(image: https://www.superdream.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/brand-colours.jpg alt: Colours in Branding)
**The most successful and prominent brands in the world are defined by their colours. As a marketer, it’s important to utilize colours effectively and consider what they say about your business.**
Brands and their colour are linked because colour offers a way of conveying meaning and feeling instantly without the need for words, and our minds are programmed to respond to colour. (link: http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-marketing/color-and-branding text: Research has found that 60% of people) decide if they are attracted to a message based entirely on the colours used for it.
Most big brands choose a colour appropriate to the industry they’re in. When you think of red and yellow which brands first come to mind?
Chances are they’re a fast food retailer; red or a combination of red and yellow, are the colours of choice for McDonalds, KFC, Burger King and Pizza Hut amongst many more. (link: http://karenhaller.co.uk/blog/business-branding-colours%E2%80%A6-meaning-of-yellow/ text: Yellow is also the easiest colour to see in daylight), which explains the choice of McDonald’s golden arches.
Red, yellow, orange and green all trigger hunger and/or induce excitement. Fast food restaurants want their customers to eat a lot and quickly, and people have been proven to eat more in a room painted a warm colour. Blue, black and purple suppress appetite, perhaps because we associate these colours with spoiled or toxic food. Therefore these colours are rarely used in food branding.
Green suggests a healthy and fresh product. It is the colour of vegetables, and represents eco-friendliness and organic lifestyle choices. This would explain Subway’s use of green as a core colour, as they brand themselves as a fresh and healthier alternative to fast food (consider (link: https://www.superdream.co.uk/best-advertising-slogans/ text: Subway’s slogan) – ‘Eat fresh’)
If you take a look down the cleaning product aisle next time you’re in a supermarket, you will see that commonly used colours include orange and blue. Blue symbolises cleanliness, combined with orange that symbolises energy, making this the perfect combination for an effective cleaning product!
FedEx is an interesting example of a brand that uses different colours to symbolise different areas of their business. FedEx Ground is in green, symbolising the earth, while the orange of their FedEx Express air transport symbolises air’s high energy and speed. These colours are both combined with the brand’s purple, a symbol of power, royalty and leadership, which keeps a consistency throughout the brand.
Choosing colour for your brand
One of the most important things when building a successful brand is colour selection.
No matter how great your product or service, if the colour scheme is off-putting you may have trouble getting off the ground. It is important to think of your colour choices as a grounded business decision rather than artistic preference, as it is the first thing your customers will see and judge you on.
A popular choice is the 60%-30%-10% rule, whereby you choose three different colours for your brand and use them in this ratio. However, in certain industries a larger number of colours may work for you. Going with multiple colours will represent variety – for example Ebay’s use of a different colour for each letter of their name.
(link: http://geeklygroup.com/articles/using-color-theory-in-branding text: A study of the world’s top 100 brands) found that most use blue at 33%. This is probably because it is seen as trustworthy, responsible and serene – like the sky and sea. 29% use red, 28% use black or grey, and 13% use yellow. Take a look at our infographic to help decide whether one of these core colours could work for your brand.
Considering your competition
Choosing the right colour is all about context: for example you might love a fluorescent pink nail varnish, but shudder at the thought of a car in the same hue. Therefore, it’s integral to research the choice of colour amongst your competitors.
Getting a sense of the tone, colours and textures your rivals are using will help you decide whether you want to follow suit, or buck the trend completely. When considering your product on the shelf do you want it to blend in with the 20 or 30 competitors, or look vastly different from them?
If we take Garner Fructis for example; amongst the sea of white competitors its bright green branding makes it stand out a mile. The fresh shade evokes thoughts of nature and cleanliness. This is an example of colour chosen well.
However, making controversial colour decisions can spell disaster for a brand if not done correctly. When Coca-Cola switched to silver and white for a limited time, consumers were annoyed and the company returned to their original colour scheme earlier than intended.
Although some cited that it caused confusion with the diet product feelings ran deeper than this – Coca-Cola’s traditional vibrant red colour is a fundamental part of the product’s design, and evokes feelings and nostalgia in the consumer.
(link: http://www.colourlovers.com/ text: Colourlovers.com) can help you pick colours that complement each other. Before you go ahead, try them out on a variety of devices – the way they appear on PC Monitor could look completely different on a smart phone. (link: https://www.superdream.co.uk/user-interface-trends/ text: Usability) should always come first.
Once you know what your target customer is looking for it is easier to target your product towards them. Don’t pick a colour because you think they will like it or it’s a popular choice, it has to represent your brand.
It’s important your colour choice represents the function or idea of the product as authenticity is integral to your success. Your customers will know intuitively if your brand and the colours you have chosen are connected and appropriate, and if they aren’t they will be turned off.
When you make the right thoroughly researched and considered colour choices for your business, you are making the first steps towards a successful and instantly recognisable brand.