media update’s Darren Gilbert spoke to Kansai Plascon’s corporate and digital communications specialist, Zurita Moore, about the reasons why a paint manufacturer decided to sponsor a sporting event, and the lessons it learnt along the way.


What were Kansai Plascon’s reasons for its new brand positioning?

Plascon has evolved so much over the years and is no longer “just a paint brand”.

The brand has become a part of everyday life for so many people, in so many different ways. We understand that completely. With that said, our aim is simple: to make people’s lives better throughout their life journey and to continue to be there every step of the way.

Our science and our success are founded in emotion and enhancement of lives. Simply put, if it doesn’t improve people’s lives, it isn’t Plascon. Plascon is ‘Designed for Life’.

As part of this new positioning, the brand also became involved with the Absa Cape Epic. Why would a paint manufacturer get involved with such a sporting event?

With us having launched the new brand positioning of ‘Designed for Life’, we felt that the Absa Cape Epic and the athletes were a great fit with our new ideology.

The Absa Cape Epic is about living life at 100%. It’s about being challenged and tested to breaking point, and drawing on sheer passion and determination to pull through the rough parts of the ride in the pursuit for excellence.

In many ways, the Absa Cape Epic, and the athletes quest for sporting excellence, is ‘Designed for Life’, which made the decision to get involved as a sponsor so much easier for Plascon.

How did Kansai Plascon get involved?

We were approached to sponsor a new pairing for the Cape Epic, which could potentially challenge for a podium place. That pairing was Max Knox and Hector Leonardo Paez Leon.

From here, two Plascon employees – myself and Michael van Harmelen, Kansai Plascon’s head of channel marketing – chose to be at the event to be part of the experience alongside our team. Van Harmelen has completed two Cape Epics and supported the team as team manager and I supported the team from a media and content perspective.

From a brand perspective, we ensured that we had relevant social media channels set up, and had a dedicated photographer capturing each and every moment along the journey which we shared with the team’s fans on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the team’s blog in real time.

These means of engaging with people, not just clients or potential clients, but with people who have a shared passion for the sport or are supporters of the athletes, was something so special and was such a rewarding element of our sponsorship.

In addition, we also held skills clinics for some of our customers before the Cape Epic started to introduce the concept of ‘Designed for Life’ to them. It was done in small groups with Tread MTB and Max Knox and this was a personal way for us to interact with our retailers.

We will be launching different campaigns throughout the rest of the year following this.

What challenges did the brand face in getting involved with a sporting event such as the Absa Cape Epic?

It’s always easy for a brand to put money and manpower behind a sponsorship, but the trick is finding unique and clever ways to leverage the sponsorship and engage with an audience that hasn’t been done before.

The Cape Epic is a big beast and there are a lot of sponsors and brands bidding for a place in the sun. The challenge is how to make being part of this race fresh, interesting, and engaging for consumers and followers.

What advice would Kansai Plascon give other brands looking to sponsor a sporting event?

It’s essential for brands and their teams – from the inside out and from top management down – to be 100% committed and personally involved.

It’s all good and well having the marketing or PR team of your brand supporting a sponsorship, but the real magic happens when everyone within a brand is involved; where everyone is driving the message and supporting the cause, maximising the impact and the brand’s involvement in the long run.

Looking back, we are happy with the level of engagement we achieved. For us, it was all about the journey of our riders and sharing their journeys with our consumers and followers.

For more information, visit plascon.com.

Another local brand that continues to evolve is Mercedes-Benz. Read more about how they do it in our article, How global brand Mercedes-Benz appeals to local audiences.