approved use on their products. The prefinished colors have them already
involved with the industry at another
level. People will always want a choice.
The success of the industry as a whole to
promote the long-term “non peeling”
characteristics on dimensionally stable
products like vinyl siding and synthetic
exterior surfaces will go a long way to
driving exterior coating sales. Most customers do not change color because they
believe it will perform as if they were
going over wood or masonry.
California Products Corporation’s corporate headquarters in Andover, MA.
Loyalties to brands have subsided as the
average consumer knows less and paints
less frequently. It is more about putting
yourself in front of the consumer for top-of-mind awareness. We have maintained
a strong devotion to quality and product
performance. We acknowledge that in
order to gain loyalty, you must already
posses a happy customer. We stress to
our customers through our training, that
the average consumer is not shopping
the independent channel for paint as a
commodity. They shop it for a higher
level of product, expertise and service. It
is important that our dealers treat their
customers with the same quality
approach as we do for our product.
CW: You mentioned that we’ve
evolved from a “product-trinsic” to a
“color-trinsic” way of responding to
customer needs and trends. That evolution has had a dramatic effect on
busting any silos that might have
existed before within corporate
walls. It has forced a major course
correction requiring a profound, sec-ond-look at how we in the architectural coatings industry do business.
We’ve had to convince ourselves to
look at our products the way our customers do. It has also demanded we
reexamine what our brand focus is
and should be. It also mandates we
adopt universality in our communication so that our retailers are
strategically aligned. Can you comment on how this has reshaped
California Products as a corporation
and how it is organized and staffed?
CW: Despite the maturity of the
industry, there is still a lack of uniformity in certain areas of the coatings industry, for example, sheen.
What other areas of the industry are
in need of more decisive collaboration? Would you include VOC legislation as an example or is that
another issue altogether?
fits are in the product or the limitations
inherent with the product. One company
a few years back promoted titanium
dioxide as the key component and consumers were coming into stores looking
for black paint with TI02. Many consumers do not know if there is a differential in sheen from a satin to a semi
gloss. It is extremely difficult for the
average consumer to know what they
are buying or equating values between
products. More often than not, they are
buying brand or outlet.
The VOC, as they go to national limits,
will certainly equalize some of the disparity of products. The question is will
they be patrolled or enforced. For the
consumer’s protection, I believe that
national associations should set standards, not guidelines for coatings. The
fact that some companies are being
allowed to use the terms non-toxic as a
prominent selling feature of their product is one that I truly question.
COHEN: There certainly is a loose classification of terminology and equalization of industry terms and phrases. The
coatings industry has no adherence to
defining ranges of sheens or definition of
quality. The average consumer who
shops for a can of paint or primer has no
idea what the resin or ingredient bene-
CW: As we continue to see the coatings industry players decrease
through acquisition and otherwise, is there a future for coexistence between coatings manufacturers and makers of non-paintable surfaces such as TREX
and HardiePlank?
COHEN: I think that they have already
made certain strategic alliances with the
COHEN: The ideas of selling paint benefits have given way to selling lifestyle.
The shift has gone from technical to color
and corporate marketing direction has
changed from promoting from the male
to the female. All of this has had managements in our business refocus on the
consumer and attempt to find out what
is driving the sale. Consumer research,
designer input and trend analysis has
never been more critical. We realized
that for the first time color outpaced
chemistry as a determining factor. Our
standard way of developing a new color
system through a color co-op changed.
We ventured with Dunn Edwards on a
well researched color palette—The
Perfect Palette—which was rated in
focus groups as the finest color system
available today. This investment was
