| There are several
trade publications that focus on the paint industry or some aspect thereof.
Perhaps the best written and edited of the group is PWC Magazine—Painting
& Wallcovering Contractor, which is published bi-monthly in St.
Louis. This publication is not overly technical. It is geared primarily
to high quality painting and wall covering contractors who typically work
alone or with one or two helpers.
The best part of each issue is a column written by a second-generation
paperhanger who happens to be a very astute observer of human nature.
In the Nov/Dec 2003 issue, PWC Magazine explores an issue very
dear to our heart at PANTONE Paints by Fine Paints of Europe, "Why
Do Most Painting Contractors Prefer to Use Good-But-Not-Excellent Paint?"
"...My absolute favorite thing about painting? No, it's not the
fumes. It's that I, me, moi gets to choose what brand of paint I'll be
using. Otherwise I tell them to get a real painter. It's such a switch
for me, because paperhangers never get to choose what brand of wallpaper
they'll be hanging on the job. The customer can even drop shopworn, defective
rubbish in your lap and say, "Beep me when you're done." And
that my friends, points out the simple economical fact that allows so
many wallpapers to run the gamut from Good to Abysmal in quality, whereas
paint brands span the Excellent to Mediocre spectrum. Paint sales are
de facto more contractor-driven than wallpaper. ...
Of course there are exceptions but most of the time customers choose
the color and painters choose the label. ...
However, ironically there exists a situation where the interests of the
painter are served by using a Good-But-Not-Excellent paint, and it's not
just governed by material price.
(What do you mean, Leo? How can a producer make more money with a flop
than he could with a hit? - Max Bialystok to Leo Bloom in The Producers,
1968.)
I socialize with painters a lot. They imbibe more adult beverages than
paperhangers and are therefore usually more fun. After I ply them with
a few G & T's they open up to me and disclose why they often use a
Good-But-Not-Excellent paint. Here's the way it goes:
Step 1. The customer, who knows zip about paint, insists that the painter
use a heavily advertised brand which is OK-but -not-great. "Everybody
knows it's the best; at least that's what the ads say." Right?
Step 2. The contractor who knows that the heavily advertised paint is
OK-but-not-great will oblige them because he knows he'll be back to redo
the job in five years instead of 10.
Step 3. When the paint becomes tired looking, or burnished, or faded,
or chalky, the customer won't blame the painter because as everybody knows,
Wunderbrand Paint is the "best."
Step 4. Cha-ching for the painter.
All the paint really has to do is look good when the check clears and
subsequently not peel or craze or anything like that and it's money in
the bank for the painter, no?"...
This article appeared in the Nov./Dec. 2003 issue of
PWC Magazine.
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