Dulux Velvet Touch unveils new brand campaign - ‘Fashion trends for walls’ Launches a new TVC featuring Farhan Akhtar

Dulux Velvet Touch unveils new brand campaign - ‘Fashion trends for walls’

Launches a new TVC featuring Farhan Akhtar

Unveils ‘Celebrations’ – a signature wall-décor collection

designed by Manish Malhotra 

Mumbai, September 17, 2013:

Dulux, from the house of AkzoNobel; the world’s largest paints and coatings company unveiled its latest Dulux Velvet Touch collection – ‘Fashion trends for walls’ via a brand campaign that celebrates the stylized expression of elegance. The announcement was made at a gala event in Mumbai today.

Dulux Velvet Touch – Fashion trends for walls is an offering of high-end emulsions (decorative paints), inspired by fashion. The new range from Dulux Velvet Touch includes colours, patterns, finishes, and stencils for decorating walls, revitalizing the aura and essence of your home; making it elegant, stylish and ‘simply you’!

At the launch of the Dulux Velvet Touch integrated marketing campaign, Rajiv Rajgopal, Director – Sales & Marketing, Decorative Paints, Akzo Nobel India, said, “Over the past three decades, Dulux Velvet Touch has emerged as India’s leading premium emulsion brand and has created a distinct positioning for itself in home décor. ‘Fashion trends for walls’ is more than just a brand positioning - it embodies a mindset that is true to today’s dynamic consumers who look at homes as stylised expressions of elegance and living, enabling them to express their individualistic, creative instincts. The newly unveiled collection by Dulux Velvet Touch is designed to make homes look trendy.”

The integrated campaign for Dulux Velvet Touch showcases fashion trends for walls through an array of communication channels offering a diverse and all-encompassing glimpse into the brand.

The Dulux Velvet Touch marketing campaign includes:

ü  A 45-second TVC featuring the Dulux Velvet Touch Brand Ambassador - Farhan Akhtar, which airs today

ü  Print advertisement featuring creative partner – ace fashion designer – Manish Malhotra who has especially designed a signature wall décor collection themed around ‘Celebrations’

ü  Cross-country outdoor activation

ü  Digital communication across social media platforms, and

ü  A limited edition coffee table book that bespeaks the transformative power of colour – leveraging its innate ability to elevate home decor

Dulux Velvet Touch has further strengthened it positioning by unveiling the symbolic global colour mnemonic, ‘Lady in Red’, which will be integral to all marketing initiatives of the ‘Fashion Trends for walls’ campaign. 

The new Dulux Velvet Touch TVC, featuring Farhan Akhtar celebrates the coming together of high-end fashion and home décor. Creative conception and execution of the new TVC campaign was led by Agnello Dias, co-founder and CEO, Taproot India and his team at Dentsu-Taproot (please refer to the “Annexure – TVC for Dulux Velvet Touch” for further details).

According to Farhan Akhtar, actor, director, singer and Brand Ambassador, Dulux Velvet Touch, says, “To me fashion is a lot more than clothes and cars. It can even be about the home one lives in and that’s exactly what Dulux has been doing for the past many years with its Velvet Touch range – giving homes and those who live in them, a medium to express themselves creatively and be fashionably stylish. That is one of the key reasons why I identify with Dulux Velvet Touch and I am delighted to be associated with the leading premium emulsion brand. The new collection with its versatile hues and textures has energized me to stylize my home.”

The signature wall décor collection ‘Celebrations’, designed by ace designer, Manish Malhotra was unveiled today. Dulux Velvet Touch ‘Celebrations’ is a designer ensemble for walls, a celebration of lively festive colours, embroidery work and Indian textiles inspired from Manish’s successful works in fashion and the Indian cinema.

Talking about his signature wall décor collection for Dulux Velvet Touch, ace fashion designer & creative partner for Dulux Velvet Touch, Manish Malhotra said, “'Celebrations' is a theme that every individual relates to. Be it an auspicious moment or simply celebrating the essence of life and living. Dulux has been giving families, across India, a chance to paint the canvas of their homes with various colour combinations, finishes and patterns of their choice. My latest collection has been successfully inspired from my work in the Indian cinema. Cinema is all about colour, fashion and style and my latest wall décor collection ‘Celebrations’ echoes that verve just perfectly.”

The current Dulux Velvet Touch campaign will be largely led by television. It will be further supported by outdoor and BTL (below-the-line) activities in certain regions, and also via digital media - Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Photo caption:  (L-R) Rajiv Rajgopal, Director – Sales & Marketing, Decorative Paints, Akzo Nobel India, Farhan Akhtar, Brand Ambassador, Dulux Velvet Touch, Manish Bhatia, General Manager – Marketing, Decorative Paints, Akzo Nobel India and Creative Partner for Dulux Velvet Touch, Manish Malhotra at the unveiling of Dulux Velvet Touch’s new brand campaign - ‘Fashion trends for walls’

About Akzo Nobel India

Present in India for over 100 years and a significant player in the Paints industry. Over the years, it witnessed sustained expansion, growth and transformation. In 2008, Akzo Nobel N.V. became owner of the entire equity share capital of Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd., by virtue of which the Company became a member of the AkzoNobel Group. Akzo Nobel India manufactures and markets paints, coatings and specialty chemicals. In 2012, three AkzoNobel Group companies in India, namely, Akzo Nobel Car Refinishes India Private Limited, Akzo Nobel Chemicals (India) Limited, Akzo Nobel Coatings India Private Limited got merged with Akzo Nobel India Limited, thereby expanding the Company’s presence in a wide range of coatings covering Decorative, Powder, Marine & Protective, Automotive & Aerospace, Coil & Specialty Plastics.

Dulux is its most popular brand of its Decorative coatings business while the Performance Coatings business provides solutions to many industries and sectors including automotive, consumer electronics, power, aviation, shipping & leisure craft, construction, oil & gas, water & waste water, food & beverages, etc. Its chemicals business in India sells more than 30 products grouped under organic peroxides, metal alkyls and Polymer additives to pharmaceutical companies, polymer producers, composite & rubber industry. Every year we try and introduce new products in India to further strengthen our position as an innovative specialty chemicals company.

With employee strength of close to 1,800, Akzo Nobel India has manufacturing sites, offices and distribution network spread across the country. All its five manufacturing facilities have an ISO 14001 certification for environmental management system.  Its commitment to Health, Safety, Environment & Security (HSE&S) has been amongst the best in class globally, with due care being taken to protect the people and the environment.