Designer’s Corner

Brand! Color! Action!

New Old Colors Can Polish Up The Luster of Brands That Are Due for a Contemporary Update

By Ted Mininni

How meaningful is color in extending a company’s brand identity in the packaging of its products and services? Just take a look around. Imagine, if you would, that the words “Coca-Cola” did not appear anywhere on the product’s can. No logotype, just the signature red package with white swirl. Would you still recognize the product? I’m betting that just about everybody—everywhere on earth—would.

How about the multi-striped wrapper on Life Savers? If the logo was removed from the package, would you be able to identify this roll of hard candy? What about the famous brown delivery trucks—you know without even seeing the logo on the side panels, that these are UPS vehicles.

Color is an essential part of our lives. Color has context for specific demographics, based on genders, age groups, and ethnic groups. Organizations such as the Color Association of the United States, among others, track color trends as well as demographically broken-down color preferences. Corporations hire design consultancies that employ their own expertise, and collaborate with color organizations to assist them in the successful communication of their brand messages.

Jill Morton, the principal consultant at Colorcom, a color consultancy with offices in New York and Honolulu, stresses the wide influence color wields. “Marketing research indicates that over 80% of visual information is related to color,” Morton states. “In other words, color conveys information. It identifies a product or a company, as well as the quality of the merchandise and much more. The right color is indeed worth a thousand words.”

Brand identity consultancies work with color in a very meaningful way. In any branding project, from initial conception through the entire life of the brand, color is a vital element in the identity of that brand. Branding is critically important as it positions products and services to reach a desired consumer demographic, whether it is B2B or B2C.

Contemporizing brand colors

And, when a brand needs revitalization, the issue of packaging and color are again reviewed, and necessary changes are made to contemporize, or better extend the brand message. Every aspect of brand management strategy is geared toward building a relationship with the consumer; one in which there is positive and on-going interaction with that brand and its assets.

So how does a brand identity consultancy assist global corporations in making effective color choices that effectively extend their brands through their packaging? The answer is not complicated: extended research coupled with expert knowledge in specific industry sectors. A firm that specializes in brand identity and package design in the toy or entertainment industry, for example, should have a thorough understanding of consumer and category trends as well as consumer response at retail.

Strong action colors on a black package “speak” to the target audience—young boys—on the retail shelf.

When a corporate client requires package design for a toy product, the product’s brand identity has to be given first consideration. An understanding of toy product categories—and the current category players—is essential. Audits must be conducted to confirm that information, and analysis of the competition is a crucial component of the process. Honing in on how kids in a particular age group interact with packaging and color, especially with gender-specific toys, is revealing.

The goal here is two-fold; firstly, to extend the product’s brand identity meaningfully through the packaging of its products and to position those products as category leaders. If they already are category leaders, periodic brand revitalization work makes certain they remain well ahead of their competitors. The second goal is to create trusted, enduring relationships between the corporate client’s products and their target audience.

So, what about a demographic other than kids? Let’s cite an example of a packaging project in the high volume beverage category that was executed for the Campbell Soup Company on its V8 Splash Smoothies beverage product. The targeted demographic consisted of working women over the age of 35—those women who are interested in purchasing beverages for their refreshment as well as their nutritional value. The target also included a multi-cultural audience including Hispanics and African Americans. Research determined that strong, vibrant color would have great appeal for this demographic, and that a bottle cap in periwinkle would signify health benefits to working women over 35. End result? A powerful brand presence and strong sales in a saturated beverage marketplace.

These insights into the process are important. Color, when applied to packaged products, must relate to the brand, category and demographic being targeted. In fact, the brand’s packaging must be a synergistic part of the overall brand expression continuum.

Color in package design, when effectively conceived and executed, should leverage the assets of brands and extend brand communications. Color communicates. The goal for competent brand identity and package design consultants is to build brand equity. This cannot be achieved without building brand recognition and trust with a targeted demographic. Color is a tool that must be used to assist global corporations in packaging their products or services to achieve these ends.

Retro colors are so “today”

In this young century, color is being used in a progressive, contemporary way. So what about the movement back toward mid-twentieth century design? Retro colors have resurfaced in a big way, and show no sign of losing their current popularity. In fact, we know that pop culture continues to be a significant driver in modern society. So, what is it about retro?

Fond memories of the baby-boomer generation create nostalgia. The large baby-boomer demographic spends significantly on products and services and influences retro color trends. Brands whose products are wrapped in these hues resonate with this audience. Retro colors recall halcyon days and safer times. A new generation is experiencing strong color combinations that are “brand new” (love that expression) to them.

In some cases, the original values of retro colors are being used, and in others, contemporized versions of the original hues are appearing. Since retro is hot in so many categories, don’t look for this trend to end any time soon! Witness the retro interpretations in home furnishings, fashion, and our favorite category: brand identity and package design! Long live the ’60s and ’70s! They’re so “today”!

Ted Mininni is president of Design Force Inc., a metro New York consultancy that specializes in brand identity and package design for the food, beverage, toy, and entertainment industries. Contact Mr. Mininni by visiting www.designforceinc.com.