Purple: The Impact of Brand Perception — Skillbox Articles

Contents:

• The Psychological and Cultural Meaning of the Color Purple
• Tenderness: Milka
• Value: Hallmark
• Uniqueness: FedEx
• The World of Imagination: Monster High
• Creativity: Yahoo

Purple is a color that results from mixing red and blue, representing their harmonious unity. It combines the cool tranquility and stability of blue with the dynamics and power of red. This is why purple is often perceived as a symbol of duality, uniting two contrasting forces.

We explore the meaning of purple in various fields, such as psychology, culture, and branding.

• Tenderness: Milka
• Value: Hallmark
• Uniqueness: FedEx
• Fantasy World: Monster High
• Creativity: Yahoo

The Psychological and Cultural Meaning of Purple

A color that has absorbed two opposite sides, it is perceived as something mysterious, associated with mysticism and spirituality. Therefore, it is often used to depict supernatural and magical themes. Characters such as fairies, wizards, and magicians who appear in fairy tales are often dressed in purple. This shade also resembles the boundless evening sky, and nowadays it is actively used to visualize space – it attracts and fascinates.

Last year, the Pantone Institute declared the violet shade the color of the year. The company's experts noted that the color 17-3938 Very Peri is designed to inspire creativity and resourcefulness. As a reminder, the 2018 Color of the Year was 18-3838 Ultra Violet, described as provocative and profound, reflecting the spirit of invention.

Purple is often found in spaces dedicated to meditation and mindfulness practices, as it has historically been associated with spirituality. This symbolism is reflected in various religious traditions. For example, in Catholicism, purple is associated with the periods of Advent and Lent, where it symbolizes repentance and prayer. In Islam, purple represents the divine essence and illusion, and in Judaism, this color is associated with redemption and purification through God.

The color purple is also associated with luxury and wealth. This is because purple dyes began to be produced in Byzantium, specifically in Phoenician Tyre. To obtain this dye, several species of mollusks native to the Mediterranean were used, which had to be first collected and then processed. This unique color became known as Tyrian purple. The dye production process was extremely labor-intensive and time-consuming, making it quite expensive. Therefore, only the most influential individuals—kings, emperors, and high-ranking church officials—could afford fabrics of this shade. Purple became a symbol of power and a special mark of distinction.

In this context, Homer uses purple in his Iliad:

"... Immediately after this, Achilles gave orders to his companions and maids."

Two beds, furnished with beautiful pillows, could be placed in the entryway.

"Make a purple bed and cover it with carpets on top..."

Thus, the poet emphasizes that the monarch ordered the most luxurious bed of all available options to be made for his guests.

In 1856, a new era for purple shades began. Scientist William Perkin, conducting research in the field of medicine, accidentally discovered a synthetic dye, which was named after the mallow flower - mauveine. This color became available to a wider audience and quickly gained popularity. In 1859, one satirical magazine even dubbed the craze for purple "purple measles." During his visit to London, the French philosopher Hippolyte Taine noticed that English women preferred overly bright clothes and even suggested that they might have vision problems.

The French Impressionists had a real passion for the color purple. Their fascination with this hue provoked outrage among critics, who even coined the term "violetomania," alluding to some strange malady. This color, like a light haze, regularly appears in the works of such masters as Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, and Paul Gauguin.

In the 1960s, purple became an important part of pop culture. Hippies used it as a symbol of fantasy, spiritual exploration, and expanding consciousness. Musicians used the hue to stand out, demonstrate their uniqueness, and break away from accepted norms. Jimi Hendrix often appeared on stage in purple shirts or scarves, and Prince favored purple suits and vests while playing a purple guitar. One of his famous songs is called Purple Rain, which translates as "Purple Rain."

The color purple is often associated with imagination and artistic expression. This may be due to its rarity in nature and the fact that in the past it was difficult to access for use in clothing and interior design. Additionally, deep shades of purple symbolize bold and bright ideas, while lighter tones convey an atmosphere of tenderness and tranquility.

Purple shades are not so often used in branding and marketing. Often this color is confused with pink or blue, which can cause misunderstandings. In addition, purple does not encourage spontaneous purchases or actions. Therefore, it is chosen by those companies that want to emphasize the sophistication of their products or their uniqueness. For example, this may be relevant for creative agencies or manufacturers of original products. Light purple is often used as a substitute for pink when a sense of tenderness is needed while avoiding gender associations. This approach makes purple universal: it suits everyone - women, men, and children.

We found several brands that use purple tones in their strategies.

Tenderness: Milka

Milka chocolate was introduced to the Swiss market in 1901. Its name is derived from two German words: milch, which translates as "milk," and kakao, meaning "cocoa." Currently, the brand belongs to the American company Mondelez International, and products under this name are available for sale throughout the world.

The original packaging of the chocolate product was lilac-colored, and the company has maintained this color for over a hundred years. The design of the wrapper has also remained virtually unchanged: since its inception, it depicts a cow and a shepherd against a backdrop of mountains. The unique lilac color of the packaging allowed it to stand out among the brown and beige packaging of competing brands on store shelves.

The Milka trademark was only officially registered in the 1960s, when the purple color became its signature color and distinctive feature. Since then, tenderness has become the central theme of Milka's advertising campaigns, which is reflected in the color of the packaging. One of the first slogans of this period was "The most delicate chocolate pleasure," followed by the phrases "The most delicate temptation" and "Dare to be delicate."

In 1972, on the initiative of the Young & Rubicam agency, a unique advertising campaign was created in which the main character was a live cow. Designer Peter Schmidt created her image for the packaging, and within a year, she appeared in print ads and on television. A real cow, named Lila, which means "purple" in German, was hired for these shoots. The lilac cow quickly gained popularity and became not only the central element of the packaging, but also the brand's mascot.

Unlike traditional mascots, Lila was designed based on a real image, which gives its figurines a more natural look. Large, life-size cow sculptures can be found in shopping malls and on city streets. In 2015, the company unveiled the lilac Milka Muhboot, carrying an impressive Lila figure that has been traveling the rivers of Germany and Austria for several years.

Company representatives state: "We strive to highlight the unique sensation of the soft melting of Milka Alpine milk chocolate." They achieve this through the use of color schemes that align harmoniously with slogans and promotions that inspire expressions of tenderness.

Value: Hallmark

In 1910, the Hall brothers founded Hallmark Cards, Inc. in Kansas City, starting out selling greeting cards. Today, the brand offers a wide range of holiday products, including cards, gift wrap, souvenirs, and decorative items.

The logo was developed at the time of the company's founding in 1910. To emphasize its family-owned nature, the family name was used in the name. The sign itself was handwritten, and as was common in the era, its design was based on the handwriting of one of the brand's founders.

A few years after the business launched, interest in the cards significantly waned, and sales began to decline. At that time, it was common to mail cards without envelopes, in the "open letter" style. Seeking a way to improve this, the brothers decided to use envelopes for their cards, allowing them to be treated like regular letters—the contents of the card being accessible only to the recipient. This idea proved successful and resonated with customers.

In 1915, the Hall brothers began producing their own greeting cards, and by 1917, they had expanded their product line to include gift wrapping. Seeking to demonstrate the company's progress and emphasize the high quality of their products, they decided to change both their name and logo, replacing Hall Brothers with Hallmark. The brothers found the play on words quite appealing: by adding the word "mark" to their surname, they created a phrase meaning "quality mark" or "distinguishing mark."

The term "Hallmark" originally referred to the hallmark that London craftsmen placed on jewelry in the 14th century to certify its superior quality.

In 1928, the company registered the Hallmark trademark and began actively promoting its brand. The Halls became pioneers in the greeting card industry, advertising their products on a variety of platforms. They initially placed an advertisement, prepared by J.C. Hall, in Ladies' Home Journal magazine. The company then became a sponsor of the radio program "Tony Vaughan's Radio Album," which contributed to its popularity.

In 1932, the company signed its first licensing agreement with Walt Disney, gaining the right to use his characters in their products. Over time, the business continued to grow, and in 1951 the company began funding a television show for NBC. In response, viewers sent Hallmark many cards as a token of their appreciation.

The logo we know today was designed by the company in 1950. The rebranding process lasted a full year and was overseen by renowned New York industrial designer and artist Andrew Socke. This Hallmark logo became his only significant achievement in the field of commercial graphics.

Although the telephone had already become quite common by this time, not everyone could afford one. People continued to actively use letters and postcards. Postmen delivered letters twice a day, and mailboxes for mailing were practically everywhere.

Since 1944, the advertising campaign slogan was: "When you care too much about sending the best." In connection with this, the new Hallmark symbol, which was applied to every postcard, became a jeweled crown. Her image was complemented by the company name, written as if with a broad brush.

In the more than seven decades of the Andrew Socks logo's existence, its appearance has changed only once. This occurred in 1977, when the company decided to expand internationally. As a result, the crown became more refined, and the font of the letters - more elegant.

For a long time, Hallmark did not pay much attention to the choice of color - the logo was often done in black, but in advertising materials it could also appear in Yellow and red tones. Purple has been used in visual identity since the early 2000s. This noble color, associated with royal luxury, combined with the crown, emphasizes the grandeur and significance of a company with a rich history.

Today, Hallmark has its own publishing house, television channel, wine club, and continues to produce greeting cards and holiday merchandise. The company's approach to its product range remains unchanged: a gift is perceived as a precious treasure that can be sent to a loved one.

Uniqueness: FedEx

FedEx, a service providing fast international letter and parcel delivery, was founded in 1971 in the United States by Frederick Smith. He believed that only air transport and a centralized system could ensure the necessary delivery speed. According to his concept, the carrier is fully responsible for the delivery process, from the moment the shipment is received to its final destination, using only its own warehouses, vans, and aircraft. This system proved revolutionary, since at that time, organizing the delivery of parcels within one or two days was extremely difficult: air cargo transportation was characterized by low flexibility, and courier services did not have the ability to maintain their own fleet of aircraft.

In the mid-1960s, while a student at Yale University, Smith first presented his idea for the future company as part of a term paper (upd: in 2025, it was recognized as an undesirable organization in Russia).

Federal Express began operations on April 17, 1973, when it had 389 employees. Fourteen small planes were used to transport packages, flying from Memphis to 25 cities in the United States. Thus, the foundation was laid for the air express delivery initiated by Smith.

The organization grew rapidly and, in just four years, acquired seven of its own Boeing aircraft. In 1984, it entered the European and Asian markets, soon becoming the world's leading express delivery company, with numerous branches in hundreds of cities worldwide. The first logo, introduced in 1973, depicted the company name—Federal Express—in a rectangle. Smith believed that using the word Federal would attract the attention of the Federal Reserve Bank, with which he sought to establish a business relationship, and would emphasize the company's intention to contribute to the country's economic development.

The name that many people know today was given to the company in 1994. In everyday speech, it has long been shortened to the laconic FedEx, which even led to the formation of the verb "fedexed", meaning "to send." Now this abbreviation has become official. Thus, it was possible to get rid of the word "federal", which often evoked negative emotions. Another significant event was the launch of fedex.com - the courier service's first online resource, allowing you to track parcels online.

Since the company needed a new name, it was necessary to create a fresh logo. The decision was made to turn to Lyndon Leeder, a senior designer at Landor Associates, for this solution. In his work, he followed the principles of simplicity and transparency, which often led to the use of negative space, allowing for additional meaning to be imbued in clear contours.

The concept of the new logo was for it to not only indicate the company name, but also reflect its activities. To achieve this, Linder decided to place an arrow, symbolizing movement, between the letters E and X. However, implementing this idea turned out to be a difficult task. As the designer himself noted, he tested numerous fonts, but none of them were suitable - by that time, about two hundred logo variants had already been created and rejected. Ultimately, he combined the best features of two fonts - Univers 67 and Futura Bold - and developed unique letterforms for his project.

To make the logo recognizable enough that the truck carrying it could be discerned from several blocks away, he slightly reduced the saturation of the blue in the purple, and made the orange shade even brighter.

The company was able to retain the arrow element in its localized logos. Interestingly, in the Arabic script version of the logo, the direction of the arrow changes and points from right to left.

The logo designed by Lyndon has won over 40 design awards. In its May 2003 issue, Rolling Stone magazine named it one of the eight best logos of the past 35 years, along with brands such as Apple, Coca-Cola, Nike, IBM, Starbucks, McDonald's, and Playboy.

С In the late 1990s, the company began using color coding, adding several new shades for different areas. However, the main color, purple, remained the same.

The company currently follows a principle known as the Purple Promise. The core idea behind this approach is to create a personalized experience for each customer. FedEx emphasizes this promise using its signature purple color.

Read also:

Purple combines beautifully with many other shades, offering a wide range of possibilities for creating a harmonious look. For example, it looks great paired with white, creating a fresh and light feel. Pairing with gray adds elegance, and with black creates a striking contrast.

Purple also pairs well with yellow, imbuing the look with vibrant emotion and energy. Blue-green tones, such as turquoise, create stylish and modern combinations. Subtle pastels, such as mint or light pink, balance purple, making it softer.

In addition, the variety of shades of purple, from light lavender to deep, rich purple, allows you to find new interesting combinations depending on your mood and style.

World of Imagination: Monster High

Monster High is a multimedia fashion doll franchise created by Mattel in 2010. At the time, the company's most successful product was the Barbie doll, which had held a leading position in the market for over fifty years. However, there was an under-researched segment among teenage girls who, although they had outgrown their old dolls, still retained an interest in toys.

Designer Garrett Sander was the originator of the "new Barbie" concept. He drew inspiration from monster myths and horror, which served as the basis for the creation of the characters in this series. These dolls were conceived not just as an alternative to the traditional smiling Barbie, but also as a symbol of acceptance of one's own peculiarities and imperfections. The collection was illustrated by artist Kelly Riley, known for her collaboration with Disney and Hasbro.

Initially, six characters were presented: Frankenstein named Frankie Stein, the vampire Draculaura, the werewolf named Clawdeen Wolf, The sea monster Lagoona Blue, the living mummy Cleo de Nile, and the zombie Ghoulia Yelps. The collection currently includes over 700 unique dolls, each varying in size, functionality, and materials. In the first series of dolls, the most vibrant in purple tones is fashionista Clawdeen Wolf. Her curly hair is dyed purple and features a variety of shades of purple and pink. Clawdeen prefers to wear purple overalls and shoes, and her pet wolf dog is also made in purple.

In the world of Monster High, purple usually comes from a combination of different shades, among which pink and blue predominate. These two colors, when combined, form a common purple perception. Purple itself comes in a variety of colors, ranging from shades reminiscent of pink to those that tend toward blue.

Since their introduction, Monster High dolls have quickly gained popularity, selling out faster than Mattel could produce them. The company has actively maintained interest in the brand by creating an entire multimedia universe for the toys, including an animated series with several webisodes, films, video games, and young adult literature. This entire magical world is decorated in purple tones, which give it a mysterious and magical atmosphere.

Discussions regarding "Monster High" and their ethical Controversies about the dolls' appearance have persisted since their inception. Numerous parents expressed dissatisfaction, pointing to the dolls' revealing outfits and short skirts. In 2011, conservative media outlets, including the Australian newspaper Herald Sun and the American television channel Fox News, joined the criticism. They condemned the dolls for their disproportionate shapes, arguing that they could instill distorted beauty standards in girls—a point that had already been raised about Barbie dolls. In response to this criticism, Mattel changed its approach, and skirts became longer in subsequent doll lines.

The color purple in the world of Monster High dolls symbolizes dreams and magic. While similar to pink, it resonates more with teenagers who have rejected old ideals but still long for wonder and fairytale moments.

Creativity: Yahoo

Yahoo is one of the earliest internet search engines still in use today. Its origins date back to 1994, when Stanford University graduate students David Filo and Jerry Yang developed a website called "Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web." At the time, there were no search engines on the internet, and their project was just a directory of links. They couldn't have imagined that a major corporation would emerge from their work.

Purple unexpectedly became the dominant color for it. When Yang transferred to a new office, he asked Filo to buy gray paint for the walls. However, when the paint began to dry, it turned out not gray, but a soft purple. Ultimately, it was decided to stick with the color: purple proved an interesting design for the conference room and subsequently became the foundation of the "purple" culture at Yahoo.

"We were purple long before it was fashionable."

From a conversation with Jerry Yang.

As the number of internet users grew, so did the company, as users needed a platform to navigate existing sites and discover new ones. As a result, "Guide" changed its name to "Yahoo!", and in March 1995, Phil and Yang registered the trademark. The logo was designed in a playful style, where the letters seemed to come to life and jump.

The logo, which was remembered by many and entered the company's history, was registered only a year later. Its design was done in red, which was supposed to bring a sense of creative energy.

In an effort to maintain a playful image, Yahoo created funny videos in which the company name sung by a yodel, the slogan asked, "Do you Yahoo-ite?" The message was bright and memorable—a rare display of individuality among tech companies in the 1990s. The cheeky, cheerful "Yahoo-oo-oo-oo" immediately evoked brand associations.

Yahoo pioneered the integration of news feeds and sports scores into its search portal, and by 1998 had added email, games, travel services, and many other features. It was the first portal to allow users to personalize their versions of the site. Yahoo also pioneered the pay-per-click advertising model.

Much of what we actively use today was either developed at Yahoo or inspired by its concepts. For example, before YouTube, there was broadcast.com, and Flickr was the predecessor of Instagram*. Yahoo Music can be considered the predecessor of Spotify, and Yahoo Briefcase is the predecessor of cloud storage services like Dropbox and Google Drive.

By the end of 2000, the company was facing serious problems. Competitors were constantly outpacing it in technological progress. Yahoo's user base began to decline because the company lacked the foresight to adapt its products to audience needs. Users began to pay more attention to platforms such as Facebook and YouTube, while Google offered an attractive email service.

In 2009, after lengthy discussions about a possible merger with Microsoft and changes in management, Yahoo decided to Rebranding. As part of this initiative, they returned to their original purple concept and updated the color scheme of their logo. The new design has become brighter and more cheerful.

In 2016, Verizon, the telecommunications giant, became the owner of Yahoo, which helped the search engine avoid financial collapse. Three years later, Yahoo turned to Pentagram to develop a new brand identity. Designer Michael Beirut took on the project, choosing a rich, sans-serif typeface, Centra No. 2 Extrabold, while maintaining the traditional purple color scheme. The slanted exclamation point was intended to symbolize dynamism and energy.

"The new identity, like the previous logo, reflects the essence of the brand—a cry of delight and discovery." It still feels like the name should be said with enthusiasm, or even yodeled: “YahoOOOOoooo!”.”

Pentagram

The rebranding, dubbed Project Purple, was a significant step for the company. Designers updated the purple palette, giving it a modern look, adding various purple tones to the main shade "Grape Jelly". Yahoo's purple color represents the brand's vibrant self-expression, demonstrating its penchant for breaking traditional norms and creative dynamism.

The court has ruled that Meta Platforms Inc. to carry out their activities in the sale of social networks Facebook and Instagram in Russia, citing accusations of extremism.

Learn about different colors.

• Sunny yellow symbolizes joy, a positive outlook on life, and international friendship.
• Nostalgic pink: associations with sweetness, softness, and a carefree childhood.
• Warm brown symbolizes comfort, reliability, and sincerity.
• Friendly green: nature, purity, and reliability.
• Pure white symbolizes sophistication, simplicity, and kindness.
• Reliable blue is associated with qualities such as trust, calm, and masculinity.
• Red is for sale: challenges, triumph, and enthusiasm.