PLASCON AND TLC WORLDWIDE TURN SEASONAL SLOWDOWNS INTO SALES MOMENTUM

Two rewards-led trade campaigns deliver engagement rates of up to 95% and reignite loyalty among South Africa’s construction professionals

A muscular man wearing a sleeveless black shirt stands behind a row of Plascon paint cans

Our Sectors

Retail

Client

Plascon

Solutions

Programmes d’engagement

Location

South Africa

Text saying "connect with Colour" on a red background with pain splatter

Overview

Plascon is one of South Africa’s most established and trusted paint brands, with a long-standing reputation for quality, durability, and innovation across residential, commercial, and industrial projects. Central to its success is a strong relationship with trade professionals, contractors, painters, builders, and renovators.

While Plascon enjoys high brand recognition, the business identified an opportunity to strengthen sales consistency and deepen loyalty during traditionally slower trading periods. Partnering with TLC Worldwide, Plascon launched two distinct, reward-led campaigns at different points in its trade marketing journey – ‘Colour Connection’, and later, ‘Choose Strong’.

Each campaign addressed specific commercial objectives, but both were built on the same foundations – using relevant, guaranteed rewards to influence purchasing behaviour, increase engagement, and reinforce Plascon’s value beyond product performance alone.

The Challenge

As a category leader, Plascon operates in a market where purchasing behaviour among trade professionals is often cyclical. Sales historically softened during certain periods of the year – particularly in Q1 and Q2 – when construction and renovation activity slowed. Despite strong brand loyalty, this seasonality created gaps in volume and reduced opportunities to stay front of mind among contractors and painters.

Beyond seasonality, the broader economic climate added pressure. Rising costs, reduced discretionary spend, and operational challenges meant trade customers were more cautious about purchasing decisions. Plascon needed a way to stimulate demand without eroding value through discounting, while also reinforcing long-term brand preference.

Why TLC

Plascon selected TLC Worldwide for its proven ability to engage the customer and influence behaviour through rewards that feel meaningful rather than promotional. TLC’s deep understanding of trade audiences, combined with its experience running high-volume, guaranteed-value programs, made it a natural partner for the duo of campaigns.

Further differentiating TLC was its ability to localise reward strategies to South Africa’s economic and cultural context, ensuring each incentive delivered real perceived value.

The TLC Approach

TLC Worldwide worked closely with Plascon to design and execute two tailored campaigns, each aligned to the client’s specific business objectives and market conditions, while maintaining a consistent brand experience.

Colour Connection

The first campaign was launched in 2021 to address early-year sales declines. Drawing on extensive retail experience globally, TLC developed a simple, accessible model that allowed customers to unlock guaranteed lifestyle rewards by purchasing participating Plascon products and uploading proof of purchase via a dedicated redemption platform.

Choose Strong  

Building on the success of Colour Connection, Plascon returned to TLC to launch Choose Strong in 2023. This campaign shifted focus toward retention and sustained engagement in a challenging economic environment. TLC curated a higher-value reward offering that reflected modern interests, including movie tickets, hotel vouchers, and excursions, as well as the more practical prizes such as Pick n' Pay and invertors. Once again, the redemption journey was frictionless, ensuring participation remained easy for busy contractors and renovators.

Across both campaigns, TLC’s role extended beyond rewards – providing strategic insight, local market understanding, and operational support, which ensured that each campaign felt relevant, generous, and aligned with Plascon’s brand promise.