DECORATING DECORAT


TING


MIXING UP SOME INSPIRA TIONRAT


ATIO


Akzo Nobel’s Dulux Colour & Advice Centres were recently a warded the Retailer Support Initia tive of the Year a t the DIY Wee wards. DIY W eek’s Jenny Wonnacott takes a closer look at how the symbiotic initia tive works with retailers up and down the countr y to help DIY customers realise their decorating dreams...


Ye k A Aw T to Wi decorating


he Dulux Colour & Advice initiative was first conceived more than 20 years ago when the brand was still owned by


ICI. The initiative has gone from str ength


str ength since Initiative at the DIY We independents sector Week Awar i then,


r ecently winning the Retailer Support Aw ds.


Judges praised the scheme for being “designed to deliver outstanding support and value to the retail independents sector


investments towards staff point of sale and in-store


We


r,,” adding: “W ff


,” adding: “W f training, displays,


Wiith


Akzo’s retailer support initiative is already driving footfall and category value growth with its partners.” With a recent DIYWeek


eek.net poll


revealing that 43% DIY r etailers would like more help and support in inspiring customers with their there


decisions, is


certainly demand for this type of service. So how does it work?


“All Dulux Colour and Advice members ar e given in-stor e colour training which


gives staff the


confidence to talk to their customers about colour and pr oduct,” explains Akzo Nobel’s shopper activation manager for the retail independents channel Laura Sabberton. “They ar e also supported by tools such as the colour chips, colour wheel and scheming leaflet.


Retail staffare given extensive training as part of the initiative, showing them how to use the MixLab


“Customers ar e drawn in by the Dulux MixLab, which not only provides an eye-catching draw makes it easy for retailers to start and build a conversation ar ound colour and function.” ff


g draw it w,, 16 DIY WEEK 12 MAY 2017


units to help customers create their own colour schemes as well as trade them up to a product best suited to the room in question. They are also well-versed on which questions they need to ask their customers in or der to best guide them to the corr ect products for the job.


Confidence is key


Enhancing decorating expertise involves drawing on the strength of retailers’ existing knowledge and experience, which is why the scheme works so well with the independent retail market. “Independent retailers have a vast array of knowledge and experience, Sabberton,


” P,, explains Ms “this has always


been their USP, but our training gives them the confidence to ask the right questions in areas such as colour selection that they wouldn’t usually attempt, only adding to their proposition and increasing trade-up.” There


are also additional


resour ces on hand from Dulux, such as ‘how to’ videos and the recently- enhanced Dulux Visualizer App. There are also several impactful point-of-sale


str onal activity y..


“Being a Dulux Advice Centr right product.” – Jenny Robinson, Merlin Mica Hardware re


DULUX’S TRAINING SECRETS As part of the Colour & Advice scheme, participating r etailers are advised


materials to give


reatilers the opportunity to create high quality,, striking displays toy, capture shoppers’ attention and support promotional activity


Akzo recently asked its Colour &Advice members how they rated the new Dulux MixLab unit, with 85% saying they believed it to be an improvement that helped shoppers select a colour and was easier to convert into sale, with several seeing uplifts in sales averaging 17%.


to ask customers the following five questions to help assess their needs: 1 What room are you decorating? This will help understand the key


use for the space, ie master bedr oom, child’s playr oom, kitchen, etc. 2 Do you have a colour in mind? This helps to eliminate colours and narr ow down choices.


3 What style and mood you ar 4 What has to r


What style and mood you ar e looking for? This identifies which family of Dulux colours to r ecommend, e.g. Clean & Bright, etc. What has to remain in the room? Use fabrics and flooring as a starting point for a colour scheme and go fr om ther e to assess what needs to be included.


5 Will the room be used in the day or evening? The light conditions in the room will af fect r ecommendations, additional lighting may be suggested if deeper shades ar e chosen.


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