Every year since 2000, Pantone announces their pick for color of the year, resulting in a mix of excitement, apathy and ridicule. Whatever side you land on, it begs the question…how does it affect our business?
In the announcement of their color choice, Pantone explained, “Suggestive of the sky at dusk, the reassuring qualities of the thought-provoking PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue highlight our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era.”
This will likely affect our business in several different areas. However, they’re all connected in the fact that the choice for Classic Blue is indicative of much larger trend on the rise: intentional simplicity.
We live in uncertain times; people feel socially and politically divided, anxious and overstimulated. In fact, in a 2019 PEW study, 48% of people reported that they are “very worried about the ability of political leaders to solve the country’s biggest problems”. On top of that, the ADAA reports that over 18% of Americans suffer from an anxiety disorder. It’s possible that the choice of Classic Blue isn’t only a prediction for 2020, but perhaps a reflection of 2019 (and recent years). This could indicate that consumers are increasingly drawn to clean, calming, no-nonsense solutions and aesthetics.
Classic Blue and simplistic elements will continue becoming more prominent in design – consider eCommerce websites, print material and sublimation on apparel and hard goods. The promotional products industry becomes friendlier to custom, sublimated options each year, making color and design a consistently-growing component of our business. Even if the SKU isn’t available in Classic Blue, your options to incorporate it into thousands of products and applications are available.
There’s some skepticism over whether or not Pantone’s Color of the Year causes suppliers to incorporate the color into stock product. Though, this year could be a bit different. According to Foundr, 33% of the world’s top 100 brands use blue in their logo, making it much easier to embrace in an industry often constrained by brand standards.
Industry Perspectives:
“This color is sensational for all genders and ages, making it super appealing. So many people are so stringent on their branding guidelines and their investment in those guidelines that I think they are more cognizant of sticking to them on the hard goods side. On the apparel side, it’s fantastic for our name brands like Puma because it allows for more freedom for the person to pick what they want.”
- Britney Godsey, VP of Sales at Goldbond Inc.
“I don’t think it has any effect on people’s buying. In past years, we’ve actually brought in product based on the PMS color of the year…no additional sales ever seemed to come of it. Companies have their brand colors and will stick to them. Rarely will they deviate.”
- Dan Edge, National Sales Manager for Peerless Umbrella.
“Personally, I’m not a huge fan of the classic blue color. I thought they’d go more with a purple hue. I think we’ll see more suppliers make products in that classic blue color just as people did with coral the year before.”
- Jason Lucash, Founder of Origaudio and Senior VP of Marketing and Innovation at Hub
You might ask yourself, “Oh god, did I just read an entire article about the color blue?”
Before you rethink your life decisions, remember that Leonardo Di Vinci once said, “Details make perfection, and perfection is not a detail.” People might consider it a waste of time to dissect the “arbitrary” decision made by a for-profit organization. While there’s some truth to that, we can’t ignore the details that push us toward excellence. If we pause to consider how the Pantone Color of the Year affects promo, retail brands, design and an underlying desire for simplicity, we can prepare for the future and better understand ourselves and our customers.