Optimism, familiary and comfort are chords marketers can expect to strike with emotional resonance in these times of consumer retrenchment, said brand image developer Cheryl Swanson, president of Toniq. Americans are in a "holding pattern," as they seek greater meaning, simplicity and things they can use with ease, she observed. In the current atmosphere, "anything too terribly new" will prompt people to question whether they need it, Swanson said. In an interview in her Manhattan studio, she gave the thumbs down to PepsiCo's redesign of its Pepsi, Gatorade and Tropicana branding; since then, the company decided to bring back its traditional Tropicana, straw-in-orange imagery, citing consumer complaints.

While she is anticipating more people will be donning brightly colored fashions -- as a "mood elevator" -- Swanson herself has taken to black. "I caved," she admitted. "I now say 'I am a New Yorker. I am doing the black thing.'"

WWD: What kind of marketing messages and images could be effective in the year ahead, given the economic morass?

Cheryl Swanson: Brands that have a clear story, narrative branding, will do very well in this market. The visual cues have to reinforce the story. I've been doing work in personal care, in food, in household and in beverage. Regardless of category, gravitation toward brightness [in colors], not subtlety, has been prevalent. It makes people feel happy. Consumers are yearning for optimism.

WWD: When you describe this shifting palette are you speaking of products, packaging, advertising?

Cheryl Swanson: The whole thing. Anything that gives consumers a sense of safety, authenticity and joy. Like method soaps. It started at Target. It's sensorial. It fosters this sense all will be right with the world. The other thing that's happening is home theater and nesting. People are creating a warm igloo.

WWD: It sounds like anchoring.

Cheryl Swanson: It is psychological barricading from the badness out there. And not having CNN on, like, 24 hours [a day].

WWD: What role do you see heritage brands playing these days?

Cheryl Swanson: A very important one, because they anchor back to the past, but also to a place of confidence. Pepsi has just changed the visual imagery of all its key brands [Pepsi, Gatorade, Tropicana]. I think it's a mistake. I think it's so badly timed it's not even funny. What people are looking for now is things that have been with them and stood by them.