15/10/2011

COO talks about how innovation and sustainability mean to business

Innovation, Sustainability Company Of The Year

Vietnam, 15/10/2011 – Nippon Paint was named Decorative Coatings Company of the Year in Asia Pacific by the inaugral 2011 Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific Green Excellence Awards. Mr. Fujita Tetsuro, chief operating officer, NIPSEA Management Company, and general manager, International Division, Nippon Paint Japan, talks about how innovation and sustainability mean to business.

Q: What brought Nippon Paint the Decorative Coatings Company of the Year award?
A: Nippon Paint has always been committed to innovation and sustainability in every market we perform. The award is the recognition of our efforts. The award conferred Nippon Paint for our best practices in the industries, degree of new products in innovation and technology, growth strategy, leadership in customer value and market penetration.

Q: How does sustainability mean to this specific industry in general and Nippon Paint in particular?
A: We believe sustainability cannot only come if it is about business profit but how the profit can be translated into the benefits for the shareholders and the community. Nippon Paint always dedicates strong efforts in research and development (R&D) to create paint innovations that respond to the community's needs and protect the environment. With our slogan "Colors that Work Beautifully Everywhere" we do not only mean beautiful in terms of look, but also health and environment. We position our paints as solutions that create both health and sustainability values.

Q: What is Nippon Paint's philosophy in creating such products?
A: Our key principles are "Innovation, Service and Leadership." We visualize a rewarding future by harmonizing people, nature and society. It has always been our company's main theme, so every product we make has to capture all these principles. As you know, one of the awards we received on this occasion is the Product Innovation Award for our Decorative Coatings with Odour-less technology. In Vietnam, we successfully launched the eco-friendly Nippon Paint Odour-less Deluxe AII-in-one interior paint and Nippon Paint WeatherGard exterior paint. Recently we have launched a new product which is virtually odour-less, long-lasting color, easy to clean, and safe for consumer's health. These awards have encouraged us to continue to develop innovative eco•friendly products to serve consumers' demand and protect the environment.

Q: What are your plans going forwards to stay leading in the market for both innovation and sustainability?
A: Vietnam is the third most important market of Nippon Paint in Asia. As the country grows, we see a high demand for solutions to deal with environmental issues. As a leading paint producer, our paints are not only products but also solutions to help the consumer cope with environmental issues. We have always been working very hard on R&D to create innovative eco-friendly products, and we will keep setting standards for product innovation in environment friendly coatings. We are capable of not only adapting to the ever changing needs of the market but also driving change to stay ahead with our pioneering initiatives. We will continue to play a significant role in pushing for wider acceptance or green technology through aggressive campaigns to raise consumers' awareness.

Q: How do you grow consumer awareness in Vietnam?
A: There is a saying, "Action speaks louder than words." We know that we cannot just carry a speaker around and tell people to care about the environment. We have marketing initiatives to encourage them to pay attention to the environment. But to us, it is better to bring it to our products, making them solutions. With the consumer, every Nippon Paint product is a solution.

Q: Sustainability is corporate social responsibility. How does Nippon Paint stay balanced to both sustainability and growth?
A: As I said before, Vietnam market is very important to us; hence we expect to have strong growth of Nippon Paint for this market. To us, growth cannot lie only in numbers but also in the benefits and value that we bring to the country. Businesses can only stay sustainable when their products are the solutions to the consumers and the community. When you care about the community, the growth will follow. We perform with purpose.