Viscount Plastics (NZ) - Mount Wellington

Colour Paints Pail Success 

After just one year in paint outlets, Taubmans Trends achieved a tad under 40% unprompted awareness in the brand-cluttered, highly competitive mid-price market.
 
According to Wattyl’s New Zealand Marketing Manager, Deen O’Brien, it was a research finding unparalleled in the paint industry, but he adds had there been any celebratory painting the town red, Viscount Plastics New Zealand would have been top of the list to join in the fun. 
 
Positioned as the vibrant, contemporary paint brand targeting younger buyers, Trends made an immediate impact at point of sale. Being the first ever paint range not in metal cans was itself a guaranteed shopper stopper. However Wattyl went further, ensuring unmistakable visibility by working with Viscount Plastics to develop transparent plastic pails for 250ml, 500ml and 1 litre sizes.
 
Consumers loved the transparent pails, especially after colours had been mixed.  A problem emerged however. In bigger, busier retail outlets the transparent pails were found to make identification of base formulations difficult for paint mixing staff.
 
Wattyl, understandably wanting to retain consumer and trade support, again got together with Viscount Plastics to explore the problem. In remarkably short order a solution emerged which as it now transpires made Trends even more of a stand-out brand.
 
As Viscount Plastics Product Manager, Karyn Reddy, recalls. “Knowing how much paint buyers enjoyed colour showing through transparent pails pretty much pointed the way to using solid colour. At the same time we could all see how this would work brilliantly as a simple identification code for paint store staff.
 
“It was then up to us at Viscount Plastics to turn the suggested solution into reality. We ran up a number of sample pails in a selection of Trends style bright, strong and some iridescent colours and presented these to Wattyl. Deen and his team pretty much accepted them on the spot.”
 
Which explains why for paint buyers facing the barrage of brands in the mid-price segment, Trends is the one immediately identifiable by its six solid colour plastic pails from 250ml all the way to 10 litres. Meanwhile busy paint outlet staff know at a glance that, for example, snappy green is the code for Trends interior-exterior acrylic primer/undercoat.
 
As for the success of plastic for paint pails, particularly in the smaller domestic user sizes, Deen O’Brien has no doubts. “Consumers prefer plastic. They like the way the lids on Trends pails are secure yet so easier to lift than lids on traditional metal paint tins. They like the way there is no gutter to fill with paint. They also like the way they can easily push back the lid and put away the pail knowing it won’t rust. Yes, we see a big future for plastic at Wattyl.”