Wall involvement

MARKETING: Houseproud Indians suddenly have a lot of choice in wall finishes, and they're ready to splurge too.

Wall painting? Ho-hum. Wall "finishes" are the new rage with house-proud Indians who want to put a stamp of distinctive artistic taste on their interiors. As wall-involvement levels go from indifference to self-expression, choices have begun to multiply.

The wall finishes available in the market today are of two kinds "" textured, which involves the layered/artistic use of paints to create interesting effects, or patterned, which involves the use of stencils for designs that may be geometric, floral, figurative... anything.

To capitalise on the trend, India's paint marketers are busy unveiling new wall effects, extending existing product lines, and trying new ways to attract customer attention "" especially in the run-up to the festive season.

The first mover in wall finishes was ICI, arguably, which launched Duette way back in 1998. More recently, it has introduced Dulux Inspira, a new range of softer finishes which can be used on all four walls, with the first product, Cashmere Finish, hitting the market only late last month.

Asian Paints, which pioneered walls as fashion statements in India, has Royal Play, a special effects paint launched two years ago. Sales of Royal Play have been doubling every year, reports Amit Syngle general manager, marketing, although it remains a niche even within the urban SEC A+ segment, with its usage typically restricted to a single wall in a room.

In August, Nerolac launched Impressions, a range of wall finishes. Earlier this year, it also tied up with Disney to launch a range of custom-made stencils of around a dozen cartoon characters.

Berger is also trying to wow kids with its Galaxy (part of its Illusions range), which has "magic paint" and a set of stencils with which walls/ceilings can be painted with stars, moons, comets and other heavenly bodies that glow in the night.

There's also Oikos India, a subsidiary of the Italian specialised-paints maker, which has products for the super-premium category (up to Rs 150 per sq ft, compared to the regular Rs 35-Rs 45).

The super-premium segment (which includes high-end emulsions apart from wall finishes) is only about 10 per cent of India's decorative-paints market, but the flurry of activity is an indication of how fast it's growing "" at around 30 per cent annually, compared to around 25 per cent for the lower-end emulsions and 10 per cent for distempers.

Marketing executives at Berger say that Illusions is adding around 1,00,000 square feet of wall space every month, compared to a third of that six months ago.

According to Syngle, while the house-painting cycle has not changed (every 4-5 years), special occasion jobs have increased. Hina Nagarajan, general manager, marketing, ICI, however, attributes the heady numbers to the construction boom.

Anup Jain, vice-president, marketing and sales, Kansai Nerolac, thinks it is the high-earning young executive's willingness to spend on painting, coupled with the success of ad campaigns, that have made the difference.

Pragati Gupta, director, Oikos India, adds that high exposure to global trends underlies the new appreciation of wall art. It goes with the new fashion consciousness. Indians are no longer afraid of being caught red-handed showing feelings: on themselves, or on the wall for that matter.