Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going
By Mel Villalon
What do these terms have in common: Helicopter tape, clear bra, PPF, clear wrap, that clear stuff? They all represent what is commonly known today as paint protection film (PPF). The cool car owners have become fluent in our industry terms such as PPF, ceramic tinting, ceramic coating, color change wrap, etc. As an industry, the way we do things today has been shaped by window tinters, PPF installers, detailers (i.e., coatings applicators) and vinyl wrappers.
The best PPF installations are the ones you never see. The customer still gets visual satisfaction from enhancing or restoring the underlying surface. To manage expectations, we love telling customers that PPF is for paint protection, not paint perfection, but we know it enhances the finish. We provide a visible form of surface protection. Whether it’s the gloss, depth, hydrophobics, ease of maintenance or the difference with going satin, matte, textured or color change, we do more than protect the paint.
If you’re a bit of an industry history buff or a regular reader of my column, you’ll know that PPF was never designed to protect paint. It was developed for the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War to re-hone or resurface the leading edge of helicopter blades from damage incurred from landing in thick, dense jungle terrain. Years later, we started to see thick PPF-type products from car makers. I noticed it on the wheel wells on ’91 and up Chevy trucks and SUVs, rear flares, and shark fin-shaped pieces on the Porsche 911s, 930 Targas, etc.
From the 80s through the early 90s, vinyl or leather-looking nose bras were all the rage with car enthusiasts. Truck owners preferred plastic, acrylic bug shields. By the mid-90s small rolls of clear bra had started circulating among tint shops and detailers. Clear bra also took the hit and had a bad reputation for becoming an eyesore. Between the kits with partial coverage, bad installs, and turning yellow, cracking, looking hazy or dull, we needed to disassociate ourselves from this. Hence, the name change in the mid to early 2000s. I have no clue who coined the phrase PPF, but it served up a new and better term for what we do.
Protecting the Surface
Today, consumers are our best advocates, especially when they do their research and do all the selling for us. Tint shops have always struggled with becoming so well known for tinting cars that our current and previous customers don’t even have a clue or think about calling us for their residential or workplace solar control needs.
Architects, designers and building engineers with large jobs will have difficulty taking you seriously if you have a nice car on your business card. Even the customer base that has used us for years will usually ask, with some uncertainty, whether or not we tint homes and buildings. The same goes for marine and RV customers.
I began this column by asking what the initial listed terms have in common. Aside from being terms for paint protection, they have a much broader description, way outside of protecting paint. They are all protective surface coatings. Let that sink in.
When you are introduced, and someone asks what you do for a living, it’s a matter of whether or not you care to explain what you do. Sometimes, you say PPF installer or shop owner. Sometimes, you make the extra effort to explain things further if you think the conversation can turn into a sale. Quite often, we part ways knowing they didn’t get it.
My core skill is window tinting, and I have a few other complementary skill sets. I have been asked to meet with architects, engineers, etc. many times. There’s a big difference between them thinking of window tint as a solution for heat or privacy vs. sitting in a conference room with actual rocket scientists trying to figure out how to block electromagnetic interface signals from penetrating walls and windows. Then, the window tinter is introduced. The guy introducing you even gulps and pauses while looking down as he gives the intro. I don’t need to be a mind reader to tell you they’re all thinking, what is the tinter doing here?
Rebranding Opportunities
By definition, film is a coating. Window tint, PPF, ceramic coatings and vinyl can “make this look like that.” Window tinting looks great doing what it’s supposed to do, which is visual while protecting the interior and occupants from broken glass and harmful rays from the sun while providing comfort.
As we see a lot of film on all these Cybertrucks, we’re bringing PPF, clear bra, back to its helicopter tape roots. PPF over stainless has an additional feature. It makes it easy to keep clean and wipe away fingerprints. Keep this in mind if you want to blaze new untapped markets. Look around, and if there are elevators, escalators, metal-clad restroom partitions, stone, wood or countertops, perhaps an industry rebrand is in order. These commercial markets invest a lot of labor and chemical resources to maintain these surfaces. They are absolutely tickled to be able to use microfiber and water to clean these problematic surfaces. And when that delivery cart bumps, tears, dents or scratches their PPF, you’ll win them over once again–once they see that the underlying surface is unharmed. And if it is harmed, we also have a film for that.
A Hanover Research study published in Forbes magazine found that 75% of companies worked on their brand between 2020 and 2021. A 2022 UpCity survey found that 51% of businesses had changed their branding since COVID-19 began.
Household names such as Dunkin Donuts is now just Dunkin. Twitter is X, Facebook is now Meta, and Kentucky Fried Chicken is now KFC. There are many reasons to rebrand. The one that makes the most sense is that rebranding signals change: The growing pressure to better meet customers’ and shareholders’ expectations often needs a visual component to crystalize and reinforce the organizational transformation. Rebranding can provide that connection.
Many organizations are accepting that the cost of not rebranding, mostly in opportunities lost, is often more than the investment it requires. Customers are changing and want their favorite brands to keep up or lead the way.
Mel Villalon is the general manager of Paradise Tinting in Long Beach, Calif.
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