Making great walls even greater at NEO Paints

Over the last 60 years, the NEO Paints brand name has become synonymous among homeowners, hardware retailers and contractors with the proudly “Buy Namibian, for Namibians” platform which, along with its quality product range, has succeeded in positioning the company as a leader in the paint manufacturing sector of our region.
This is the positioning that has allowed NEO Paints to build a loyal customer base, who have come to trust in the quality promise of “Namibian Paints for Namibian conditions”. In addition NEO Paints has time and again proven to have the wellbeing not only of the greater Namibian construction industry, but also the general socio-economic goals of the region, at heart – annually supporting a host of local sporting and cultural events – from show jumping, rugby and Schools Cricket to donations of paint to educational and other institutions.
Far from riding on past successes, the company, which will soon be celebrating its 60th year, has again surpassed expectations with the recent launch of its new formula NEO Multi Dur, developed right here in the NEO Paints Windhoek laboratories. The product which is said to surpass all previous expectations of Grade 2 PVA of its kind, is predicted to dramatically stir up the category. At NEO Paints, growth is always seen in terms of the greater benefit it can provide – for job security for our talented in-house teams, for  greater employment opportunity, the potential growth of the sector and the perceptions of the region as a whole.
Speaking at the NEO Paints Head Office in Windhoek last week, Fritz Rantsch, NEO Paints Technical Advisor, explained how they had arrived at the new NEO Multi Dur formula. As the story goes, NEO Paints SAPMA 8 chemist, Likius Hamalwa was working late in the day last October, when he realized he might have made a breakthrough in his quest. Sharing his finds with colleague Rantsch, his findings were confirmed as the new formula surprised at every trial.
Yes, the product has a great creamy flow similar to enamel paint and great drying properties. Yes it provides a washable, matt, velvet finish, which is expected to last 5 to 7 years, possibly longer without fading. Yes it meets the rigorous SANS type 2 (formerly known as SABS Grade 2) requirements.
But the real show stopping characteristics of the formula are, that it is the only PVA in its Grade available in any colour you could wish for and able to give great coverage in even the very deep colours, previously impossible for a Grade 2 PVA.
“Obviously we were really excited by all these things”, comments Rantsch, “but when we did the tests on various surfaces and realized our new formula was spreading up to 12 square metre per litre we could hardly believe it!”
A recent ad to promote the new product appeared in a Namibian newspaper on Monday Jan 21, featuring the iconic image of a person attempting to paint the Great Wall of China! Commenting about the ad, which generated quite a response, NEO Paints Sales Manager, George van Schalkwyk, explained they chose to show a visual so far removed from traditional Namibian imagery: “New NEO Multi Dur is generating such rave reviews from contractors, who are saving up to 30% especially on bigger jobs, that we had to come up with a really big way of communicating the truly incredible spreading rates and how ideal the product is for big projects and developments. We think we achieved this with the Great Wall of China visual  – we also liked the play on words of “great” walls – which is of course what NEO Paints products provide.”
It seems that the NEO Paints Company, which was the first Namibian Paint manufacturer in the country, having been launched in 1953, is poised for even greater growth and a glittering 60th Diamond Jubilee year.