c,
I can sound off on that one.
BM has done good marketing. Think of it like Budweiser vs Brooklyn
Pennant Ale. Used to be, possibly still do, BM had an ARCHITECTURAL
technical office on west Canal Street. I liked it because you could go
in there and get a large paint chip... something like 4 x 6 but I might
be wrong on the exact specific dimensions. Like I care. It was a whole
lot easier to communicate to the client what colors you were proposing
when you gave them a BIG paint chip.
So this VOC (volatile organic compounds) thing came along and suddenly
they changed their formula. I was in the process of painting a cast iron
facade in Soho and the friggin paint alligatored. Remember, I'm the
Idiot Proof materials proponent. I could not understand why this
alligatoring was happening. In the mean time I heard that ppl were
moving contraband paint across state lines because the states were not
equal in the revision of their regulations re: VOC compliance... like it
makes any friggin difference if you release stuff that makes the ozone
hole larger in NY or NJ! It is a communal global ozone hole. And here I
worry that I might use more water than Rudy & kin in my defective Lung
Island toilet.
Tie into this that BM got themselves in a position where EVERY landmark
spec called for their product, no questions asked. One of the biggest
gripes I have is that the landmarks people catch onto some stupid
jackass near impossible technique then want to replicate it ad
infinitum. It is bad science bred of intellectual laziness.
I asked them, BM for help, I mean, I painted at least a dozen cast iron
buildings in Soho before I got sick of it. That should count for
something. But no, it counted for diddly with BM. So I called in the
Sherwin-Williams rep, they are like #2 on the unofficial list, and they
at least were hungry to bite #1 and 'splained to me the situation. The
worse thing you can do to any customer is make them go look someplace
else for a solution to their problem. But I will say that there are
paints that are out in the market that go way far past either BM or SW
in performance. I cannot remember the name of the paint I used on the
steps in our house but when I used it I felt like my brush was in
heaven... and some fifteen years later of abuse it is still holding strong.
BM came up w/ a line of historic colors. Fine, nice, Ralph Loren has red
C hair colors too. As far as I am concerned the off-the-shelf porch
paint at Home Depot, or better yet, Lowes, mixed to a custom matched
color beats BM hands down. But if the client wants BM I give them BM.
As to the gossip funnel you need to look to what international
multinational congolomerate owns the supplier. Then from there you need
to look to at how they treat their on-the-ground reps. Look from
international to local. The more distant the gap between them the more
likely that two conditions will occur.... 1) their product sucks but
lives on from previous reputation and 2) they don't provide close-in
support.
For years I did very close business with Sonneborn -- used to go on
their annual phesant hunt -- but since they got bought out by BASF I can
only say that the product is ok (I won't go on about what happened when
they changed their VOC compliant formilas - several years prior to the
pheasant hunt junket) but the local representation sucks big time.
Oh, by the way... anyone wan to go pheasant hunting? I have a hankering
for it. Relieves a lot of stress.
As much as it has been a real pain for me to open up to architects as I
am coming from a vocational and agrarian culture it has been just as
amazing for me the exploration of the world of the materials reps.
][<en
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To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
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