In corporate branding is pink still only for girls?
In a male dominated corporate world there is still a lot of push back on the use of pink and purple as part of a corporate colour scheme. Men don’t come out and say pink is for girls, but they find reasons not to have it in their brand.
First thing is first. The pink is for girls, blue is forboys construct , is just that, a construct. Made by marketers like me tohelp sell more product.
But it’s not even always been a consistent construct.
In 1918 according to “Ladies’ Home Journal” it was actually the other way round.
“The generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.”
https://jezebel.com/5790638/the-history-of-pink-for-girls-blue-for-boys
This consensus on the meaning of colours has always changed from year to year and from region to region.
With that said I’m not suggesting that we should ignore the psychology of colours, I use the psychology of colours to support my design decisions all the time, for example there is plenty of research behind why almost every fast food brand in the world uses red, but what I am suggesting is that we shouldn’t be so rigid in our views.
In 2019 I find it strange that pink is for girls is still a thing.
I’m still having to unbrainwash my children about it. “If you want to wear pink son, go ahead. There is nothing wrong with that.”
Tough men can wear pink too. And girls can wear blue if they want.
Now I don’t want to get into a gender identification debate, and don’t get me started on gender reveals, so let’s stick with the corporate world for now.
Pinks, Magentas and Purples have been becoming more and more popular branding colours over the last few years. They often help brands identify as being progressive, modern, cutting edge, brave, bold, energetic, passionate and dynamic.
To me these colours aren’t so much about romance, love and girliness unless you make them a more pastel soft colour or plaster your brand with love hearts and sparkles (Men can love sparkles too!).
Yet despite this surge in the use of this part of the colour spectrum, I still get regular push back from the heavily male dominate corporate board level decision makers.
A lot of this push back is subconscious bias. We don’t hear, people come straight out and say they think pink is a colour for girls, as most people in a corporate environment at-least pretend to be more socially aware these days, but what we do get is a large range of excuses as to why they don’t think pink works for them and their brand.
I regularly get told that pink doesn’t work well with blue, even though they’re next door to each other in the colour spectrum and there are tons of examples of pink and purple working magnificently.
there are tons of examples of pink and purple working magnificently.
One of my favourites was that “we can’t use pink because it’s the colour of brothels in Asia.” I so wanted to ask if this insight of theirs was from personal experience.
All this push back is despite some of the worlds biggest and most corporate brands actually already having adopted these colours.
Brands such as MYOB and Telstra Business have recently used these colours for business sectors that have in the past been traditionally blue, blue and more blue.
MYOB – https://www.myob.com/au
Telstra Business – https://www.telstra.com.au/business-enterprise
I’m not saying we need to paint the town pink like T-Mobile and their Magenta shop, and let’s face it colour fads come and go, but just like the marketers that set the ‘pink is for girls’ trend in the first place, I am a person who’s job it is to sell more of your product and sometimes, pink is a useful tool, even if your brand is not Hello Kitty.
T-Mobile have a Magenta online and physical store dedicated to Magenta to help promote their brand – https://www.bemagenta.com
To some people I’m frustratingly passionate about design. Feeling the need to write a thousand words about the use of pink, may seem excessive. But to my long-term clients, with whom we’ve successfully partnered to built strong brands that are growing globally, it’s this passion about design decisions and how best to use all the design tools we have at our disposal that I hope sets me apart.
As always I could be wrong about all this, and I’d love to hear your feedback and insights on the topic so I can add your thinking to my mental database for better decision making.
If you weren’t already on board I hope this article helps free you from the dichotomy surrounding pink, and if pink becomes useful to your brand in the future that you are able to use it without repression.
Andre Ash – Colour Ash
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