3 Simple Ways Adult Coloring Books Can Inspire Your Brand

It’s something about those intricate patterns on the front of adult coloring books that consumers just can’t seem to resist. Be it paisley or geometric, flowers or fairies, consumers are trading their styluses for colored pencils, eager to add color to their mood.

And who wouldn’t? Titles boast words like “mindfulness,” “relaxed,” and “tranquility.” And in a time when most consumers are overscheduled and sleep deprived, stealing a few moments of peace to center oneself sounds good to most.

This post, however, isn’t about adult coloring books or how they can help your mental health. (Shoot!)

But it does provide a few good tips you can use to improve your brand’s overall health and popularity among your target consumers.

A few truths about consumers.

Consumers are over it. They’re tired of being sold to. Tired of always being on the grid. They’re done.

For some brands, this causes a very big problem because they don’t know how else to market to consumers. And because of that, too much automation and too little engagement has depleted consumers’ reserves and tried their patience, resulting in brand blind spots.

So the obvious question is, “is my brand in a blind spot and how the heck do I get out of it?”

Adult coloring books have figured it out.

If you find that your brand is lurking on the fringes of a blind spot, perhaps it’s time to color outside the lines a bit and take a few hints from brands dominating the adult coloring book market.

Here’s a few things these brands are doing right:

•  Using visual content to trigger a response. There are few if any words in most adult coloring books. But what they lack in content, they gain in imagery, including page after page of highly expressive prints that are mesmerizing in black and white, and awe-inspiring in color.

For your brand, remember that most people are visual beings, and process images faster and more thoroughly. Think of ways to transform your content into visual images that are not only pleasurable to the eye and but stimulate action as well. 

•  Leveraging nostalgia to establish deeper relationships. So, you’ve heard of Peter Pan, right? Well, he’s back and he’s not just flying around Neverland. Adult coloring books have successfully found a way to tap into the “Peter Pan market,” a common description used to identify adult consumers who want to connect to experiences they enjoyed during childhood – like coloring. And for adult coloring book fans, these simple yet expensive books connect these overly stressed souls to happier days when they were more fancy-free.

So do a self-check? What feelings does an experience with your brand conjure up? What story does your brand tell that will take consumers back to a time they want to remember and revel in? Escorting consumers to their happy place is a strong selling point.

•  Understanding consumers’ desire to unplug. Despite a growing trend away from anything print, there’s nothing quite like the feel of textured paper and the sound of a sharpened colored pencil scratching across its surface. The little rustling sound, oddly, is comforting somehow – therapeutic – and sounds like progress. Something is definitely getting done!

It’s important to remember that while consumers want their tech, it’s wise not to limit your brand experiences with them to digital coupons and social media posts. Think of ways to put something in their hands that they can feel but still ties back to what your brand offers.

The gist.

Consumers will pay for an experience that connects them to something they care about. Brands that excel here are always in full view in the consumer’s mind. But brands that fail to make the connection find themselves off the grid in a blind spot.