by Stefania Revelli
WHAT’S HAPPENING
- Silver, white and now brown. After nearly phasing out a few years ago as a preferred car color, brown is making a comeback (Yahoo.com, August 2012).
- According to Jane Harrington, global color manager of PPG, brown evokes feelings of stability, authenticity and comfort that are reminiscent of appreciated lifestyle indulgences like quality coffee and chocolate, and even high-grade wood furniture. For drivers age 40+, brown also holds a piece of nostalgia, at least according to the founder of Facebook’s Brown Car Appreciation Society.
- High-end auto manufacturers including Mercedes, BMW, Mini and Porsche all have at least two brown-based paint options, and the trend is trickling down to other, more accessible brands. Ford’s Taurus and Escape models both now come in brown, as do a handful of Toyota models like the Venza, Avalon RAV4 and Tacoma.
WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS
- Consumers may not consciously be making the car-color emotional connection while buying, but cars are emotionally driven purchases, and underlying associations and feelings made through color make the driver-vehicle relationship even stronger.
- Brown Car Appreciation Society? Just when you think you might be alone, nearly 800 individuals feel the same way.
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