Art

Pantone has the Marketing Magic

One of the most important things in marketing a brand is consistency. You want to design a logo that can be easily recognized and identified by mass consumer markets. One of the best ways to do that is by choosing colors that people can associate with your brand. Colors need to be unique and when combined with the design of the logo, become icons for that product.  The key here is brand identification and Pantone can help with that.

When a company chooses to pay for a trademark Pantone color, they don’t own the color but they do obtain rights to use that color in all of their marketing. This enables them to guarantee the exact same shade on all of the merchandise, advertising and even packaging. This consistency is what helps them retain customers over a wide variety of markets.  If you have a logo that is simple but consistent, your customers will be able to find you faster and more often.

From a legal standpoint, the rights to a trademark color are relatively narrow.  According to the Color Matters website, the color is only protected in the field the trademark is applied to. So the Tiffany & Co. teal could be used by a fast food chain and not infringe on their trademark rights.  This is to prevent color depletion when there are only a limited number of colors that exist. When a single color is not able to be trademarked, companies often resort to color and design combinations to create trademarked logos.

The use of trademarked colors has become common place, but most consumers don’t even realize how it affects their choices. People don’t often think about how many companies rely on trademarked Pantone colors for their designs.  Look over the list provided below and see if there are any that surprise you.

Brand Colors

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