The post-recession world is moving away from the blacks and gray's of 2009 and embracing blues, whites and warm golden yellows, said branding analysts.
Discussing the importance of colours for brands, Shaun Loftman, Creative Director, Landor Associates, Middle East and North Africa and South Asia, told Emirates Business: "In just the same way as a person's entire physical appearance and demeanor contributes to the way we perceive and react to them, it is the same with brands and businesses.
"Colour just so happens to be one of the most prominent and possibly the most visible codes that a company, business or brand has at its disposal."
Colour is one of the very important factors in brand building as it helps to communicate the brand's attributes. This is because colour is the strongest visual signal. It not only helps define categories of businesses and products, it can be the most exclusive and differentiating asset owned by a brand.
That's why some companies have registered their colours. For example, Kodak has registered its signature yellow and Milka its purple.
Etisalat, the country's biggest telecom provider, stuck to the colour green even after it went in for a rebranding exercise, as market research showed that consumers associate the colour green with it.
Loftman said: "With so much emotional and psychological meaning now attached to the way we perceive colour, it has never been so important for brands to be properly represented. As society's awareness and appreciation has become increasingly more sophisticated we pick up on every single cue with regards to shade, tone and texture of colour."
So what are the colours that will dominate 2010?
According to Landor Associates' Cincinnati Design Director Jack Bredenfoerder's predictions for colour trends that will dominate 2010, this year will witness a major shift away from the cautious neutrals, grays, browns, and blacks of 2009.
This year will see a revival of International Klein Blue, which relates to people's search for a global, let's-work-together unifying colour; it represents not only the environmental challenges we must solve together but also the social and political ones.
Expect to see a lot of white, which reflects a desire to simplify and clear the palette in an uncertain economy. Also, warm golden yellows, which are linked to a desire for the stability of a new gold standard.
This spring will also bring the 1960s-inspired sherbet soft pastels and tropical brights as a "road to recovery" statement. Consumers are tired of cutting back to make ends meet – they need some joy in their daily lives! Warm hibiscus reds, turquoise, sunset purples, golden yellows, and magentas will play on grounds of white and watery pastels throughout the summer.
By fall these tropical brights will become dramatic accents for a rich, stable, dark, and comforting ground of black, golden chestnut brown, cherry wood, charcoal blue-gray, merlot, and burgundy.
Greens are in the mix for 2010 as well: expect brighter, gold-influenced greens in spring and summer, then jewel-tone, blue-side emerald greens mixed with turquoise for the fall.
Bredenfoerder said: "But, of course, these trends are already upon us – just look around you. The spring and fall collections of Marc Jacobs, Oscar De La Renta, Ralph Lauren, and Calvin Klein all play on these colour directions. The desire for joy is also seen in the stories as well as the vivid colours on screen in the many fantasy, adventure, and escapist-type movies in theaters this year (such as 3D blockbusters Avatar and Alice in Wonderland). And international colour authority Pantone recently selected turquoise as its colour of the year."
So do colours really play a role in the success or failure of a brand?
Loftman said: "The question here is if there are significant triggers that we find acceptable (or not), energising (or not), appetising (or not). It has been scientifically proven that red activates the metabolism, so it is no wonder that most fast-food brands heavily favour red.
"During the 1980s 'Wendy's' burger chain experimented with a rebranding programme that used a range of blues. Needless to say it was a total flop. It was perceived that the environment was far too cold to enjoy a hot meaty burger and piping hot fries.
"Today, Tiffany stands head and shoulders above everyone else in the crowded malls with a colour totally unique and 100 per cent ownable right across the universe of fashion brands."
Colour does not exist in a vacuum; context is key.
It's not just which yellow or green a brand chooses – it's how the colours are combined with other design elements to create a compelling brand expression. For example, when BP's visual identity was redesigned, the core colours yellow and green were kept but brightened with new yellow-greens and white to accentuate the helios burst icon. The new identity successfully signalled BP's desire to transform itself from a petroleum company to a responsible, 21st century energy brand.
According to Bredenfoerder: "Colour is often the first design element that consumers notice and the last thing they think about before making a purchase. For this reason, it is very important that a designer's colour choices are solidly linked to the brand strategy and brand expression. There are a few cases where colour is the driver of brand recognition, such as Tiffany & Co, UPS, Orange and Nexium, but in most cases colour is the seasoning that differentiates and organises the brand."
To select the right colour for a brand, designers need a good brand strategy and design brief – the recipe – but they also need the chance to modify and enhance it to create a unique brand experience. Catering to the masses should not be the goal. For example, the longstanding purple and orange colours of the FedEx brand are seasoned with other colours to organize the brand's architectural elements. Colour serves as a way finding device to help customers distinguish FedEx's assorted services such as ground delivery and custom critical.
According to Bredenfoerder, another thing that brands need to keep in mind in today's world dominated by the digital media and computers has changed the way colour is used. The identification and way finding qualities of colour are more important than ever as the world tries to find and share information quickly and participate in digital communities. Bredenfoerder said: "Today's monitors and screens allow us to view a larger gamut of colour, and high definition allows a new level of detail.
"A greater variety of colours can be experienced because we are viewing pure light – it is projected, not reflected. The challenge for designers has been consistency among hardware, but calibration and colour standards are making solid strides.
"Currently, 3-D is a novelty, but it's expected to go mainstream soon, and multisensory virtual reality will follow – all exciting opportunities for experiencing colour on new levels."
However, the biggest thumb rule that companies need to keep in mind is that whatever colours they choose to represent their brand, they must make sure they convey the message and image of the brand.
Step by step
When building the colour strategy for a design think about the following elements: Physical aspects of colour involve both the academics of colour theory and colour physics. Will the pigments be compatible and durable for your product? Will light affect the colour?
What type of printing, media, or production methods will be used, and what is the gamut of colours available for the process? Is the colour design balanced? Does it need to be balanced?
Cultural aspects of colour consider regional and group concerns. Are the colours inappropriate due to established cultural or regional associations?
For example, are you selling soccer wear in Italy in colours reminiscent of the French national team?
Psychological aspects of colour facilitate emotional and intuitive connections between brands and consumers. Colour can conjure memories and stimulate the senses. It can also add delight if used in unexpected ways.
Qualitative research about colour messages can be helpful when colours are presented in context with the rest of the design – and preferably, in the environment the consumer will experience it.
Colour direction and forecasting is the most often misunderstood and ignored part of a strong colour strategy. For colour forecasting, it is important to look at current trends and cycles. But if you are going to predict the direction the colour trends are going, you must consider major influences.