The announcement of the Pantone Colour of the Year is much anticipated and has become increasingly influential in the world of business, design, and brand marketing. But why is Pantone so influential? Why should a colour matter? And how can you use colours to positively impact your business?
Viva Magenta!
Four weeks ago, if you’d uttered the phrase ‘viva magenta’, people probably would have looked at you strangely. Today, if you work in fashion, design, or in fact almost any area of business, your colleagues would nod sagely. Safe in the knowledge that you’re discussing the Pantone Colour of the year. It’s a vibrant shade of pinky red and in 2023, Viva Magenta 18-750 is being touted as ‘an unconventional shade for an unconventional time’. And somehow, we all get it. We go along with it. Because Pantone says so. But why?
Why is Pantone so influential?
Created in 1963, the Pantone company has become the world’s primary source of standardised colour. The company enables the exact communication of colour across industries, countries, and languages. This means that when your London-based designer asks your Bangladesh manufacturer and American packaging producer to create products in Viva Magenta 18-750, you can guarantee that the results will match. A remarkable feat, given that as individuals, we all distinguish the different facets of the colour spectrum in our own unique ways.
By coding each colour, Pantone was able to not only standardise colour globally. But corner every market as an industry reference point. Whether for physical production or digital design. And, like most other influential events, the Pantone Colour of the Year campaign was a cynical marketing ploy! It just so happened to capture the public imagination, becoming a cross-category trend-setter.
How does the Pantone Colour of the Year impact retail businesses?
The Pantone Colour of the Year only becomes a trend when people in the creative industries and influencers start using it. But they start using it because Pantone has become such an authority. Creating a cyclical relationship that has an impact across the board. Perhaps nowhere more so than in retail.
When Pantone makes its annual announcement, a tranche of products appears in the new colourway. Clothing, homewares, and even devices. But it doesn’t stop there. With colour leaching into the public consciousness, it begins to carry meaning.
Viva Magenta has already been described as ‘unconventional’, which is always hugely appealing. But its description goes much deeper than that. It ‘welcomes anyone and everyone with the same verve for life and rebellious spirit. It is a colour that is audacious, full of wit and inclusive of all.’ And while these are just words on a page, colour has never been just a hex code. It is emotion. People use colour for a reason – whether to make you feel powerful, scared or to desire something. There is a huge amount of emotion behind the different shades of colours and what they represent. And savvy retailers will buy into that emotion with their marketing materials.
How can you use the Pantone Colour of the Year in your business?
For retailers, one of the most valuable features of the Pantone campaign is that it gets you thinking about the meaning of colour. And this is really important in business because colour is a huge part of your branding. In terms of retail, if your product is a certain colour, that’s going to align with a certain emotion or audience. Understanding this, enables you to consider how you can use colour to connect with people.
You can work with the trend and feed the zeitgeist if your products and services align with it. Or you can go with the counterculture. If Viva Magenta represents unconventionality, maybe your customers would appreciate the steadiness of Illuminating and Ultimate Gray (Pantone 17-5104 TXC), or the lasting thoughtfulness of Classic Blue (Pantone 19-4052 TXC).
Colour matters in business. And that’s why Pantone matters. It’s not perhaps the most important decision a business needs to make. But it should play a part in your fundamental strategy. Because if you fail to lean into a trend, or misjudge the emotional alignment of your customers, your business may not reach its full potential.
By Jordan Richards, Founder and CEO of RCCO
Jordan was one of the youngest Google apprentices, starting at just 18 and staying on for three years to become a creative lead. He has since become the founder of digital design agency RCCO, a 20-person team working with tech giants and exciting start-ups with investment. He is also co-founder of WILD, a video production studio working with PureGym and Revolut, and owner of FounderSphere, a community for young entrepreneurs.
