With the decorative coatings market enjoying solid sales growth in recent years, no firm wants to be left out with a palette that lacks punch. Decorative coatings manufacturers spend a considerable amount of time working on their palettes to keep their lines up to date, or even ahead of the curve, when it comes to color trends. And they do it with good reason: what's "in" and what's "out" seem to move faster and more furious these days. Trends from fashion, automotive and consumer electronics markets are moving at light speed into the paint business.

The hues seen on the fashion runways today are likely to be the colors consumers may want on their walls tomorrow (ok, maybe just one wall). Add to that the influence women have over color choice-and also where the paint will be purchased-and it's easy to see why architectural coatings manufacturers are taking more fashion-forward approaches to their offerings.

Meetings of the Minds
The importance of developing color concepts in the coatings business may pale in comparison to manufacturing issues such as meeting VOC regulations, finding the right resin or maintaining adequate supply during shortages. And with monikers such as nacho cheese (Benjamin Moore), whizz bang (Resene) and anchors aweigh (Pratt & Lambert), developing color names may seem like all fun and games. But creating a trendy collection and the marketing materials to successfully sell it, is serious business.

Color experts working for ICI Paints, for example, convene annually at a color forecasting summit to create their ColourFutures book, a marketing tool the company uses with contractors and editors.

The ColourFutures team, which includes ICI color experts from North America and Europe, exchanges ideas, creates themes and explores where the palette is heading; its 2006 edition is due out later this month.

Akzo Nobel has its own color group that meets yearly, and their work is published for professional color users, according to Per Nimér, who heads a Akzo Nobel's Decorative Coatings Aesthetic Center in Malmö, Sweden. "The same material is made consumer friendly and published in a consumer magazine twice a year," he added.

Smaller companies, too, invest a considerable amount of time and resources on their color collections and materials. Resene of New Zealand reinvents it color tools annually, updating its "The Range" fandeck with a collection of fashionable and contemporary colors it predicts will be in style for two years from the launch.

"We recognized for some time the need to regularly update the color offerings to provide consumers with the latest color trends. Traditional color charts do not allow this flexibility," said Karen Warman, marketing manager, Resene. "The previous fandeck is then withdrawn, so that at any one time, there is just one current The Range fandeck."

Paint makers operating in emerging markets are also paying closer attention to color trends. According to Shirley Ren, marketing executive and color advisor with Akzo Nobel Decorative Coatings (China) Ltd., the Levis brand will present new color cards this year, including cards for interior products and another for a metallic facade paint.

Akzo Nobel's Decorative Coatings business in China appears be on the right track with its efforts, having recently won the Grand Color Architecture and Ambience Award at the first ColorChina Grand Awards Ceremony, organized by the China Fashion Color Association. Akzo was the only decorative coatings company to be honored at the event, which was held in Beijing.

The Science of Inspiration
Color forecasting is not an exact science. Instead, color gurus are inspired by everything from fashion to pop culture to art exhibits to automobiles to consumer electronics. These sectors often help them better predict what hues their customers may some day want on their walls.

Dominique Pépin, a senior brand manager with Sico, says she reads "every magazine" in home décor from Canada, the U.S. and Europe, but often looks to the fashion industry for clues. "The best way to predict a trend color for paint is to look at fashion, mostly the runways and the stars at the Oscars and Grammy Awards, etc. The fashion people are the first to introduce the new trends," Pépin said.

Warman takes a similar tactic. "Fashion is probably the biggest driver of paint colors, as the colors we see in clothing are translated quickly into paint and homewares," she said.

Ren of Akzo Nobel also noted the diffusion between marketplaces. "The color in the [fashion] field will spread into the interior textile field, then the color of interior textile will affect the color change of interior space, and will penetrate into the home electrical appliance field," she said.

Home improvement mania is also influencing a greater number of DIY consumers-and those hiring professional painters–to use more color in their homes. Inspired by photographs in Better Homes and Gardens or This Old House and cable television shows such as "Debbie Travis' Painted House," "Design on a Dime" and "Clean Sweep," consumers are being exposed to bolder use of color in homes just like their own, rather than in high-end designer settings.

Peggy Van Allen, color marketing manager for Pratt & Lambert, noted the link between greater use of color and the popularity of home improvement media. "In general, there's more color. People are more influenced by TV shows and are getting more adventurous, whether it is accent color or a whole room."

ICI's color experts agree. "TV shows, such as HGTV, have developed a sense of confidence with people," said Krim Danzinger, a senior color consultant with ICI Paints in Cleveland.

Creating Media Bias
Rather than just hope an inspired customer picks their outlet or brand, coatings companies are doing more to entice customers. Looking to increase the odds that their own marketing materials will lead directly to a purchase, paint makers are now publishing slick shelter-style magazines of their own.

For example, Benjamin Moore recently published 05 Color, its new annual magazine, which it says is entirely devoted to color and helping to instill confidence and incite creativity among consumers in their decorating choices.

"The genesis for 05 Color was our color forecast," Doty Horn, Benjamin Moore's director of color and design, said about the magazine. "Each year we predict the paint palette that will influence and impact home fashion and design trends. Now we've given greater voice to this guidepost with help from important interior designers who lend their interpretation to these current hues." Benjamin Moore also pooled together top design journalists and photographers to create the publication, which will be sold exclusively at Benjamin Moore retailers for $3.95 ($4.95 in Canada).

Resene has also taken on a custom-publishing project, producing Habitat magazine. In addition to paint, the magazine covers design, renovation and refurbishment, including features guiding customers on linen and rug selection, recovering sofas and environmentally friendly decorating.

Moving beyond the Neutral zone?
Spurred on by the plethora of home improvement/design shows, magazines and web sites, and a greater influx of good design in many settings, even the tried-and-true "off white" customers are willing to take chances when it comes to interior paint.

Interestingly, colors used in private settings are taking their cue from public spaces, with travel and retail influencing the residential market, according to color experts. "Restaurants and hotels and such often carry the newest colors and trends, which then will filter down to the residential market," said Nimér of Akzo Nobel.

Yet while there's a lot of talk about bold, saturated colors, most people still opt for neutrals or white when it comes to their homes. Recognizing this, paint makers are expanding their offerings within these categories. Dunn-Edwards, for example, has 96 very pigmented accent colors plus 100 white colors in its newest collection.

It appears Canadians are also more comfortable with lighter shades. "A study I ran last spring with Ipsos Reid showed that 65% of Canadians prefer serene colors to bolder colors," said Pépin of Sico, which has created a collection of "spa" inspired colors. Shades include cotton ball (a subtle, lightly colored white), pea blossoms (a white rich in warmth and depth) and bottled water (a refreshing, moisturizing blue).

Still, color experts contend customers are developing a greater appreciation for color. "People are understanding that a neutral can have color under it," said Van Allen of Pratt & Lambert. For its new Never Compromise Color System, Pratt & Lambert retained about 80% of its original platte, adding new colors inspired by the latest interior design color forecasts. "We added deep reds-that's color that's bold, but it's one that people get a bit more and are willing to try," Van Allen said.

"People are seeing all different ways to use color, and retail has spurred that on," added Danzinger of ICI Paints. "When someone wants color and they see it in retail, it's intriguing."

Setting the right stage at retail is key, according to color experts.

Pratt & Lambert's new display has more of a furniture feel to it, which is inviting to women, key decision-makers when it comes to color in the home. In addition, Pratt & Lambert has created color personality profiles to help consumers find color combinations, inspiration cards with the color names and numbers that are used in the photographs, and oversized color chips with patented pop-out centers that allow homeowners to layer color combinations and more easily hold the color chips over fabric swatches or carpet samples.

Even packaging is becoming more of a fashion statement. Devoe will soon launch Regency, a complete collection of colors from ICI's ColourFutures book. Completely focused on ICI's five key trends, even Regency's packaging is designed to appeal to those who recognize good design.

All this attention on color is good for the decorative paint industry. But getting people to recognize how easy it is to refresh their spaces with minimal time and money using paint, is imperative. Leading paint makers taking a proactive approach to be on top of trends are recognizing the benefits.

"More and more, the paint industry, and ICI, is becoming more aware of how important trends are," said Danzinger. "It's a great selling point.