Every summer, brands strive to define the colour that best represents the season. However, few colours are as closely associated with spring as cherry blossom pink. To brands, summer can be the red of watermelon, the pink of peach, the cool tones of ice, and each year they launch limited edition products to reflect these seasonal hues.
The expression most associated with summer is ‘dopamine’. A popular fashion theory suggests that wearing optimistic clothing releases large amounts of the mood-boosting neurotransmitter, hence the term ‘dopamine dressing’. From fashion and beauty to food and drink, products are experimenting with bold colours and exaggerated styles to sustain the ‘dopamine’ craze. So, which colours are the best for this summer’s dopamine rush?
Cherry blossom pink for Spring
Before we delve into summer, let’s explore how cherry blossom pink has become synonymous with spring. Each year, brands launch products featuring cherry blossom elements to capture the season. Cherry blossoms carry a soft, cute impression, making its pink hue highly appealing to female consumers. Cherry blossom marketing primarily targets the snack, alcoholic beverage, colour cosmetics, and skincare industries.
Pink, petals, girlishness—these are the themes of cherry blossom marketing. Starbucks’ Cherry Blossom Season Limited range, featuring cherry blossoms and pink designs, includes mugs, insulated cups, and glasses with a dreamy aesthetic. Skincare brand L’Occitane’s limited products, named ‘Star River Night Cherry Blossom’, are inspired by delicate cherry blossoms under a brilliant starry sky. The embossed blossoms on the bottles are both dainty and pretty, and the products carry a light cherry blossom fragrance. Ramen brand Soup’s Got Talent and yoghurt brand Just Yoghurt have also launched themed packaging products with cherry blossom motifs.
The market is familiar with cherry blossoms being associated with spring
Cherry blossom season marketing has been ongoing for years, saving brands the cost of market education. However, with cherry blossom pink now facing aesthetic fatigue, which color could set the tone for summer and lead the new marketing trend?
Summer delegates
Summer is colourful, and brands are opting for various primary colours. Let’s examine the ones that brands have chosen for this summer.
In July, Lancôme launched its new Water Lipstick with six specially-toned Summer Juice colours, showcasing vibrant and juicy shades. Lancôme has also collaborated with light food restaurant Gaga to create a ‘Summer Fruit Bar’ co-branded pop-up shop, featuring special summer drinks like ‘Want Peach Oolong’ and ‘Grapefruit Touch Pear’. The collaboration includes limited edition ‘colour-changing ice cups’ and ‘summer fishing net bags’, allowing shoppers to enjoy the vibrancy of summer with Juice Lip Colour and Juice Specials.
Beauty brand Urban Decay launched its new setting spray, ‘Watermelon Spray’, on 1 July, with watermelon red packaging. To highlight the watermelon essence in the new product, the brand produced a CGI video showing a large melon flying to Shanghai and bursting with juice in the hot summer sun, capturing the audience’s attention.
Juice colours, Watermelon red, Cold tea brown…
To avoid the heat, Bobbi Brown embraced a ‘cool feeling’ with its makeup, hosting a ‘Cold Tea Summer Party’ with spokesperson Liu Shishi, and launching the new Cloud Lip Cream, which embodies the laid back atmosphere of summer with cold-toned tea brown shades. From 12-13 July, Bobbi Brown held a limited-time summer party in Shanghai, where consumers could win a limited-edition cloud bag and other gifts by taking photos on site.
Dopamine marketing
Other brands, while not defining a specific summer colour, are offering more ‘dopamine colours’ for consumers.
Haircare brand Schwarzkopf recently launched a ‘COLOR GAME’ campaign, inviting athlete Wu Yanni as the brand’s breakthrough ambassador to create offline activities in Guangzhou and Shanghai. They invited users to experience colourful and fun hair colour transformations. Schwarzkopf also introduced four new summer hair colours: blackcurrant purple, hazelnut brown, grapefruit pink, and thin vine grey purple.
Starbucks, known for its seasonal marketing, also launched a series of Starbucks cups in dopamine colours in July, including ‘Glacier Blue’ and ‘Sunset Yellow’. In a market where young people love to try new things and are willing to pay for their hobbies and values, good-looking products can easily stimulate purchases.
Summer is colorful and suitable for using dopamine marketing
Perhaps summer doesn’t need a definitive colour. Summer belongs to the colourful. In an era where ‘Beauty is paramount’, packaging plays a crucial role in marketing and dopamine colours are helping brands capture attention this summer.
