Nippon Paint Holdings

Global holding company now united behind purpose and business principles.

Expertise Areas
  • Brand Research & Diagnostics
  • Corporate Purpose & Purpose Led Transformation
  • Brand Architecture Management
  • Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Strategy & Advice
  • Putting Purpose into Practice (PPiP)®

When you think of organisations that are actively confronting and solving global issues you don’t instantly think of a global holding company. But as one of the world’s leading paint and coatings groups, Nippon Paint Holdings (NPH) develop and supply innovative products that respond to changes in society and the environment. With aggressive global growth aspirations and renewed leadership, it was the prime opportunity to develop the global purpose and business principles.

Painting the picture

With humble beginnings in Japan over 140 years ago, NPH is now a key global player in the paint and coating industry. With 30,000+ employees, operations in Asia, North America, Europe, South America, and Oceania, and valued at over US$35B, it’s an impressive group.

NPH has a corporate tradition of confronting and solving social issues by developing innovative paint and coating technologies, such as paints that keep buildings cool, coatings that reduce carbon emissions, paints that mix in nano technology, and coatings that can reduce the spread of disease.

As they expand and purchase more impressive companies around the globe, NPH’s brand and stakeholder engagement has become more important than ever — and we were on hand to develop and align the group behind a global purpose and business principles.

Nippon Paint Group Purpose

Embracing cultural differences to inspire growth

Utilising our proprietary diagnostic research tools and purpose workshops, alongside extensive collaboration and engagement with the global leadership teams, we were able to craft a brand philosophy that reflected NPH’s rich legacy.

The approach, and subsequent strategy, reflected and respected a range of cultures, roles, languages, and backgrounds, with the Japanese and Chinese translations carefully composed to stay ‘true’ to their intent.

The Business Principles engage, align, and empower the global business leaders to grow their own companies in the right way, whilst respecting their own unique cultures and business approach.

Nippon Paint Group Case Study

Enriching our living world

NPH’s new global purpose, “Enriching our living world through the power of Science + Imagination”, unites and inspires growth across the diverse businesses and cultures, whilst the Business Principles ‘Prosper Together’, ‘ Powerful Partnerships’, and ‘Science + Imagination’ bring clarity, collaboration, and a growth focus to the partner companies.

The purpose and Business Philosophy proudly underlines NPH’s commitment to making the world better and more sustainable by using technological strengths to tackle social challenges and to contribute to increasing wealth in society, whilst also delivering to the key objective of MSV.

“This global understanding of who we are as a group will allow us to become a truly exceptional company, committed to contributing value to society beyond achieving revenue and sales targets.”

Masaaki Tanaka | Chairman, President & CEO NPH

“Brand Council has been instrumental in developing the DuluxGroup core purpose. They methodically and strategically worked across all levels of the organisation to capture – who we are; what we stand for; and why we do what we do – into a unifying core purpose ‘Imagine a Better Place’. The true test of their work is that, almost a decade later, our Core Purpose has endured, strengthened and is ingrained into the psyche at all levels of the organisation.”

Pat Houlihan | CEO & Chairman DuluxGroup, Chairman MCRI

"Brand Council have helped us clarify our brand architecture, reinvent Hard Yakka and KingGee, and provided strategic guidance on two additional brands. This has resulted in significant tangible results for our business. We enjoy working with Trudi and Peta and value their opinion and expertise."

Doug Swan | Group General Manager Workwear Group

"The key to Brand Council’s success is their process. They took the time to understand the market in which we operate, where we wanted to position the fund, and what we needed to do to reach that position. In this way, Brand Council encouraged us to discover our brand by finding and telling our own story. The most important element in Brand Council’s process is proof. They have not made any recommendations without evidence. Brand Council are genuine partners on the ‘brand journey’."

Michael Dwyer AM | Former CEO First State Super, Chairman UNHCR, Board Director

"Together they are a great team who are hands on, taking full responsibility for the work – it is rare to find an agency as experienced and professional who will actually get in and do the work at grass roots level themselves."

Alison Brink | Goodman Group GM Marketing & Communications

"The work Brand Council have done to engage staff across the agency, distil and define a clear and motivating brand purpose, and then help to communicate and inculcate that purpose internally has been invaluable."

Commissioner Paul Baxter | Fire and Rescue NSW

"Over many years, Brand Council have led three brand strategy projects for Redkite. What has been consistent throughout is a highly effective approach to brand strategy and a level of care and passion that you don’t often see. Trudi has become part of the fabric of our organisation and a trusted adviser. She puts her heart into making the Redkite brand what it needs to be so that no family faces their child’s cancer alone."

Monique Keighery | Chief Executive Officer, Redkite

"Our staff’s enthusiasm, energy and ideas have been amazing. We have a single set of Beliefs, Values and one common Purpose – and it’s all come directly from our staff."

Andrew Richardson | Aruma CEO

"Brand Council has continued to work with us in an ongoing capacity to define the purpose strategy for our individual businesses, including Selleys, B&D, Lincoln Sentry and Yates. They are a trusted advisor and provide sound counsel."

Pat Houlihan | Chairman and CEO DuluxGroup, Chairman MCRI

"I have been the leading executive on a number of engagements with Brand Council including IAG, BOQ & AIM. I subscribe to Brand Council’s philosophy that alignment between the brand message and brand experience is essential for business success. It is through their refined process that I have seen the cultural and behavioural change required to not only ensure this alignment is possible, but more importantly that it is implemented. I am pleased to endorse the people and process at Brand Council and commend them to any business looking to re-engage staff and customers."

Daniel Musson | CEO and C-suite client at BOQ, IAG & AIM