Color Marketing Group Announces 2020 President

Chicago, IL, January 16, 2020 --(PR.com)-- ColorFuel’s founder and color anthropologist, Peggy Van Allen, was appointed president of Color Marketing Group® (CMG) for a two-year term starting in January 2020. Van Allen is an independent color and trend forecaster in Illinois with many years as a corporate color design professional and graphic designer.

Color Marketing Group® is the leading international association of color design professionals. For over 50 years, CMG has provided color forecast information based on the contributions of color design professionals across industries.

Wholly Devoted
As a long-time member of CMG, over 23 years, Van Allen knows CMG inside and out. She recently wrapped up an Executive Committee (EC) two-year term as VP of Color Forecasting. In that volunteer role, she was in charge of the global color forecasting workshops and delivering the final CMG World Color Forecast and final reports to the membership.

During her two 3-year terms on the Board of Directors, she worked on various committees. It is through her involvement on the Board of Directors and the EC that she has grown professionally in the changing world of color marketing. “As a creative, I believe the members want newness and to be challenged, that is something that a nimble volunteer-led organization such as CMG can provide,” said Peggy Van Allen.

CMG Influences Product Development
“Over my years on the board, growing member benefits and a focus on the value of membership have spawned some excellent additions to what CMG provides. There are tangibles such as color alerts, color forecast fan decks, CMF samples, Roving Reports, etc., but it is the intangibles are even more valuable.

"Color education both at the Summit and by being involved in the workshops is an immeasurable benefit. New information gained is applied in many ways from product development to marketing to internal communications with co-workers.

"Seeing first-hand the colors that fellow members are committed to using in their product lines and why, is invaluable information. Also, as color marketers, understanding the power of color which CMG has been instrumental in promoting that value-added fact to non-color focused associates and industries," says Peggy Van Allen.

Presidential Focus
Each CMG President has some areas that they would like to focus on during their term. Peggy’s top three areas for growth and enhancement are CMG’s Color Education program, membership, and getting a handle on the future of color forecasting and what that means to CMG. Continually evolving CMG to meet the needs of the membership is of utmost importance.

Color Forecasting Industry Direction
Van Allen says the future of the color forecasting industry will require better and more accurate ways of gathering information and filtering out the clutter. "There is a vast amount of information at our fingertips but understanding that not all of it is accurate will require employing the very human aspects of intuition along with experience and calculation." In the field of color, we employ math, science, art, and psychology and Van Allen says, “we mustn’t lose sight of any of those components in our forecasting processes.”

Inspiration is Found
Van Allen starts from a broad perspective or a world view to get a handle on who the customer is first. Studying people and consumer preferences are where the “color anthropologist” description in her title comes from.

Understanding where the customer is coming from historically in their purchase decisions and what is influencing them now. This is the basis of the trends and color stories that CMG develops in CMG ChromaZone®, color forecasting workshops. Once the audience has been identified then her work unfolds, creating targeted colors and more importantly, combinations of colors, that will appeal to them.

Nature, art, tangent industries all inspire when Van Allen is at the point of color selection and application. Surfing the internet is an easy way to get a vast amount of inspiration but getting out into the world to see things live whether it is shopping, shows, or museum visits; this will usually spark an idea or two or three. That is where Van Allen’s true inspiration comes from.

Leader of the Tribe
Van Allen never imagined being in the presidential role when she joined CMG. While she immediately sensed that feeling of finding her tribe, as an introvert she couldn’t imagine becoming the leader of the tribe. “I am so grateful to those who reached out and encouraged me. Once I started getting involved and volunteered to do more, I immediately saw the benefits. Any extra work that I took on was an opportunity to grow and learn and share,” said Peggy. “At the board and executive level, we are working together with a common goal. CMG is for the members and by the members. CMG is growing and evolving the organization together to make it the global color community that it is,” says Van Allen.

Words of Wisdom
Color Marketing Group (CMG) is a color design professional’s organization that members will benefit from when they are involved right away. As with everything, the more members put in, the more benefits are returned. Members have a wide range of levels and perspectives when it comes to education and experience making it a diverse group.

“Being elected president is pushing me way out of my comfort zone but hey, that’s where growth happens so let’s go!” – Peggy Van Allen, President, Color Marketing Group

About Color Marketing Group®
Color Marketing Group®, founded in 1962, is a not-for-profit international association of color design experts who forecast color directions and is a forum for the exchange of all aspects color. Members represent a broad spectrum of designers, marketers, color scientists, consultants, educators, and artists. Color forecasting events are held throughout the world and the results from these events become part of the global World Color Forecast™ revealed at the annual International Summit.

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