We are leaving the age of neutral!

It’s finally time – we’re leaving the age of the neutral. And to be fair, it’s been happening for a while now! If you’re someone who uses Pinterest, you’ve probably seen all of the “colour drenching” trends going around – or even if you’re on Instagram reels scrolling about how millennial grey is on its way out! People are leaning into maximal design, bringing colour into their homes, re-victorian-izing (that’s a word now, I decided) their spaces that have been slowly “modernized” over the years, and moving distinctly toward opulent, lovely, joyful decorating.

And honestly? The same goes for branding. Branding is getting, well… more fun! Even companies that lean into neutral branding are bringing in vibrant pops of colours that have been posited to appeal to Gen Z, and I’m 110% here for it.

Neutral branding was never for everyone.

That’s not to say branding wasn’t always fun, even if I’m a little biased. What I AM saying, is with these changes in the tone of decorating and design, branding is shifting too. It’s getting more vibrant, more engaging, and overall less… neutral.

I’ve said for a while now that neutral branding isn’t for everyone – it never has been, but it does have its place. Some businesses NEED neutral branding, because it speaks directly to their ideal clients, and lines up with the values that underlie their business – or matches the design of products/art/etc that they sell. There are TOTALLY reasons to stick with your neutral branding, even through these changes in the tides. Which is to say: YES. Neutral branding DOES still work, as long as you’re using it for grounded, strategic, specific reasons.

But if you’ve been using neutral branding because it’s trendy… there’s a solid chance it’s not going to work for you the way it has been up to now.

Trends Change

Trends are fleeting, we all know that. Trends ALSO come back around, which all of us 90s babies are watching happen now. I mean, have you seen the butterfly bralettes out there now? They’re giving 1997 and there’s no one who will change my mind. Flare bottom jeans? BACK. Little pieces pulled out of your bangs? BACK, BABY. So, so back. And that’s how all of these collective cultural preferences cycle in and out.

We went through a phase, all of us, of streamlined, neutral, somewhat cool-toned preferences in decorating and design. Clean lines, cold marble. And that’s okay! It’s ALSO okay that it’s on its way out.

What it means for you though, is if you’ve leaned into trendy neutrals in your branding simply because they’re trendy, then there’s a chance those choices are going to stop working for you in the way they were. Because people buying for trends are going to shift their preferences, and if you don’t… there’s a chance you’ll be left behind in the shuffle.

That’s a totally different situation though, if you’re using neutral tones because they’re what your ideal clients are drawn to, and what they’ll continue being drawn to when the trends fully flip over into a new, vibrant world.

This trend change is an opportunity.

So let’s say you DO use neutral branding, and you DID choose it simply because of the trends out there pointing you in the direction of neutral colours. That makes this change a HUGE opportunity for you, to create branding content that will appeal to your ideal clients in the long-term!

It’s time to evaluate who your ideal client is, and do some market research on what appeals to them specifically. So… go looking! Create the profile for your ideal client, and poll those people. Check out what they’re following online. See what choices they’re making in decorating, and what they’re drawn to aesthetically. And then… make some branding changes, either yourself, or through a pro!

Is a switch from neutral to vibrant for you and your business?

It might be time for some big changes, depending on what you find in your research. OR, it might mean making NO changes, and continuing to do exactly what you have been doing! But either way, it’s never a bad idea to check out what’s going on in the branding world, and what’s going on with your ideal clients. You might even find that your ideal client has changed as your business has evolved, and that it means you need to make some targeted changes to your content as a result of THAT, not at all as a result of trend changes!

And if you DO find out you need to make some changes, then people like me are here for you. Just reach out, and we can discuss making some overall changes to your branding – whether you need to go in a more vibrant direction, or not!

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