The growth of personalisation and customisation trends is fuelling demand for products that appeal to shoppers on a deeper level. But colour codes and cues create a variety of meanings across different cultures, categories and situations.
For example, colour can indicate how to navigate situations and guide decision-making, as in the case of food nutrition labels. It can also signal personal identity, whether through fashion, cosmetics, or even food and drink.
Colours evoke moods and emotions, too – red is seen as an energising shade, for instance, while yellow is associated with joy. Together, these two perspectives allow brands to build a comprehensive understanding of how colour can be used to cater to different consumer needs and create a compelling narrative.
Moving beyond the traditional annual colour forecast, and building on more than 40 years’ experience, the Netherlands-based GNT has launched ground-breaking research that empowers food and beverage brands to devise tailor-made solutions for the modern market.
The research combines consumer psychology and semiotics to deliver unique insights into how colour generates meaning across products, brands, and categories, enabling manufacturers to create powerful stories and stand out in their category.
Maartje Hendrickx, Market Development Manager at GNT, says: “It’s clear that a one-size-fits-all approach to colour is rapidly becoming dated. As a service provider, innovation has always been in our DNA and this trail-blazing project enables us to help customers find the cutting-edge colouring solutions they need to strengthen their market position and reach new audiences.”
Created alongside professional semioticians, The Power of Colour explores the many ways in which colour sends out messages on a conscious and subconscious level.
For an inside-out perspective, it uses psychology to explore consumer motivations. It examines the tensions that drive product and brand choices, such as the desire for pleasurable yet permissible food and drink.
The second phase uses semiotics to provide an outside-in perspective, showing how colour can help to deliver on these motivations and needs.
Jill Janssen, GNT’s Power of Colour lead, said: “Colour can send out any number of messages about brands and products. It might signal a moment of blissful escapism, tell stories about origins and processes, showcase powerful ingredients, or help to highlight healthy formulations.”
The Power of Colour helps brands think about colour in a new way, delving deeper than ever before into its cultural power while also exploring the psychology behind colour trends.
The GNT Group is internationally renowned for its Exberry portfolio, the leading global brand in colouring foods. Exberry is the global market leader in plant-based concentrates manufactured from edible fruit, vegetables and plants using only gentle physical methods such as chopping, boiling and filtering.
The brand provides the widest range on the market, comprising more than 400 shades, for practically all food and drink, including confectionery, dairy and bakery products, soft and alcoholic beverages and savoury applications. (https://exberry.com)
