Fashion on sandpaper

Is sandpaper a fashion item? Perhaps Estelle Seibert wouldn’t go quite that far, though the thought is not totally absurd. After all, this French manager with responsibility for Munksjö’s marketing did actually arrange for a model to appear at this year’s International Hardware Fair in Cologne clad entirely in sandpaper. She used this exploit to draw attention to a new product offer in the field of abrasive backings which the company is marketing as “The Be Solution”. The Swedish Munksjö Group is a globally active supplier of specialty papers. Its acquisition of the Arjowiggins mills in Arches, France, in March 2011 meant it was able to expand its abrasive backing business unit. The company’s “A Solution” now offers a complete set of services and expertise alongside paper and cloth products. Then comes the next step, the “Be Solution”. This is based on the assumption that differentiation is especially necessary in the DIY market for coated abrasives. The paper to which the abrasives are applied offers the possibility to provide such differentiation. “Coated abrasive producers are looking for easy identification by the final user and technical advantages to put a stop to the decreasing price spiral and put the brakes on fakes,” says Seibert. Sandpapers are to convey messages and add value to the product, making use of logos and brand names, tips on special promotions or security devices, which are always visible during use. All this information can be printed on the front side of the abrasive paper backing. Combined with a transparent binder and appropriate grit spreading, a pre-printed paper will reveal an attractive pattern that is visible from the front of the finished coated abrasive. “Giving the coated abrasives a trendy, glamorous look can become a decisive factor in purchasing choices. Until now the visual aspect has barely been exploited by manufacturers, and therefore it is a great way to focus attention on the ever greater choice of products on the shelves,” says Estelle Seibert. Not to be forgotten is the instructive value a pattern can provide. “Through the use of colour coding, motifs and pictograms a visual can convey messages to facilitate the understanding of sanding instructions or help in product selection according to the type of sanding application.” And, of course, a plea is made for more fashion on sandpaper: patterns in trendy colours are not designed as an end in themselves but as a better way of appealing to women customers…