Fanshawe Marketing Students Go "Green" for Recycled Paint Manufacturer

For the past four months, the Lawrence Kinlin School of Business third-year Marketing students have been working with Boomerang Recycled Paint to develop a marketing plan to create awareness for this fast-growing, socially-conscious paint recycling company.

After a first-year student brought Boomerang to her attention, faculty member Dawn Rovers was sure that the company would be a tremendous fit to participate as a case study for her third year "Business to Business" marketing class. So, after receiving an overwhelming positive response from Steve Blasiak, Business Development Manager for Boomerang, the students were introduced to the company. Not surprisingly to Steve, when Fanshawe Marketing students were asked "Has anyone heard of the company Boomerang Paint?," silence filled the classroom. This response - or lack thereof - did not startle Mr. Blasiak. This is what he expected. And this clearly defines the marketing challenge for this Quebec-based company: Awareness!

Boomerang has been recycling unused portions of domestic paint for 17 years now and owes its beginnings to the CFER (a job training and recycling centre for young people), which was founded in 1989 by the Victoriaville School Board, Victoriaville, Quebec. What began as a community project, had developed by 2000 into a sustainable solution to curtail the dumping of toxic chemicals into Canada's landfills. Boomerang reports that by 2006 3.6 million kilos of discarded paint were collected. The ever-growing Canadian trend of environmental awareness has become so important that both provincial and federal governments have established laws and regulations around the proper disposal of paint.

That's where Boomerang comes in. By collecting unused, unwanted and discarded paint, Boomerang produces a high quality paint made of 99 percent post-consumer paints from recycled contents. They even recycle the cans! In fact, 85 percent of everything collected is recycled. Further, their latex qualifies for Low VOC status at below 50g/l, well below the Environmental Canadian Standard of 150g/l. In essence, Boomerang Paint offers a full circle 100 percent recycled product, unique in the paint industry. However, Boomerang Paint is much more than just recycled paint. Boomerang is a leader in resource sustainability and preservation. This is a company on the leading edge of corporate responsibility to the environment. Why then, has Boomerang struggled to gain mainstream awareness? Today's marketing environment is often dominated by corporate mass media, making it very difficult for new ideas to get their feet off the ground.

So where can I find Boomerang products, you ask? Boomerang is currently available through independent dealers, Para Paint retail locations, and is sold under the name Rona Eco Recycled Paint in Rona stores across Canada. This represents a nationwide distribution channel for Boomerang. The recent opening of their new distribution facility in Brampton, Ontario is the latest move in their expansion plan. They now want to get the word out to all Canadians and Fanshawe's Marketing students provide a fresh perspective that Boomerang is so keen on exploring that they've offered an award for the best ideas from the class.

The students spent the fall semester creating marketing ideas for submission to Boomerang and each submission will be judged by senior executives at the company. A $500 award will be presented to the winning team on January 28, 2010, when Steve Blasiak will return to Fanshawe College to meet the winners and participate in the presentation.

Boomerang's decision to team up with the bright minds of the up-and-coming marketers from Fanshawe's Lawrence Kinlin School of Business has opened the doors for a budding long-term relationship between the two organizations, both committed to making a big difference for our future leaders and sustainable environment!

For more information, please visit www.boomerangpaint.com.