This is Nude.
A campaign that redefined the colour nude, and further helped Pantone become synonymous with being inclusive.
PANTONE.
Recognised globally for their colour expertise, PANTONE Color Institute continually review the colour names in their palettes to make sure they properly resonate with the times.
However, we noticed they had missed one name, which was outdated and exclusionary – a beige colour chip, Nude.
STARTING POINT
Keeping up with the times
The way we use a single word can have a big impact on people. Nude isn’t just a single beige-hued colour. It stands for a variety of shades, making it something very personal.
Sparked by the mishap, we built our own brief and approached Pantone proactively, presenting an idea that would right a wrong and boost the sales of Pantone’s new product. We targeted those working in design, fashion & beauty.
It all started off with a renaming of the said chip from Nude to Peach Taffy.
This is Nude celebrates people of the world – no matter their personal colour code. The simple, yet punchy campaign message supported the thinking behind the goal – to empower each other and to start a conversation within the industries that work with colour each day, and beyond.
APPROACH
Nudus (Latin) – naked, plain
CREATIVE IDEA
This is Nude.
FIRST
The colour Nude was renamed.
THEN
The newly expanded SkinTone™ Guide got released.
AND BEST OF ALL
The supporting campaign went live.
The powerful name change by Pantone was followed by a series of beautiful portraits of six individuals – each confident in their own skin.
The campaign helped launch the newly expanded PANTONE SkinTone Guide with 28 new shades, making it a total of 138 – all sampled from real people around the world in order to successfully represent the full spectrum of human skin tones.
Media: Instagram, pantone.com, DOOH, industry online+print publication, industry online media.
EXECUTION
Heroing six incredible people
RESULTS
360 campaign with no media budget
Pantone shared the campaign on Instagram (3.6M followers), linking to the campaign article on pantone.com. The article also starred in Viewpoint Color design magazine both print and online as a double-page spread, and received multiple industry press mentions. The assets ran as (pro bono) DOOH executions across Ocean Outdoor locations.
All of this with zero media spend and a very limited budget.
“Updating our color names, expanding the color palette in our PANTONE® SkinTone™ Guide and developing PANTONE SkinTone Validated software that can faithfully reproduce skin tone color in a print and digital environment are just some of the steps we have taken to highlight the recognition that the color nude is different for everyone.”
Laurie Pressman
Vice-President, Pantone Color Institute