Is Plum the New Black?

A recent trend amongst advertisers is giving the color plum a new association. This particular shade of purple is being positioned as the new classy, high-end label. The plum label is not only being used to position and classify certain products, but also as a strategy to categorize market segment of consumers.

American Express has used the unique color to not only title their new credit card under the RedPlum name, but also this classification will apply to the market segment which chooses to purchase the new credit card. So as a result of advertisers positioning their products in association to plum, consumers are being forced to ask themselves if they can relate to this association.

So with the new popularity that the color plum is receiving, black may be losing its appeal. Advertisers are realizing the versatility that plum can offer- a versatility that the color black is unable to match. This can be seen also in the development of a television channel called PlumTV and an online computer service called PlumChoice Online.

It should be interesting to see what companies jump on the Plum bandwagon, and which can successfully market their product with such a color association.

[Elliot, Stuart. Plum, the Color, Is Having Its Star Turned. The New York Times. Online.April 18 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/business/media/18adco.html?_r=1&ref=media&oref=slogin]