Noroo Paint used motorsports as a proving ground for product performance and moved to target the market for waterborne automotive paint. The strategy goes beyond simple sports sponsorship to test products in real racing conditions and use the accumulated data in B2B sales and technical materials.
Noroo Paint is carrying out the "Water-Q Elain Racing Project," applying its Water-Q waterborne automotive refinish brand to racing cars. It is a demonstration-based B2B marketing project that enters Korea's leading motorsports competitions to verify product performance in real driving conditions.
At Round 5 of the Superrace Championship held at Yongin Speedway on the 5th of last month, a car coated with Noroo Paint's Water-Q finished both qualifying and the final. It also reached the podium in third place. Noroo Paint is placing significance not on the race result but on the fact that the paint maintained stable performance in the harsh race environment.
Racing cars are continuously exposed to high-speed driving and strong vibrations, high heat from the engine and brakes, and debris and contaminants, more so than regular vehicles. It is a suitable environment to verify a coating's durability and its color and gloss stability.
After each race, Noroo Paint analyzes the car to check film retention, color stability, gloss changes, and surface damage. From Round 5 of the Superrace through the end of the season, the company plans to accumulate data and use it as verification materials for paint performance in real racing conditions.
Noroo Paint will also enter a Water-Q–applied car in Jeonnam GT, to be held on the 12th to 13th at Korea International Circuit (KIC) in Yeongam, South Jeolla, continuing performance verification in real racing conditions.
The core of this project is that it combines sports marketing with product technology verification. Instead of unilaterally explaining the product's strengths, the company aims to raise trust in the product by presenting data secured in actual use conditions to customers.
Noroo Paint plans to use the data accumulated through the project for future technical and sales materials and customer communication. Not only the digital marketing team but also the mobility technology team and field technicians are taking part, linking data obtained at the track to technical reviews and sales activities.
Noroo Paint will continue testing throughout the remaining season and is also reviewing a plan to organize the cumulative verification results and disclose real-world Water-Q application cases to customers.
A Noroo Paint official said, "The purpose of this project is not the race result itself but to verify the performance of waterborne paint in actual race conditions," adding, "Racing is one of the most extreme environments in which to check product performance."