to encourage companies to use the Genuine Stone® logo in their advertising; all the logos are available from our website at genuinestone.org, under the Promoting Genuine Stone® tab. Using the Genuine Stone® brand signifies that you promote a 100% natural product. With synthetic stone companies using the word “natural” more frequently in their advertising, there is a tremendous amount of brand confusion in the marketplace. By owning the words “Genuine Stone®”, the Natural Stone Council has created a clear way for the industry to distinguish what is real and what is not.

The Natural Stone Council is frequently updating their website with industry news and information. The NSC recently added new Slate and Travertine sections to the website. For information and sample photographs, please visit www.genuinestone.org. In an effort to keep you informed on the latest green industry information, the Stone & the Environment tab will be updated regularly with sustainability news and events.

Public Relations

Natural Stone Council Recent Press Coverage

Spring 08

Publication: Lowes for Pros
Headline: Article on decks and patios

Publication: Contemporary Stone & Tile Design
Headline: Working to Promote the Environmental Benefits of Natural Stone

Publication: Stone & Tile Designer Insider
Headline: Working to Promote the Environmental Benefits of Natural Stone


Total number of public relations impressions YTD is over 600,000
(Includes LowesForPros.com and Stone & Tile Designer Insider)

The Natural Stone Council’s PR team is always interested in hearing about current and predicted trends within the industry and in the consumer arena. If you have something to share please contact Jennifer Kardian at jkardian@sjonespr.com or 678-352-3652.

Fundraising Initiatives

 

The NSC relies on major contributions from industry associations and individual companies to fund its initiatives. Our goal for the year is to raise a minimum of $500,000. By supporting the NSC, you help fund our three primary initiatives: branding, sustainability, and long-term funding. Last quarter the NSC Fundraising Committee met and began researching the possibility of applying for grant funding. In addition, we are asking for donations because every amount helps. To donate to the Natural Stone Council please contact Brenda Edwards, NSC Fundraising Committee Chair, at brendatexastone@hotmail.com or 432-354-2569.		  

NSC's Green Effort

The NSC’s environmental initiative is now at the inauguration of its second year!  Over the first 12 months, significant work was accomplished to gather accurate data characterizing the environmental impacts of the Genuine Stone® industry.  The upcoming year will bring the release of more data, and several informative tools, to communicate the results of this research. At present, the University of Tennessee Center for Clean Products (UT) is analyzing the collected information and organizing it into formats that will be useable to a variety of audiences; including architects, consumers, and researchers.  It is projected that UT will make these materials available according to the following schedule:

  • Life-cycle Datasets — mid July 2008
  • Best Practices — end of August 2008 (and every 3 months thereafter until May 2009)
  • Case Studies — end of August 2008 (and every 2 months thereafter until May 2009)
  • Material Fact sheets — mid September 2008
  • Life-cycle Analyses — end of May 2009

The information will be accessible via several vehicles, including the NSC website (www.GenuineStone.org), tradeshows (StonExpo 2008, GreenBuild 2008, AIA 2009), and trade association publications. Additionally, representatives from the NSC, along with the UT Center for Clean Products, will be offering a presentation at StoneExpo 2008 to discuss the NSC’s current environmental initiatives as well as its future direction. The Genuine Stone industry has shown a very supportive and enthusiastic response to this effort. It is apparent that large and small companies alike are genuinely interested in better understanding the environmental footprint of their industry.

The NSC and UT would like to thank everyone who has participated in this vital effort to position Genuine Stone in the green building industry. If you are still interested in submitting a survey, please visit the UT website at: (http://isse.utk.edu/ccp/projects/surveyresources.html) or contact UT directly at 865-974-4583 or cleanproducts@utk.edu.

To learn more about the efforts of the NSC Committee on Sustainability, please visit www.GenuineStone.org or contact John Mattke, Chairman of NSC Committee on Sustainability, at 320-685-3621.

 
To learn more about the Green Movement, click on the following links: »

Genuine Stone Resource
Information

U.S. Green Building Council

World Green Building Council

Check-Off Program

In order to fund a long-term advertising and public relations campaign to promote the preference for, and consumption of Genuine Stone®, the NSC is putting together a plan to implement an industry-wide check-off program. A board of directors, made up of industry members, will manage the check-off program. The program will include research, new product development, public relations, and advertising.

2008 Goals:

  • Agreement by the stone industry to tax itself, as the dairy and beef industries are already doing.
  • Strengthen the idea that the ½ cent per dollar self-taxation of all imported and domestic stone will enable the industry to grow larger and more powerful through research and self-promotion.

As this NSC program advances, facilitating an industry-wide check-off will require legislative authority.  The NSC hopes to identify Members of Congress that natural stone industry individuals may know, and whom the NSC could approach to help draft and support the plan.  To gather this type of information, NSC associations will be asking their members to complete a resource inventory survey, which will identify friends in Congress.  If you have not received this survey via email, please feel free to contact Gary Distelhorst, director of the check-off task force at 440-250-9222 or gdistelhorst@marble-institute.com. The resource inventory survey is critical to our success and will provide an overall picture of the natural stone industry’s strengths and weaknesses within the U.S. Congress.  The results will be a foundation from which the NSC will create a legislative strategy for an industry check-off program.

Next steps will most likely include the industry reaching out to their Members of Congress to support this initiative.  As with any legislation, the better understanding Members of Congress have about our needs, the better job they can do on behalf of the Natural Stone Council. 		   

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