The Role of Color
Color is essential for branding and marketing. It plays a vital role in how potential customers view and interact with your brand. Visual impressions appeal to your senses and influence the decision of buyers to select a specific product or service instead of an alternative.
Are you marketing your product and looking forward to gaining more clients or selling more products? Then you need to pay attention to color psychology.
Color Psychology in branding and marketing
Color affects the perceptions and preferences of customers when they make decisions. Are you a business owner in Windsor, Ontario wanting your product or service to stand out among the competition? Customers make choices through personal experiences, their environment, and cultural bias, color is no different.
Here are what certain colors generally mean in North America:
- Yellow – Optimism, warmth, and clarity. Also, denotes ruggedness, masculinity or toughness.
- Blue – Strong, sincere, and dependable. Quality you can trust.
- Green – Healthy, blossoming, competent and peaceful.
- Purple – Imaginative, creative or sophisticated.
- Red – Excitement, youthful and bold.
- Grey – Balanced, neutral, or calm.
- Brown – Friendly and inviting.
These meanings are only generally speaking. Not every consumer will respond to color the same way, and colors can be perceived differently in different markets. Color psychology also tells us that color will be perceived differently in different cultures. For example, in India, red can represent power, purity, and fertility. South Africa, it is associated with violence and mourning. In the United States, yellow is associated with youth and fun. But in France, it signifies jealously, betrayal, and weakness. For Japan, it represents bravery, wealth, and refinement.
When working with the color you can blend more than one, but there is always a dominant color. The combination should convey precisely the message of the qualities of your product to your prospects. Knowledge of various color meanings helps your logo to be relevant.
We all are able to think of some big-name brand logos and we can picture the colors and their packaging if they have it. Customers respond to the appearance of products. They will often refer to the color when describing the item.
The role of color in marketing
1. Denotes the personality of your brand
Your product or company is a unique entity that has special features. The right color will make your business or product distinct. Prospective clients should distinguish you from your competition.
2. Appeals to the prospect
In the global market flooded with products, you should be noticeable. For a product to stand out the color should be attractive to customers. Women generally prefer soft tints while men go for bold. Men are more receptive to black shades, whereas women are more likely to select shades of white.
It is necessary to consider gender inclinations as you label a product. The logo and the advertisements should feature the appropriate colors.
Are your colors pulling your customers in?
When your target audience first sets eyes on a direct mailer or your website, what creates the first impression? Is it the headline? Call to action? Offer? Experts say it’s none of these things. It’s the colors you use.
The priority of color is not unique to marketing materials. According to research conducted by the CCI Color Institute for Color Research and the University of Winnipeg, 62%–90% of our opinions about products, brands, and even our clothing, are based on color.
Send the Right Message
How can you be sure that the colors you use are sending the right messages?
- Understand the underlying message you want to portray. Is it financial security? Adventure and freedom? Enhancement of self-image?
- Know your target market. Understand not only the demographic make-up of your audience but the cultural and ethnic one, as well. Know the role the culture can play in each segment’s interpretation of color.
- Get feedback. Especially if you’re doing a major roll-out, such as a new logo or new template for direct mail or marketing collateral, conduct focus groups. Ask about the perception of all elements of the campaign, including the colors you use. If you are unsure about how certain colors may be perceived or which may be most effective for different customer groups, test them. Experiment with different colors and see what happens. Pay attention to the sub-trends that may only show up in sub-demographics, such as ethnicity, gender, and geographic location. A color is a powerful tool in attracting and engaging audiences, but one size may not fit all.
Summary
No doubt color psychology plays a pivotal role in branding. Research shows that colors influence 90% of judgments on the products chosen when shopping. For this reason, a presentable and appealing product is important. Whether at a local store or an online shop, you will always land on the more eye-catching item. Proper color choices help to draw the attention of prospective buyers. Pay attention to the colors you use in your branding and marketing.
