Dulux is part of a global cluster of brands, referred to as Carel in Brazil, Valentine in France, Dulux in China, and Marshall in Turkey. Dulux needed a campaign that could work in all these markets and a universal truth that could penetrate and inspire communities on a local scale.
Research for Dulux indicates that the majority of homes across the world are painted white, lights or neutral and that cultural expectations around home redecoration and self-expression can vary significantly from market to market. Dulux therefore set out to reframe the paint category by inviting the regeneration of any house, object or public space.
The 'Let's Colour' campaign demonstrated the transformative nature of being bold. Core to its strategy were a series of public demonstrations of the Let's Colour philosophy, called 'The Let's Colour Project'. This included a series of community regeneration projects designed to get consumers to reappraise their attitudes to colour, while at the same time, regenerating areas of the community. By adding colour to run-down public spaces and communities, Dulux attempted to demonstrate the effects of brighter surroundings.
The campaign initially started as a social responsibility project that would be driven by word of mouth, later integrating into a holistic communications strategy. In each market, key city locations were identified that needed the effects of colour. 'Hit squads' from Dulux worked with community groups to brighten up the areas. Each project was then filmed and documented to provide a story that could be communicated alongside the physical impact of the changes and inspire consumers to add colour to their own homes. The tale of each transformation was told via the most relevant above-the-line media including TV, digital out of home and digital channels.
Let's Colour campaigns took place all over the world. In China, where the DIY culture is almost non-existent, digital campaigns raised awareness of the Let's Colour project and gave consumers the chance to enter two competitions: Colour my City, to win funds to repair local city landmarks, and Colour my Home, to win funds to give their own homes a facelift. Further TV content was used to drive people online. An 'Easy Paint' hotline was also developed to give DIY advice to consumers. In the second phase of the campaign, colour was introduced to the streets of China transforming several dilapidated buildings with Dulux paint. A 96,000 square metre dam was redeveloped in Lengshuijiang, the Hua Fu parking lot in Shanghai and care homes in Beijing and Zibo.
In Canada, colour was used to transform schools and community buildings including the Salvation Army in Toronto, the offices of APICO (which provides services to people with disabilities) in Gatineau, and The Sharing Place, a non-profit organisation and food bank in West Toronto.
Other communities also witnessed regeneration products, in particular Poland, Thailand, Nordics, Belgium, Spain, Netherlands, Taiwan, Hungary, Ireland and Turkey.
Results
In China, Dulux's brand penetration in the target markets increased by 200% after the colour campaign, while the easy paint service has boosted sales by 300% since the campaign was launched.
In Canada, Dulux sales increased during the campaign period, although exact results are confidential.
In total, the Let's Colour campaign has added colour to the lives of millions of people across the world. Its regeneration projects have transformed over 100 locations in over 20 countries around the world, using over 200,000 litres of paint.
Online, 10,000 people around the world followed the Let's Colour Project on Twitter. 60,000 people 'liked' the Dulux Facebook page and on Flickr, 5,000 Let's Colour pictures from around the world received more than 150,000 views.
Campaign videos were watched over 1.2 million times on YouTube and 550,000 people have since visited the campaign website.
External Links
See the TV spot here http://usacream.com/12345right_brain_left_brain/2010/06/dulux-lets-colour-project-rocks.html