Purple is the Colour of the Year 2018

Whilst we’re still in January we thought we’d let you know that Purple is the Colour of the Year 2018.

Purple was announced in December by The Pantone Color Institute, a consulting service within the Pantone organisation that forecasts trends in colour use.

The announcement was accompanied by a swatch from the Pantone Ultra Violet 18-3838.

Why purple? Well, in colour psychology, purple is the colour of mystery and non-conformity, counterculture and spirituality. It’s also a deeply cosy colour, warm and engulfing, luxurious even.

Purple is a colour between blue and red on the colour spectrum with blue being stable and conservative but red being hot and fiery. So purple is quite a mixture.

Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute said;

“We are living in a time that requires inventiveness and imagination. It is this kind of creative inspiration that is indigenous to PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet, a blue-based purple that takes our awareness and potential to a higher level,”

She continued:

“From exploring new technologies and the greater galaxy, to artistic expression and spiritual reflection, intuitive Ultra Violet lights the way to what is yet to come.”

That’s a very deep declaration but then purple is a very deep colour, if you’ll pardon the rock band pun.

Purple is a colour most associated with royalty, especially in Europe. Roman Emperors wore garments of Tyrean purple, produced from a dye that was both expensive and exclusive. The great expense of purple meant that purple-dyed textiles were seen as status symbols. Byzantine rulers actually passed laws that restricted the use of Tyrean purple to Imperial use, further cementing purple as the colour of rulers.

In popular culture we’ve had Jimi Hendrix bashing out riffs to Purple Haze, Prince singing about Purple Rain and the rock band Deep Purple.

There was a film by Steven Spielberg called “The Colour Purple” and the highest medal of honour in the United States’ military is the Purple Heart.

Famous Purple Brands

And now we come to a matter close to our own hearts – where do you see the colour purple in branding?

Well, the most iconic brand in the UK to use purple has to be Cadbury, the makers of chocolate and the well-known Dairy Milk. In 1914 the confectionery manufacturer started using purple as a tribute to Queen Victoria – purple was her favourite colour.

And did you know that in 2012 Cadbury won a high court battle where they prevented their rival Nestlé from using Pantone 2865c in their products? They even tried to trademark the colour as their own but lost that battle a few years later.

U.S. food giant Kraft Foods acquired Cadbury in 2010 but 20 years before that they brought Jacobs-Suchard which included the Swiss Milka brand of chocolate, another one heavily using purple in their palette.

Web service provider Yahoo’s brand is purple, as is that of international courier service FedEx, both brands that are both global and held in high regard.

Closer to home we have claire’s, the accessory vendor, and even closer again is The Sixth Form College Farnborough where they had an inspirational 99.2% pass rate in 2017.

There’s a copy of marketing guru Seth Godin’s Purple Cow on our Digital Marketing Manager’s desk and last but not least there’s your favourite digital agency in Hampshire, Clever Marketing.


Clever Marketing - Hampshire Digital AgencyAre you going to use purple in your communications in 2018? Do you have lofty aspirations and need a clever marketing agency to take you to a new level?

Give us a call on 01276 402 381 or fill in our easy contact form and we’ll be happy to design your purple logo, design you a purple website or market your purple products through print, SEO and PPC.