Anti-Graffiti Coatings Market Segmented by Material: Silicone, Polyurethane, Acrylics, Siloxane, Copolymers, Others; By Type: Permanent, Semi-Permanent, Temporary, By Chemistry: Water Borne, Solvent Borne, Powder Coating; By End Use: Residential, Commercial & Institutional, Transportation

Anti-Graffiti Coatings - No Longer an Afterthought in Protective Maneuvers

The paints and coatings landscape, like any other industry, has witnessed a series of innovations adapting to dynamic customer specifications. From decorative requirements to functional uses, paints and coatings have been serving a myriad of needs coming from a diverse range of applications. However, the demand for functional coatings has been consistently on the rise, with residential, commercial, and transportation segments at the forefront of this demand.

As property exteriors continue to bear the brunt of damages caused by natural events or deliberate attempts of defacement, the owners remain keen on investing in a wide range of solutions for protection, ranging from sturdy fences to intrusion detection technologies. However, the trend of property exteriors being used as canvases to convey messages, commonly termed as graffiti, introduced another aspect for consideration in the spectrum of paints and coatings. Though graffiti has emerged as one of the most powerful modern art forms, unwanted scribbling in the name of graffiti resulted in ‘visual litter’, thereby lowering the value of target exteriors and properties alike.

Consistent efforts to stave off unwanted graffiti activities are likely to pick pace, giving impetus to growth of anti-graffiti coatings market in 2019 and beyond. As ‘anti-graffiti coatings’ have outgrown the phase of being an ‘afterthought’, Persistence Market Research (PMR), in its recent research study, sheds light on underlying opportunities and challenges in the market that would help the key stakeholders in effective decision-making.

Anti-Graffiti Coatings - Chartering the Evolution, and the Road Ahead

Though anti-graffiti coatings have been around for the last four decades, it’s only in the recent past that they are being considered as a ‘must-have’ in property protection apparatus. For many years, anti-graffiti coatings weren’t being seen in the right light, as property owners used to rely on tall fences and CCTV cameras to track graffiti vandals. However, these techniques turned out to be impractical in terms of efficacy and called for functional anti-graffiti coatings to take the front seat.

Considering the high costs of graffiti removal, both in terms of specialized consultation and cleaning services, property owners started investing in anti-graffiti coatings as an effective deterrent to such vandalism, and this trend is likely to get stronger year after year. In 2018, the anti-graffiti coatings sales were recorded at ~ 41,339 tons.

Anti-Graffiti Coatings Market - Undercurrents Influencing Growth

Nanotechnology-Enabled Coatings to Mark a New Beginning

Among all the key trends brewing in the global anti-graffiti coatings landscape, use of nano materials to synthesize newer formulations of anti-graffiti coatings continues to be in the spotlight. The trend of using nanoparticles for development of various functional coating types has been in practice since a long time, and the trend started making its way toward the spectrum of anti-graffiti coatings.

Manufacturers active in the anti-graffiti coatings market are vying to keep up with this trend by making extensive use of nanomaterials, such as nano-silver, photo-catalytically active nano-titanium dioxide or nano-silica dioxide, and others, in order to refine quality, boosting water repellency, enhancing scratch resistance, and improve the anti-microbial properties.

‘Low-VOC’ and ‘Eco-Friendly’ to Enhance the Degree of Marketability

Increasing number of stringent regulations put in place for curbing harmful emissions and massive shift towards non-hazardous formulations are two among the key factors boosting adoption of ‘low-VOC’ and ‘eco-friendly’ anti-graffiti coatings. This increase in demand for low-VOC and eco-friendly coatings is, in turn, enhancing the visibility of water- and powder-based formulations over the solvent-based ones, encouraging manufacturers to include a new line of environment-friendly coatings for a wide variety of substrates.

Anti-Graffiti Coatings Market- The Manufacturers’ Set of Winning Tactics

As the market of anti-graffiti coatings reflects nascency and is ripe for disruption in the coming years, the number of companies entering into the market is also likely to see an uptick. Roll-out of new product varieties and incorporation of latest technologies in the existing portfolio is likely to be a launchpad for successful expansion in anti-graffiti coatings market. For instance, in 2018, SIKA AG announced the official launch of its new line of anti-graffiti coating product named ‘SikaGard-850 AG’, which is ideal for effective protection of concrete, wood, and masonry surfaces.

As end users continue to lean toward permanent anti-graffiti coatings over the temporary and semi-permanent ones, manufacturers are focusing on ramping up production of permanent anti-graffiti coatings to meet the increasing demand. Manufacturers active in the anti-graffiti coatings market are also focusing on social media channels to boost their customer outreach, as social media not only offers an avenue for boosting customer engagement but also influencing their purchase decisions. For instance, in 2016, the Sherwin-Williams Company launched its official YouTube channel featuring videos that demonstrate the effectiveness of functional coatings.

Anti-Graffiti Coatings Market- The Competitive Sphere

The global anti-graffiti coatings market reflects a fair degree of consolidation, with leading players commanding for nearly 50-60% of the overall market share. The anti-graffiti coatings market spectates strong presence of established players, including

• The Sherwin-Williams Company
• Evonik Industries AG
• AkzoNobel NV
• Sika AG
• RPM International Inc.
• Avery Dennison Corporation,

across North America and Europe, which is key reason warranting lucrative growth aspects in these two regions. Leading players operating in the anti-graffiti coatings market will continue to focus on strategic mergers and acquisitions as a focal point, to gain competitive advantages and influence supply chains. For instance, in 2017, the Sherwin-Williams Company completed its official acquisition of Valspar Corporation, a leading manufacturer of paint and coatings, in order to strategically outperform in the anti-graffiti coatings market.

Analysts’ Perspective

Author(s) of the PMR study on anti-graffiti coatings market maintain a buoyant outlook on the future growth prospects of anti-graffiti coatings market, prominently across the developed economies. The authors of the report opine that manufacturers will need to make a shift from the concept of ‘one-size-fits-all’ to an approach of ‘exclusively-for-you’, wherein they will develop tailor-made offerings in sync with the specific end-user requirements.