It Could Make Your Business a Shade Better
Right now when much of the country looks out the window, it sees a cold, white landscape. So on this last day of January, let’s warm and brighten things up a bit. It’s time to celebrate Pantone’s 2019 “Color of the Year”…and figure out how it might figure into your business!
This year’s color calls up images far from freezing, blowing and drifting snow. It makes me think of tropical cabanas and, yes—coral reefs. For good reason. Because the color choice this year is Pantone 16-1546 Living Coral. You can read the details here.
Who Decides … and How?
Pantone is the premier source of “color” expertise for millions of designers, brands and manufacturers worldwide through its Pantone Matching System. It establishes color standards that make precision matching and exacting color rendering in countless applications, including advertising, fashion, home design, and a hundred others.
The Pantone Color Institute provides color trend spotting, forecasting, and analysis that provides valuable guidance and advice to companies. Those companies use it in designing and manufacturing products, establishing identity systems and other functions in which color plays a central role. The chosen color of the year is based upon research into trends in fashion, lifestyle, art and several other socioeconomic factors.
What’s in It for My Business?
I hope you resist the temptation to say “hmm – interesting” and just move on. Because research shows that color has power, psychology, and emotion. You might be surprised how this “color of the year” could add value in several areas for your business during 2019.
Here are five possibilities. But I’m sure you can think of several more.
-
Office Environment and Furnishings
You may not be planning a major redecoration project at your facilities. However, color can play an important role when you do—or even when you add or replace desks, chairs, fabric panels, curtains and other components of the office environment.
The mellow warmth of Living Coral could add a relaxing freshness to the surroundings and bring a similar re-energizing of attitudes and spirits. Most people rearrange and replace things around their homes periodically. Perhaps it’s time to change up something in your workspace besides updated computers and technology.
-
Internal Communications
Even in this so-called “digital age” your people are exposed to plenty of printed material. It includes employee/human resources correspondence like memos and newsletters and the many business forms they process in the average month. A new look with a splash of color may attract new attention to tired forms. But it might add more than just a positive “vibe” to order forms, account statements, and invoices. That extra attention may help prevent errors born of robotic completion of repetitive forms.
But customers, who would receive the same subtle reinforcement also seen many of these forms. They may conclude that if they attune the company they deal with to modern fashion trends and practices, it is also “up to date” in other important ways, as well.
-
Advertising and Promotional Materials
Brochures, collateral materials, ads, direct mail campaigns, and other printed promotional pieces provide the same opportunity. New competitors join the fray in the marketplace every day. You score points with your target audiences when you present your company as aware and adapting to current trends and cultural preferences.
Designers at most professional advertising and graphics agencies are aware of these trends. But you might share this with any with whom you work. And follow the same energizing principles in any other such customer-facing materials your company generates. Unless your target audience is ‘museum curators” you don’t want to look like a dinosaur.
-
Events
Chances are, you host, sponsor or take part in several events throughout the year, from employee gatherings, golf outings, trade shows, seminars, “Lunch-and-Learn” sessions and more. You can use them to send a similar-but-subtle message that your company is progressive and equipped to make a difference for today’s customers.
When deciding on décor, select table drapes, tablecloths, centerpieces, podium accents and more with the color of the year in mind. The uplifting effects of a natural, “different-than-usual” color palette will be noticed and appreciated.
-
Promotional Items
As you know, I am a big believer in promotional items. (I’ve written about them recently.) Depending on your choice of items—which we can certainly help you with—you can take advantage of the impact of color there, too.
Many promotional items provide a great opportunity to use color to engage and motivate prospects. From tote and grocery bags to lanyards, padfolios, and apparel, the choice of colors available allow for plenty of creativity. Promotional items already have an impressive track record for being kept and used. Imagine how much more they will be appreciated when you add a warm, contemporary color like Living Coral.
Any Color Phone or Laptop Works
Just get in touch with us. We’ll help you incorporate the 2019 Pantone “Color of the Year” or some other popular choice into your business materials and environment. We’ve helped businesses work more efficiently for nearly 100 years and provided plenty of bright ideas along the way.
Our ISO 9001:2015 certification provides extra accountability. And our recently announced third consecutive Best of Print and Digital award proves our customers get the benefit! Contact Superior today and you will get colorful—and profitable—advice.
