Speaking In Color

VML's "Speaking in Color" for Sherwin-Willams puts us at the forefront of a radical new approach to B2B communications.

Historically, B2B marketing has been rational and serious – but VML is changing the equation and bringing emotion to the fore and creating deeper and more authentic connections with B2B audiences.

While product innovation is critical, being a leader means that innovation goes beyond the product itself to help customers realize their vision along the entire journey.

Brett Knutson

Group Creative Director, VML

Architects and like-minded innovators are obsessed with finding the perfect color to match their vision. And while the human eye can detect over 1 million colors, we don't see, experience, or remember them in the same way – meaning finding THE perfect color is a huge challenge.

Color is personal and it's human. To architects, it can change the feel of a city, evoke emotion and create the building's character. As a global leader in color coatings, Sherwin-Williams Coil Coatings set out to make finding the perfect color as intuitive as possible.

"Speaking In Color" is a voice-activated AI color system that produces hues based on human inspiration. For example, by simply speaking: "Crystal clear, Caribbean water" millions of images are analyzed in a search algorithm, and optical recognition technology creates a custom color palette. Using the intuitive power of AI, any color can be fine-tuned by saying, "A little brighter" or "Blend in a bit more blue" to find that one in a million color.

For the first time ever, color can be spoken into existence.

With each use, "Speaking In Color" is creating one of the largest data sets of color attribution in the world. As a result, we're gaining insights into the global, cultural, and geographical influences of individual colors. This gives Sherwin-Williams an advantage in color mapping, predicting trends, and understanding the role color plays in all of our lives.

Today, Sherwin-Williams "Speaking In Color" is redefining the color experience, making it possible to find the impossible – the ONE.