Is Gen Z Purple The New Millennial Pink?

 

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In the world of design, brands often use certain colours to target a particular age demographic.

You’ve most likely heard of millennial pink – for years brands used the rose quartz toned colour to target millennials.

This colour was also known as a ‘safe pink’ for brands, guaranteed to get people to purchase. 

The concept behind this marketing tactic come from the term ‘Shrink it and Pink it,’ which is an idea about gender bias for when it comes to product design.

In the business world, many believe that if you want women to buy your product, you design it smaller and make it pink. *Eye roll*

It is, frustratingly, effective – and so millennial pink was born and successfully applied to brands everywhere.

@color_palette_studio Introducing: the gen z version of “millennial pink” #colorpalette #colorpalettes #graphicdesign #graphicdesigner #millennialpink #genzaesthetic ♬ original sound – The Color Palette Studio 🎨

Now though, there’s a new colour phenomenon on the block, and graphic designers are calling it ‘Gen Z Purple.’

The colour has been dominating many brand’s aesthetics, and is not just one colour but an array of lilacs and lavenders!

Brands such as Florence by Mills created by Millie Bobby Brown have used Gen Z purple to lure in customers. The social media for the brand has hues of the same shade of purple throughout the feed, the website colour theme is the same shade and most importantly the packaging for the products, if not entirely purple, has an element of the product that is.

This brand has mastered marketing to a younger audience, and the colour definitely matches its audience.  

 

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Similarly, Suzanne Jackson’s new skincare brand Bahama Skin, uses a shade of Gen Z purple for the brand’s image and packaging. When announcing the brand, Suzanne took to her Instagram to share the thought process behind her new business venture.

She said “I quickly realised the potential to develop a skincare line specifically catered to a younger demographic, including young teens into their 20s. I was blown away when my friends’ kids started asking for skincare products as gifts. It made me realise that there was a significant gap in the market for an Irish skincare brand that specifically catered to this age group.”

 

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The entrepreneur has been clear about who she is marketing her products to, and taking one look at the social media for this brand it’s clear that Gen Z purple is set to only get bigger in the world of beauty marketing!

But it’s not just in beauty products that this colour has been seen in the design world. Singer–songwriter Olivia Rodrigo used Gen Z purple for her debut album Sour.

Sour was an extremely popular album with a huge Gen Z following. Olivia Rodrigo caters primarily to a Gen Z audience, and her Instagram feed still carries hues of purple.  

 

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If you are a fan of millennial pink, don’t worry, the shade is still popular among many brands. Glossier is one beauty brand that is known for its beautiful shade of millennial pink, used for most of its packaging and graphic design. 

A brand’s identity often relies on who it’s marketing to. With social media being a huge part of Gen Z culture, it’s no wonder brands want to market to the age demographic.

We have to admit the shades of lilac and lavender do look great – but millennial pink still wins in our eyes. 

Words by Abby Sammon

Tags:

• gen z purple
• millennial pink