Painting the town gold, and many other colors

The move to cities is delivering a windfall to those in the home decorating business

Remember that you heard it here first: ochre gold is the new black. In a global study of trends in color unveiled in London recently, the paint maker AkzoNobel proclaimed that ochre gold will be the color of the year for 2016.

The color was chosen by a panel of design and color experts who compiled the company's color guide, something it does every year.

Above and below: Color of the Year 2016, Ochre Gold, according to paint maker AkzoNobel. Photos provided to China Daily

Many architectural, fashion, beauty and interior decorating businesses draw on the report to keep their work fresh and current.

"Color is an integral part of our business, and sharing our knowledge with people around the world means everyone can be inspired and benefit from its transformative impact," says Ruud Joosten of AkzoNobel, AkzoNobel's Executive Committee Member responsible for decorative paints.

Specializing in paints, coatings and specialty chemicals, AkzoNobel, a Dutch company that owns the paint brand Dulux, has operations in more than 80 countries and more than 49,000 employees, about 7,500 of them in China.

AkzoNobel China had revenue of 1.7 billion euros ($1.93 billion), last year, about 12 percent of its global total. China is the parent company's second-largest revenue contributor and home to its biggest workforce.

The company says it has been involved in China since the late 1970s, at the dawn of the country's opening-up to the world. As the economic reform of China continues to evolve, the company has increased its investment in what has become a key strategic growth region, the company says.

"We have a series of factories in China supporting our business from different locations," Joosten says. "I'm proud to say the decorative paint business in China has been growing very fast for the last few years."

China is faster in adopting new concepts and ideas than some countries, and Chinese, particularly the young, always use the latest technology, he says.

The company's Visualizer app, which enables users to see in real time what a room will look like in a wide range of colors before any paint is applied, will be a big hit in China, Joosten says.

"There is a huge opportunity for the paints industry to inspire people to paint more in China, but you have to make it easy, otherwise people will think it a hassle to paint and hence probably defer things. The greatest thing about Visualizer is that you can choose any color online and see how it works out in your home before purchasing any paint."

The company's Visualizer tools, easy paint service and Color Futures report together play a role in helping increase the value of the paint market, he says.

Although China has had stock market shocks and currency depreciation in recent weeks, Joosten thinks this will have no long-term impact on AkzoNobel because the fundamentals are right and there are good long-term prospects for economic growth.

"People seem to forget that 7 percent growth on the current base in China is a huge number compared with maybe 10 percent 20 years ago. In absolute terms, 7 percent growth on the Chinese economy today is a fantastic economic value. Despite the economic slowdown, it is still impressive."

Urbanization, outlined in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), has been a major policy plank of the Chinese government, and it has boosted domestic consumption. That is reflected in AkzoNobel's paint sales in China.

The company has been a direct beneficiary of urbanization, Joosten says, adding: "We have seen a lot of new apartments and huge projects being built in China over the past few years and we have had a share in decorating and coloring those new apartment schemes. This is still going on."

In the long term, Joosten says, people need to think about how they are going to live in the city, and that is where his company comes in.

"We want to play our role in China's urbanization, not only in decorative paint products, but also in performance coatings and chemicals, in an effort to provide the right color schemes and protect heritage and old buildings."

AkzoNobel's paint and coating solutions have been applied in several key affordable housing projects and a number of landmark buildings in China, including Shanghai Tower, Shanghai World Financial Center and CCTV headquarters in Beijing.

The company's decorative paints business has also been involved in helping to recreate one of the seven wonders of the medieval world, the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing. AkzoNobel contributed its color expertise.

After being selected for the project, experts from AkzoNobel carefully selected a light yellow shade for the upcoming painting work on the temple's porcelain walls. This color reflects the building's heritage and symbolizes the regaining of former glories, AkzoNobel says.

"For me it is all about respecting heritage," Joosten says. "That is always the most important thing. We try to contribute and maintain heritage in a proper way. The next stage is about adding something. Using qualitative paint can really preserve heritage longer, and I think we have good quality products preserve heritage building in a beautiful way."

The company is also keen on sustainability, both in business operations and company products, he says.

"We really push a lot on low waste and less energy use in our factories. Our high-tech new factory in Chengdu is a clear demonstration of very low energy use. We also strive to use less solvent in the products, for example to deliver water-based systems for the Chinese market.

"That's a very actual development because the Chinese government is worried about the pollution and the solvents that are coming out of the chemicals. They are very active at the moment in new legislation; so are we. We need to challenge ourselves on creating innovative products with less solvent and more sustainable products."

wangmingjie@mail.chinadailyuk.com

(China Daily European Weekly 09/25/2015 page21)