Nippon Paint OOH ad next to car crash prompts netizen buzz

Nippon Paint recently became the talk of the Internet in Singapore after its ad was captured in photos showing a Honda that was t-boned outside the company's building. According to ROADS.sg, a Facebook community page in Singapore that aims to "showcase good driving habits and highlight the undesirable ones", the car crash involved a Honda 2000 and a Toyota Camry, leaving the former hovering above a sewer located just outside the building.

Coincidentally, Nippon Paint's OOH ad was situated right above the Honda, and was even captured in some pictures taken by members of the public. The ad read "Singapore's MOST popular paint brand". The spotlight then shifted to Nippon Paint as netizens commented about how -- in some photos -- the car seemed like an OOH activation by the company. In its Facebook post, ROADS.sg even joked: "This post is not sponsored by Nippon Paint".

Shelly Chan, marketing manager at Nippon Paint Singapore, told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that while some may see the humour in this incident, the company is mindful of how it portrays the brand to its customers and would prefer not to capitalise it as an indirect advertisement to promote the brand.

https://www.facebook.com/roadssg/posts/5157568874275474

"At Nippon Paint, we value empathy and doing the right thing. We hope that everyone involved is safe and that we can all drive safely. We did not track brand sentiments over this incident to capture any impact," Chan said. Separately, the brand also confirmed on ROADS.sg's Facebook post that the post was not sponsored and reminded everyone to drive safely. 

Meanwhile, when asked about its marketing plans for the new year, Chan said the brand kicked off with a partnership with Way Fengshui, in light of the upcoming Chinese New Year. This will see Nippon Paint feature the three luckiest colours for each zodiac sign, along with the brand's colour for the year 2022 -- Vintage Vase.

Additionally, this year, Nippon Paint will be focusing on initiatives such as home improvement brand, Selleys, which offers sealants, adhesives and fillers to help users finish professional and DIY projects easily; as well as reviewing its paint range and technology so as to offer the right products for the right environment based on market demands.

With a close team of two to three marketers, Chan said Nippon Paint will place importance on bringing in energetic enthusiasts who are aligned with its business values and be able to think and work like entrepreneurs in the company. "While digitalisation and eCommerce have taken the world in a big way for most companies, we still see the relevance in cultivating strong business relevance in cultivating strong business-to-business acumen through business marketing," she explained.

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