Understanding Navratri colours: The silent role of white in building brands

Colours are a brand’s silent storytellers, weaving emotions and shaping perceptions without uttering a single word. Of all colours, it goes without saying, white is one such silent contributor that shapes brand identities. 

While colours like red and blue often take the spotlight, white is often overlooked but holds significant importance in brand storytelling. Far from dull, white symbolises purity, cleanliness, and honesty, making it a powerful tool in colour marketing.

Today marks the fifth day of Navratri, a vibrant celebration where each day is dedicated to a different colour, and today’s colour is white. This brings the perfect opportunity to decode the significance of white in the brand world.

Let’s take a deeper look at how brands have harnessed this seemingly neutral colour to make a bold impact.

Symbol of cleanliness 

The colour white, which is a combination of all colours in the visible light spectrum, allows brands to evoke trust and clarity, conveying transparency while remaining either sophisticated or minimalistic.

Branding and design expert Ashish Mishra, CEO of Interbrand India & South Asia, explained that colours play a crucial role in shaping brand experiences, affecting consumer choices, perceptions of premium quality, and loyalty. He mentioned that designers use colour psychology in line with an experience strategy brief, ensuring that specific colour associations align with the brand's marketing objectives.

Reflecting on the power of white, Mishra said, "One of my personal favourites is white, which is technically an absence of colour. It conveys values such as purity, perfection, honesty, cleanliness, sophistication, freshness, and neutrality. Brands that wish to embody these qualities often use white as a powerful primary colour, which takes boldness to implement effectively."

Happydent serves as an example of white's powerful role in marketing. By leveraging white’s association with brightness, the brand uses dazzling white teeth in ads to light up dark places, illustrating how a bright smile, representative of their product, can bring light and confidence. 

The iconic ‘Happydent Palace’ ad from 2006 transformed men into human torches, further solidifying the message that the product promises brilliant white teeth. This memorable campaign continues to resonate with audiences today.

In keeping with this insight, Happydent’s latest campaign utilised the imagery of white torchlight for teeth to highlight the power of a radiant smile.

Karan Raj Kohli, Co-Founder, Salt Oral Care, shared that "White is not only the colour of Salt but also in Oral Care signifies cleanliness and hygiene. Through white we want to be able to invoke hygiene and safety - like the quintessential colour of dentist's coats and clinics." 

The subconscious associations with white make it a go-to colour for oral care brands like Colgate, Oral-B, and Sensodyne, which rely on it to reinforce their promise of clean, healthy teeth. 

Shaping hygiene perceptions

The colour white also conveys reliability, which is why it’s so common in healthcare and hygiene-related industries. It’s the reason why healthcare professionals often wear white coats, which represents expertise, and trustworthiness.

Brands like Dettol and Lifebuoy also prominently feature white in their branding to emphasise their role in providing hygiene solutions. By using white, these brands reinforce their dedication to hygiene, while the presence of doctors in white coats in their ads adds credibility and reliability.

Brands have effectively used white to highlight its product's promise of spotlessness.

A standout example of this strategy is Nirma, a detergent brand, which cleverly employed the concept of ‘doodh si safedi’ (white like milk) to establish its brand promise of delivering spotless whites. The brand’s white packaging and advertisements, often showcasing women in crisp, white clothes, visually and emotionally reinforced this promise. By associating the product with the bright white colour of milk, Nirma communicated its efficacy in branding. 

Similarly, Tide, with its catchy slogan, ‘Tide hai toh white hai’ (If it's Tide, it's white), has woven effectiveness into its branding while communicating its promise of delivering bright and clean clothes.

With dramatic 'swoosh' effects emphasising the product's washing power, the memorable phrase ‘Kyu, chaunk gaye?’ [Are you shocked?] not only catches attention but also resonates with consumers seeking reliable laundry solutions. 

The purity factor

Purity is a highly desirable attribute in consumer goods, and white is a colour that symbolises this quality

Tata Salt has used the colour white to represent purity and quality in its branding. Since its launch in 1983, Tata Salt has been associated with the promise of pure, iodized salt, which is essential for health. The white packaging and advertisements emphasise the purity and cleanliness of the product. The consistent use of white in its branding reinforces the message of delivering a product that is clean, safe, and trustworthy.

Zoher Kapuswala, Marketing Head, Pills & Gums, Ferrero India, shared insight into their use of white in Raffaello. 

He said, “The inspiration behind incorporating the colour white in Raffaello is that we want to convey purity. The product is made delicately with coconut, almond, crunchy flakes, and cream. We want consumers to understand that if they taste the product, they can smell the coconut and feel its texture. We aim to communicate that it’s pure.”

The strategic use of white not only signifies the product’s purity but also builds consumer confidence in its quality.

Ultimately, as we celebrate the fifth day of Navratri and reflect on the significance of colours in branding, let us recognise the power that white holds. It is a reminder that even the most seemingly neutral colour can leave a lasting impact, shaping perceptions and forging connections that resonate well beyond the point of sale. By embracing white, brands not only enrich their visual identity but also deepen their relationship with consumers, creating narratives that inspire trust and loyalty.