If you're looking to color specific parts of a surface, the manual addition of a vertex color buffer attribute may seem like a solution. However, this can be challenging as it requires pinpointing the exact range in the vertex data where the desired areas are located.
An easier and more efficient method would be to bring the PLY asset into Blender, make the necessary changes, and then export it either as a new PLY file or in the glTF format. By following this approach, you can ensure that the imported asset retains its intended color definitions without any complications.