Long Term Brand Identity supersedes “Color of the Year.”
Sunday, January 11th, 2009|
By Robert Radi with the contribution of Vicki Lederman It is that time of the year again. The time when in strategy meetings the “let’s do it in the color of the year” quote inexorably surfaces at some point. And in 2009 when the mood of the consumer seems to be hovering between charcoals gray and black, the color of the year is a cheerful and sunny yellow. The Pantone Mimosa 14-0848TCX to be exact.
So what is the “color of the year” and how reliable is its prediction and subsequent impact on the consumer?
Color trends are predicted 1-2 years in advance and are basically self-fulfilling prophesies. There are many color and trend predicting/tracking services. Some are individuals, some are professional companies like Pantone, and the Color Marketing Group is made up of representatives from several consumer product groups (auto, paint, textile, furniture, etc) that reach consensus. The large retailers have their own trend forecasting people. Everyone tracks everyone else, manufacturers and retailers buy forecasting services and plan their product lines 6 months – 2 years in advance, and no one wants to get left behind and not have the hot color or trend. So things are pretty much set far in advance, once colors are forecast it takes time to translate that into product design and into production and get the stuff to the retailers.
Generally trends are “spotted” at the high end, specialty small producer market, and filter down to the higher volume and mass markets. The timeframe for this movement is getting much shorter, thanks to these same trend forecasting services that distribute the information. There are slight differences for different product types, though they also track each other. Other forecasts for 2009 have called for soft purples and grays, greens, blues, reds. So let’s do it in the color of the year? Unless the product item or brand in question belongs in the Fashion Industry or industries where the design is seasonal and with a short life cycle, we need to ask ourselves: “What are the long term goals for the brand?” Color is a fundamental factor in a product, a logo identity, an advertising campaign, a web site and even something simple as a business card. In our experience brands that stick to their principle of identity even when the color choice is not the most exciting at that very given time, do better in the long term than brands that chase the hot trend and find themselves unable to establish a unique brand identity. It is a well documented and undisputed fact that colors have a significant impact on people’s emotional state. Colors do form and jog memories of brands in the long term. So if the so called “color of the year” fits within the long term strategy, the brand should certainly make it part of its identity. Furthermore the brand should consider where to apply the color in question. For example if the color is used as an accent on collaterals such as business cards, websites etc. the commitment to the color in question is minimal and it will play a supportive role and can be easily replaced without interfering with the long term identity. However if a color is to be applied on a product and/or a logo identity it is a clear commitment to the long term strategy of the brand. In both cases the color in question will take a primary role in the perception of the brand from the consumer side. When an investment in tooling and molds is made by a brand, the anticipation is a relatively long lifecycle for that product, perhaps as long as 3 to 5 years. The short slightness and lack of long term vision in selecting the colors for that product could surely affect its expected lifecycle. So how much Mimosa yellow the consumer will see depends on how many manufacturers and retailers bought into Pantone’s prediction when they originally made it.
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