ANTI-FOULING PERFORMANCE IS ENHANCED MARKETING

Imagine that your brand is a character in a television show.

Are you the dour, hardened detective, from the wrong side of the tracks or are you the sweet old lady solving mysteries on the side? Each has distinctive characteristics and ways of talking, to uniquely interact with the audience. What they don’t do is suddenly take on a different personality –well not normally! It doesn’t really work.

It’s the same for your brand. if you don’t have a distinctive and consistent tone of voice, constantly fliting somewhere between a jolly friend and a funeral director, it can impact the entire view of your brand and make it very hard for people to connect.

To build a strong tone of voice for your business:

4 Take the time to define who your customers are.

4 Decide what personality your business wants to convey.

4 Check your competitors messaging.

4 Don’t be afraid to be different

4 Work out a persona that both represents the values of your business and helps you to stand out in a crowded marketplace.

Are you the heritage, established brand, or are you the young innovator that disrupts the market?

Of course, tone of voice should adapt and flex to the information that is being conveyed but it should never truly deviate from your overall personality.

A clear and steady tone of voice will help you cut through all that other marketing noise and mean you set yourself apart.

The biocide, Selektope, is being introduced into marine antifouling coatings to enhance the performance of selfpolishing co-polymer (SPC) marine coatings.

I-Tech’s team of R&D scientists have been working on the technology for the last five years and say they have discovered new ways in which the first-ofits-kind biocide, Selektope can be introduced to marine antifouling coatings in combination with other biocides with little or no effect on formulation chemistry or performance.

The technology works by improving the dispersion of the active substance via adsorption to paint pigment particles.

And the scientists say positive static test results have also provided proof of concept that Selektope can be used in silicone-based

Hempel’s best seller in the marine sector, Hempaguard X7, has been recognised not only by the superyacht industry but also by the Water Revolution Foundation (WRF) that has rewarded the product with a sustainable solution certificate.

The certification means the antifouling has been entered in WRF database of sustainable solutions, verified under the Life Cycle Assessment methodology as an antifouling coating that uses advanced technology to extend the fouling free period.

“We welcome Hempaguard X7 as a verified sustainable solution and one of the first entries to our database of products that can prove their environmental credentials,” said Robert van Tol, executive director, WRF.

“We want to promote foul release coatings, a new application area for the technology.

Repelling

Selektope is an organic, non-metal biocide that prevents hard fouling, repelling barnacle larvae from a coated surface.

The controlled release of Selektope in SPC coatings has proved successful using traditional methods with multiple products commercialised to-date, however, I-Tech says its R&D efforts have focussed on further improving the controlled release of the technology and minimising any issues catalysed through the introduction of Selektope into a paint matrix.

“This work is significant for two reasons; enhancing the current use of Selektope in SPC coating types and, opening up new routes for us to explore the use of this novel technology in foul release coatings,” said Dr Markus Hoffmann, technical director at I-Tech.

Reformulation

“The fact that the addition of Selektope, pre-adsorbed on pigment particles does not require fundamental paint reformulation makes this R&D progression even more impactful since it can be adopted immediately by our customers.”

And he said that following two years of R&D work, I-Tech has obtained proof of concept that if Selektope is pre-adsorbed on a carrier compound, antifouling performance is improved, owing to the improved dispersion of the biocide in the paint matrix.

“Our next steps will be to expand our knowledge base,” said Dr Hoffmann. “We will also conduct further work to refine the process of adsorbing Selektope on zinc oxide and explore other pigments as potential carriers.”