Do you speak colour?

Without colour, our world and especially our world of cosmetics would be half as beautiful. Colour is everywhere. Every object around us has a colour when exposed to light. From vibrant green bodied red-eyed tree frogs with their yellow and blue striped sides, or bright pink blossoms ready for pollination, to orange blue gradients in the evening sky – nature speaks magically through the visible electromagnetic spectrum. All these fascinating colours are so self-evident for us that we don’t think any more about what colour is and how to describe it. Colour seems to be a simple appearance, but it is the result of a complex interplay that can only be understood by digging into different scientific disciplines from physics, biology, psychology and chemistry, to neuroscience and cultural studies. To break it down: Colour can be viewed as a language. A language that uses defined words and follows a certain syntax with theoretical basics that need to be learned and understood in order to use it. As in any other language, communication will be challenging, if we don’t speak it properly. It can lead to misunderstandings with the person we try to talk to, which may end up in frustration and missed opportunities. The good news is everyone can learn to speak the beautiful language of colour. And it does not need too much effort to gain a basic level.

Colour Communication

Surprisingly, in our cosmetic industry where colour is everywhere and where it is such a crucial characteristic of the products we offer, we do not always know how  to speak the language of colour properly. Be it amongst us internally or towards our customers. We probably all attended a team meeting where colour was a topic and terms like Hextity code or CMYK colour values were exchanged or someone tried to express a colour subject or a colour description in their own words, but in the end, there was a mixed feeling that there is no common understanding. This can create the attitude to leave this complicated colour stuff

to the experts and just work around it somehow. But this should not be the way. Not only is colour everywhere; the language of colour is for everyone. Interestingly, the beauty industry is deeply related to colour but hasn’t stepped into more internal colour know-how, technology, standardisation, and detailed colour communication yet compared to other industries. But there are two megatrends in cosmetics happening at a fast pace: digitalisation and personalisation. Only companies who will manage to communicate colour properly, will take advantage of these megatrends.

DNA of a colour cosmetics brand

The perfect shade is purchase decision number one for the customer. The colours we choose reflect our personality and express who we are. We select shades to show our Hextity, feelings, or ambitions – colour is a vital ingredient in enriching our daily lives. Therefore, a cosmetics brand must build a clear, well-structured product portfolio, which is thoughtfully selected and created with a customerfocus. Reliable and accurate colour values are the starting point for the customer’s journey and the overall colour management cycle of the product. It should be easy for the customer to find the perfect colour, to virtually try it on, and to make a confident purchase decision online or on the shelf. Following the beauty trends of personalisation, digitalisation, and increasing online sales, beauty brands should make sure to communicate colour right. Internally in conception, product development, production, marketing and sales, and to the suppliers with increasingly complex, fragmented, and multi-level supply chains. And of course, colour must be communicated right to the customer.

A long journey

While customers can fall for a stunning shade in print advertising or on a screen, the actual colour of the real- world product is sometimes not the same. Differences in production process, format, packaging, communication, or chemical structure can mean that the visionary shade of a product may not make it to the final stage. There may also be key, indemand shades missing in a palette, that cosmetics brands want to produce, but have no idea how to communicate the actual colour deviation during the production process with their suppliers. This gap between idea and reality can leave opportunities missed, bruising profits and reputation, and at the end of the chain, leave the customers disappointed. To make the highest quality products, the colour process needs to match, from input to output.

The influential customer

We will see fewer and fewer customers standing at the counter of a department store testing samples of lipsticks on the back of their hand while hearing from the shop assistant the latest trends. Instead, we see more young women and men taking selfies with their smartphones, applying a product virtually, and sharing this image with friends over social networks before hitting the “buy” button. The times when Henry Ford claimed “My customers can have their car in any colour they want, as long as it’s black” are long foregone. Marketing is not a one-way street anymore going from the brand to the customer. The customers shape colour trends and it is a big opportunity for beauty brands to acquire this information by being close to their customer base. It is about connecting via social media and giving the users tools to be creative where they can express their individuality for example by virtual mirror apps or colour selections tools.

And of course, colours must be displayed and described as accurately as possible at every level.

50 shades of pink

In projects with international cosmetics companies, the same following questions arose: What is the actual colour value of the lipstick ‘Pink Coral’? How can the defined colour value ‘Pink Coral’ be communicated in a colour-compliant manner into other channels? E.g. online and print. How can colour swatches be digitised for reliable colour communication? There are 14 other lipsticks in the lipstick palette; how close are they to each other colourimetrically and are there too many similar or perhaps missing colours? Is it possible to simplify the palette, distribute it more evenly and thus make it easier for the customer to make a purchase decision? Should we present 15 well-chosen lipstick shades, or dowe throw 50 in the palette just to cover what the competition offers with the risk that the customer gets overwhelmed? Keywords to answer all those questions are colour vision, colour theory, colour harmony, colour management, reproduction, and colour communication. In other words, speaking the language of colour. Sounds dry and complex? Yes and no. Colour is playful, surprising, and beautiful. Colour can and should be learned by everyone, who is working with colour daily.