Plascon has commissioned local-born, London-based artist Warren Lewis to create artworks that can be downloaded, shared and used by anyone, for free, as part of its campaign to celebrate its innovative new online presence.
“Our new digital offering is a natural development in Plascon’s 120 year history,” says Plascon’s PR and social media manager Lauren Shantall. “These platforms aim to extend and improve our customers’ experience with our quality, long lasting products while also reflecting Plascon’s ability to evolve with the times.”
Plascon has launched an integrated digital offering that includes a new trends blog, an upgraded corporate website, a new marketing site, a smartphone application and a widespread online presence across several social media platforms.
“Mirroring the impact that digital has had on media consumption, rather than only reading, listening or viewing media, consumers now reshape, visualise and socialise it,” says Shantall. “In light of this, we are encouraging the public to download Warren’s artwork and use it as they see fit – whether it’s as a screensaver, blown up and wall mounted or printed as wrapping paper.”
“The small collection of works is based on the simple idea of ‘play’,” says Lewis. “As a painter, I am producing new work and constantly experiment with different techniques and materials in order to discover new tricks – new ways to express a thought, a feeling, an idea.”
The new look and feel of the website was designed to ensure a uniformity across the brand platforms as well as not only communicating the brand, but also communicating and interacting with the consumer in a simpler, more streamlined and accessible manner.
“The biggest issue with the previous site was that the user experience was not fantastic,” explains Laura McCullagh, digital designer at PUNK, the digital arm of the Kings James Group responsible for developing the new website.
“Technology is constantly changing – the previous site had some structural issues that, while fine when the site was first built, had become outdated and in need of revision.”
Striving to be more than just a paint company, Plascon intiatives such as the annual Plascon Colour Forecast, Plascon Spaces Showroom (www.plasconspacesshowroom.co.za) and Plascon Spaces magazine (www.plasconspaces.co.za) have firmy placed the brand within the realm of design, décor and trends.
The latest step in this direction is the Plascon Trends blog (www.plascontrends.co.za), which features daily posts on the latest local and international colour, décor and design trends. Edited by stylist Catherine Bowen, contributors include international colour expert and Plascon’s colour manager Anne Roselt, Kim Bougaardt of the Freeworld Design Centre and top South African blogger Galen Schultz.
When Plascon was founded back in 1889, neither mobile phones nor social media existed. The company’s foray into social media is a step in bringing the company in line with current trends and evolutions.
This devlopment has given Plascon the chance to take greater steps in actively showcasing the multitude of platforms that the company has on offer as well as giving back to their loyal consumers.
Through Twitter (@PlasconSA), Facebook (PlasconSA), Pinterest (PlasconTrends), and YouTube (PlasconSA). Plascon is able to continually show their diversity in décor, design and trends, taking them out of the realm as being “only a paint manufacturer” and giving consumers more than they were able to in the past.
