July 17, 2020

When one of Britain’s biggest brands decided to engage the power of fleet livery to further promote its interests, it turned to one of Britain’s longest established sign companies…

It’s a very potent testament to the reach and regard that a notable brand achieved when the Old English Sheepdog breed became perhaps better known as ‘Dulux Dogs.’ The original mascot was called Dash and legend has it that he belonged to the producer of TV advertising Dulux was developing in the 60s. The dog, it’s said, kept rushing the set to play with the kids who featured and the creatives preferred his scenes. History was made. Twice. Dulux was also the first paints brand to advertise on TV.

Dulux is of course much more than the product that’s in the can. The brand carries with it a promise of quality and of technical leadership in the field of pigments and paints. It’s a division of Akzo Nobel and it rubs shoulders with other very well known products that feature on the garage shelves of DIY enthusiasts and those who reluctantly take up the brush too.

The power or the Dulux brand and its products are as recognised in professional circles as they are to those with domestic interests. Architects and specifiers can access Dulux tools that help them make sense of colour and products. Contractors too can rely on deep levels of technical support from Dulux. Decorators know that, what’s delivered to site in the can is more than the product itself, it’s the very essence of the Dulux brand, its promise, and all the care that it embodies.

Dulux operates a fleet of some 170 vehicle that are used to deliver paint where and when its needed by professional customers. The vehicles, and the customer-driven business objectives that underpin the service they extend are further elements of the Dulux brand. So then, is the fleet’s livery.

Dulux turned to Southampton based Zillwoods, one of Britain’s longest established sign companies, for the latest version of its fleet livery. Zillwoods and Dulux are no strangers to each other, Zillwoods having provided fleet livery, signs and graphics supporting Dulux and its brand for many years.

Zillwoods’ roots go back even further than those Dulux itself can claim. The company was founded in 1887. That’s some time before signmaking computers, inkjet printers and today’s other tech was even a glimmer. There was still a need for signing and promotion though and one ‘Pop’ Zillwood spotted the opportunity and had the hands and talents needed to do the job. Zillwoods’ earliest work was hand painting signs promoting films for cinemas in the locality.

Pop’s sons entered the business soon after its founding and, at one time, the company employed five signwriters, making it a heavyweight in its field. Zillwoods never wanted for a job to do. Pop’s ‘quality first’ ethics, and the talents needed to back it up, ensured that the business prospered.

Zillwoods was there in the vanguard of companies that made the very most of the new opportunities that accompanied the advent of the computer age and its fortunes got another boost as it moved screen printed production aside and better served its customers with computer-generated output - all of it with that ‘Zillwoods’’ touch of class. Zillwoods was an early adopter of computerised routers too. One of the very first UK Pacer sites.

Today, Zillwoods wants for nothing in terms of production tools and has a skilled and deeply creative team. ‘Quality first’ still drives the company, though it’s now vested in the hands of Barry Pearce, a sign industry pioneer himself.

The Zillwoods’ formula clearly appeals to Dulux. Its new livery is founded on a design that gives the printing and application team producing and delivering it nowhere to hide from quality issues. That’s not a problem. Zillwoods turned to MetaWrap MD-X and its matching MGX Laminate to produce the Dulux livery. The design is a riot of colour and the MD-X acquits itself brilliantly. Print quality is good enough for Zillwoods - in other words, pixel perfect.

170 vehicles is a lot to wrap. Thankfully the skilled hands needed are all under the roof at Zillwoods and they’ve done nothing less than the top quality job Zillwoods expects of itself and that the Dulux brand demand. The MD-X was declared ‘very cooperative and easy to apply.’ Metamark is delighted to hear that.

The finished job is superb. The vehicles are distinctive and radiate the very essence of the Dulux Brand. It’s an object exercise in the potency of fleet livery executed brilliantly by Zillwoods. It confers value on every other element of promotional collateral that Dulux employs in its mix.

Hardly surprising when you’ve had since 1887 to perfect your art.