Milliken ColorDirection 2021, thought leadership marketing in colour.

Milliken asked Dark Grey Europe to develop their annual thought leadership study on colour trends: ColorDirection 2021. A collection of colours based on wider emerging cultural and colour themes. Defining a central theme and selecting colours with the greatest resonance for the modern consumer.

Colours are unmistakably associated with people’s emotions and tastes and marketers are very aware of this. As a leader in colour additives for a variety of markets Milliken produces their annual ColorDirection report which aims to identify the most impactful colours of tomorrow to help guide their customers, foster trust and demonstrate leadership in this field.

Dark Grey Europe studied wider colour trends from sources such as Pantone and, combined with our own insights defined a global theme trend Harmonic Synergy. A bold take on colour, Milliken speaking with authority on the pleasing patterns that trigger positive emotions. Look at the awe-inspiring simplicity of a leaf and its cell structure, how it fits to the stem, the branch, tree, forest, landscape and continent, country and planet within a solar system. This is the story of the universe told in macro and micro chapters, using colours as both navigators and central characters.

Selecting 7 colours to fit this theme together with emotional imagery. Each colour’s name and story was written in line with the theme.

This was all expressed in a presentation and a short evocative video vignette which features as a main section on the Milliken global website.