A Nordic paint company Tikkurila is a pioneer of sustainable painting. Tikkurila’s goal is to protect buildings and infrastructure and continuously reduce environmental impact by investing in the development of water-borne and low-emission paints.

According to an environmental report by the United Nations, one million plant and animal species will face extinction during the next decades. As species go extinct, also unique colors are forever lost.

Tikkurila wanted to bring attention to this global concern and give concrete help to endangered animals. At the same time, Tikkurila wanted to strengthen its position as a pioneer of sustainable surface treatment in two important and gigantic market areas: Russia and China. And by doing this, increase sales and donate money to conservation of endangered species.

The budget was very limited. It was not possible to invest in a big media campaign.

The goal of Tikkurila’s paints has always been to protect buildings and furniture. This effort expanded to the most threatened species on the planet in 2020 when Tikkurila launched Endangered Colours collection. As the name suggests, the colours included in the new collection draw from the colours of threatened animal species.

Endangered Colours collection was a perfect match for the Tikkurila brand: At the heart of Tikkurila´s brand philosophy is the preservation of colours and the protection of objects with the help of colors, ie paints.

With the new collection Tikkurila was able to draw attention on threatened species and provide concrete help: with every product sold, Tikkurila donates one euro to WWF’s conservation of endangered species.

The target audience included retail hardware chains, Do-It-Yourself stores and online shops in China and Russia – and of course also customers of these hardware and DIY stores.

Endangered Colours collection consists of nine colours, each representing one threatened species. All the products in the collection are low-emission, water-borne paints and packed in packages made of recycled plastic.

The heart and soul of the campaign and design were exceptional and completely unique packages featuring images of threatened species. Such eye-catching visuality has never been seen before in products in this category. The same design was repeated in all touchpoints and point-of-sale materials.

The endangered animals in the collection were selected from around the world, making it easy to launch the collection in new markets. In addition, the colours represented by the endangered species were chosen to be commonly and widely used colours in construction and renovation.

The PR-driven pre-marketing campaign was carried out in autumn 2019. In July 2020, Endangered Colours collection was launched in Russia and China.

The pre-marketing campaign reached over 87 million people worldwide in two weeks – with zero media budget. Endangered Colours was featured in more than 140 media outlets globally. In China, Tikkurila’s sales in the second half of 2020 increased by 19% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. In Russia, sales increased by 8%.

The campaign achieved all its goals: Tikkurila received considerable media attention for endangered animals and strengthened its position in China and Russia, where sales increased significantly after the launch. All in all, Endangered Colours was the most successful product launch in Tikkurila’s history.

Most importantly, Endangered Colours is not a one-off campaign, but an ongoing operation that expands. The collection is scheduled to go on sale in new markets: it was already launched in February in the UK and more markets will follow. Endangered Colours will continue to help endangered species around the world.