Dulux – Colour of the Year 2018The colour of creativity

PRISM AWARDS ENTRY CATEGORY: Consumer PR for an existing product

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Statement of Opportunity:

For 15 years, Dulux has been telling the story of how global trends research translates into paint colours for the home with the annual announcement of the Dulux Colour of the Year.

Together with the supporting ColourFutures™ palettes, this has become a highlight on the interior design calendar, launching the summer season and providing designers with inspiration for the year ahead.

As an existing campaign that is re-launched every year, the opportunity existed to launch the 2018 Dulux Colour of the Year in South Africa in a new and unexpected way – one that did not mention paint at all, but rather focused on the effect of colour.

Summary:

The Dulux #CF18 campaign was the most successful colour announcement campaign in the company’s history, proving consumer colour choices are largely influenced by day-to-day lifestyle.

The three month campaign (13 September – 13 December 2017) was a socially-led integrated approach across digital and social media, amplified by PR efforts.

This campaign was successful in positioning paint as a lifestyle choice, driving the message that buying paint is influenced by the different lifestyle niches that resonate with consumers.

FleishmanHillard was tasked with announcing the Dulux 2018 Colour of the Year (COY), and the new Colour Futures (CF) 2018 palette.

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Sector:

To ensure that the campaign was relevant for the South African audience, we conducted an online analysis of the colour related conversations happening on social media in South Africa over the last year.

Our research found that audiences who were talking about colour online had strong affinities to the following categories:

- Interior Decorating - Cooking and Food - Fashion and - Technology

This insight formed the basis of our communications approach. We leveraged off these affinities and positioned Dulux ColourFutures 2018 as an essential consideration in the South African household.

We also conducted a media audit with 10 key décor and lifestyle titles to gauge potential interest in the COY launch and found that most of Dulux’s targeted media were not receiving frequent or informative content from Dulux, nor did they know who to contact for press content.

RESEARCH

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About the Colour of the Year:

• The 2018 Dulux Colour of the Year is “Pictured Rocks”. • Pictured Rocks is a subtle and warm tone of grown-up pink that draws from the tactile qualities of natural wood and leather, conveying comfort and ease in response to consumers wanting to nestle down more and create a “welcome home” in the midst of unpredictable times.

Objectives :

• Introduce Dulux Colour of the Year 2018 to media and consumers across traditional and digital channels. • Position Dulux as a trend-setting lifestyle brand.• Increase Dulux share of voice against their biggest competitor (Plascon) in earned editorial coverage by 20%.

Approach:

• Create an interactive experience to give media personal contact with the Dulux brand. • Partner with online influencers based on the four identified affinities to create experiences around colour that are not limited to paint or interior décor, and that resonate on a personal level with the bloggers.

PLANNING

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Your ColourFutures™ Quiz:

To drive excitement for the launch, we invited media to complete the Dulux ‘Your ColourFutures™’ quiz online to determine their colour persona and which of the four ColourFutures palettes was best suited to their home.

Media Launch:

• We hosted a high tea at the Westcliff Hotel in Johannesburg for 13 key media. • The venue was specifically chosen for its décor aesthetic which included a natural wood table and copper cutlery to match the Pictured Rocks palette. • The event provided a relaxed and intimate environment for media to participate in conversations with the Dulux Colour Expert, Palesa Ramaisa.

Media Gifts:

• The media gifts were themed around the Food and Interior Decorating affinities.• Along with necessary press materials, media were given macarons which were colour matched to the COY palette, and a blank canvas, paint brushes, and paint samples from the COY palette.

EXECUTION

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EXECUTION

Social media:

• The influencer campaign focused on bringing the main audience affinities to the fore. • With the knowledge that online influencers have the power to affect the purchase decisions of others because of their (real or perceived) authority, knowledge and relationship with consumers and brands, we identified four key bloggers whose niche content aligned to each one of the themes, and challenged them to interpret their ColourFutures™ palette creatively through their niche.

1. FoodBlogger Kate Williams of top South African food blog TheKateTin.com baked a cake covered in icing and sprinkles inspired by the colour of the year. She shared pictures across her various social platforms as well as the recipe and inspiration for her cake design on her blog.

2. Fashion Fashion blogger Amy Scheepers (aka Fancypants) drew inspiration for a stunning new look from the new colour of the year. She also shared her look and her inspiration on her social media platforms and blog.

3. Interior Decorating Lifestyle platform, The Pretty Blog, styled a room using the new colour palette. They also ran a competition in which one of their followers could win a mini home makeover using the new Dulux Colour of the Year.

4. TechnologyTechnology influencers MensStuff and WomenStuff used the Dulux Visualizer App to digitally transform a room using the COY 2018 palette. They also encouraged their readers to do the same on their online platforms.

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Online Coverage:

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EVALUATION

Results:

Social Media • Dulux trended on Twitter on the day of the media launch.• Social media posts from the brand combined with the blogger activation reached in excess of 1,300,000 users with the blogger campaign contributing to 163,818 of that. • The blogger-hosted competition on the Pretty Blog garnered 1,519 engagements.

Overall• We achieved a 42% share of voice for Dulux in October (the month following the launch), which was a 20% increase from August.• Through our integrated approach, Dulux was able to tap into the insight around audience affinities in relation to colour and reach new audiences. • By appealing to these affinities, we were able to generate engaging content and the Dulux conversation took on a completely different form for the first time in campaign history.• In addition to achieving significant coverage and social media metrics we are especially proud of creating conversations about the ColourFutures™ trends report in environments where they would not normally happen, such as lifestyle media like The Citizen, Rapport and The Witness newspapers, national radio station MetroFM, online radio station CliffCentral, as well as various food, fashion and tech blogs.

Media Feedback:

“It was incredible, everything from the venue to the menu. Quite informative as well – got some valuable info and insights into the Dulux brand and how everything came to life for this year’s Colour Future 2018.”

Aqsa Qureshi - Caxton

“I loved the event. I enjoyed making contact with the Dulux folk so that I know my point of contact next time I need info. I found it very informative and very interesting to understand the process behind selecting colour trends.”

Lisa Witepski - Freelancer

“Everything, from the setting, to the talk, to the gift bag, was lovely and well-considered. Meeting everyone in a relaxed environment, and learning something new and interesting was a highlight.”

Guinevere Davies - SA HomeOwner

Total Reach to Date: 1,300,000

Blogger Campaign Reach: 163,818

Blogger Engagement Competition: 1,519

Metrics:

Engagement Rate: 3,15% ( )Industry Average is 0.5% – 0.99%