CASE STUDY
The King of Color
Documentary Film Marketing & Audience Strategy
How do you market a documentary connected to one of the world’s most recognizable brands without being defined by that brand?
When a documentary’s subject is closely associated with a globally recognized company, audience perception can become part of the marketing challenge.
Vanquish Media Group used strategic storytelling, social media support, grassroots outreach, paid media, content development, and community engagement to separate The King of Color from assumptions surrounding Pantone and refocus attention on the remarkable story of Lawrence Herbert.
This reflects VMG’s broader film marketing approach: create audience relevance first, then connect each marketing channel around a single strategic story.
THE OVERVIEW
Turning a Familiar Brand Association Into a New Story Worth Discovering
The King of Color is an award-winning documentary directed by Patrick Creadon that tells the story of Lawrence Herbert, the visionary who transformed the way industries around the world communicate color through the development of the Pantone Matching System.
More than a documentary about design, the film explores innovation, creativity, entrepreneurship, branding, and the lasting impact one idea can have across industries and cultures.
As the film prepared for its theatrical release in New York and Los Angeles, the campaign needed to reach audiences across design, art, branding, advertising, business, education, and documentary communities while introducing many of them to the largely unknown person behind a system they already recognized.
The campaign had a natural advantage: Pantone was already globally recognizable.
But that recognition also created one of the film’s biggest marketing complications.
Rather than relying on brand familiarity alone, the campaign needed to create a distinct identity for the documentary and establish Lawrence Herbert, not Pantone the company, as the center of the story.
THE CHALLENGE
Separating the Story From the Brand Conversation
The King of Color faced an unusual challenge because the subject of the film was inseparable from one of the world’s most recognizable names in design.
While Pantone is globally known, the film was not produced in partnership with the company. Just days before the theatrical release, Pantone announced its highly anticipated Color of the Year, sparking widespread debate across the design industry, media, and public.
Because the documentary centered on the creator of the Pantone Matching System, some audiences assumed the film was officially affiliated with Pantone. As criticism surrounding the announcement grew, that association created an unexpected obstacle, with some audiences dismissing the film based on their perception of the brand rather than the documentary itself.
Early conversations between the production team and Pantone had also created expectations that the company might support the release, but that support ultimately did not materialize.
The campaign therefore needed to overcome public misconceptions, establish the film’s independent identity, and redirect attention toward Lawrence Herbert, his remarkable story, and the innovation that fundamentally changed how the world understands and communicates color.
OUR SOLUTIONS
Reframing the Campaign Around the Cultural Meaning of Color
Our strategy centered on something larger than the Pantone brand: the cultural significance of color itself.
Rather than positioning The King of Color solely around a familiar company name, we expanded the conversation into creativity, design, innovation, branding, entrepreneurship, and the ways color influences everyday life. This gave audiences multiple reasons to engage with the documentary regardless of their existing relationship with Pantone.
Content combined expert interviews, historical storytelling, custom creative, film footage, press coverage, educational material, and conversations around color and design. By connecting Lawrence Herbert’s story to subjects audiences already cared about, the campaign created an identity for the documentary that could stand independently from the company associated with his most famous innovation.
Grassroots outreach extended that positioning into the communities most naturally aligned with the film. Designers, artists, educators, creative professionals, museums, institutions, media organizations, and influential voices within the creative industries helped introduce the documentary through trusted networks.
Social media supported those efforts by maintaining consistent visibility, amplifying press and collaborations, engaging directly with audiences, and giving the campaign space to continually reinforce what the film was actually about: the person, the innovation, and the extraordinary influence of color on modern culture.
A dedicated website experience provided a central destination for trailers, screening information, press coverage, and release updates, creating a clear pathway from discovery to deeper engagement with the film.
- SOCIAL MEDIA SUPPORT
- GRASSROOTS & INFLUENCER OUTREACH
- COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT
- CONTENT DEVELOPMENT & CREATIVE PRODUCTION
- WEBSITE MANAGEMENT & UPDATES
- PRESS AMPLIFICATION
- CAMPAIGN REPORTING & ANALYTICS
Need a similar strategy for your film?
THE RESULTS
Turning a Specialized Documentary Into a Broader Creative Conversation
The King of Color successfully moved the conversation beyond assumptions surrounding Pantone and toward the story at the heart of the documentary.
Across social platforms, the campaign generated sustained visibility by connecting the film with broader conversations around design, creativity, branding, innovation, and culture. Audiences were given reasons to engage with Lawrence Herbert’s story even if they had little previous knowledge of the person behind the Pantone Matching System.
Grassroots partnerships extended that conversation into highly relevant creative communities. Designers, educators, artists, institutions, and industry voices helped introduce the documentary to audiences already invested in the subjects it explored, building credibility and discovery through trusted relationships rather than relying solely on the recognition of the Pantone name.
Website activity provided another indication of audience intent, with viewers moving beyond social discovery to seek additional information about the documentary and its theatrical release.
How was The King of Color marketed?
Vanquish Media Group marketed The King of Color through a campaign combining social media, grassroots and influencer outreach, community management, paid media, creative content, press amplification, and website support. The strategy focused on separating the film from assumptions about Pantone and repositioning the documentary around Lawrence Herbert’s story, creativity, innovation, and the cultural significance of color.
What results did The King of Color campaign generate?
The campaign generated 762.5K Facebook views, 270.4K Instagram views, 657 website link clicks, more than 30 grassroots collaborators, and approximately 3.25 million in grassroots audience reach.
Turn a Marketing Challenge Into a Strategic Opportunity
The context surrounding a film can change quickly. The right strategy needs to respond just as quickly without losing sight of the film itself. Explore Vanquish Media Group’s Film Marketing services or book a discovery call to build an adaptive campaign around your film’s story, audience, and release environment.
