As with many innovative developments, the birth of Krylon Fusion was born of necessity. It was becoming more and more evident to those in the Diversified Brands Division of The Sherwin-Williams Co. that there was a need for a spray paint that would easily bond to plastics and plastic surfaces.
Introduced in November 2002, Krylon Fusion changed the paint industry. The new spray paint offered consumers a paint product that did not previously exist in the market. Before the creation of the product, consumers were unable to change the color of plastic items.
Once their products became worn, weathered or faded, they had little choice but to throw them out and purchase new ones. The idea of a spray paint that would adhere to the plastic was not yet conceptualized.
Because so many of today’s products are made of plastic, when they were formerly made of wood and other materials, the importance of this innovation is huge, and the need even greater.
The impact of such a product on the spray paint market has been great. When Krylon Fusion was released, there was no real competition for a paint that bonded well to plastics. One of the product’s unique qualities is that it requires no sanding or priming before use, a process that other spray-on paints required.
Today, less than two years later, the innovation has redefined the spray paint market and helped paint retailers grow overall paint sales without destroying other product categories. And with no clear alternative product on the market, Krylon’s customers kept coming back.
Since its release, Krylon Fusion has directly impacted sales of products, in all categories in retail paint departments nationwide, with increases of between 10 percent and 15 percent.
Despite production costs that are higher than those for other types of paint, Krylon Fusion has increased margins for the brand overall and increased sales margins in the retail markets, in part because the cans cost roughly $1.50 more than the products the company previously sold.
All of this has pumped new life into the paint market and into Sherwin-Williams. In 2001, the year before the product was introduce, 59 billion pounds of plastic resins were used in U.S. manufacturing. By 2003, that number had skyrocketed to 107 billion pounds.
The success has also led to the creation of a new paint category — plastic — to accompany metal, general purpose and special purpose How to reach: The Sherwin-Williams Co., (216) 566-2000 or www.krylon.com
