10 Branding Colors You Won’t Believe Influence Customer Sales
The following is a guest post by Kurt at Blanco Labels Marketing.
What is your favorite color? Everybody has one, and the color you choose says a lot about who you are. We often don’t stop to consider this fact, but color surrounds us in our daily lives. Wherever we look, color is found.
Some colors appeal to us and draw our attention towards them, while others garner no reaction from many people. Smart marketers know that the use of color in websites, labels, and packaging for branding can turn sales from stagnant into superb.
What is Color?
Color is basically white light broken down, a dissection of wavelengths. Viewing the various wavelengths allows the human eye to distinguish each as a separate color. Objects either reflect or absorb the wavelengths. For example, when we gaze upon a green lime, the green wavelength is being reflected by the fruit, while all others are absorbed.
Feeling Color
Each person feels emotions when they look at color. The warm side of the spectrum is red, which also include yellow and orange. These may indicate passion, leave us feeling uncomfortable, or even feeling anger.
Blue is the cool side of the spectrum, and it includes green and purple. These colors are calming and serene, often inspiring trust as well. Building your brand around color will have major advantages if done correctly.
The perception of color is subjective, although there is a universal significance attached to certain shades. For instance, red makes us think of fire, stop, or hot. White, on the other hand, instills feelings of peace, purity, and sterilization. It is for these reasons the psychology of color is an important tool in the weapons arsenal for brand marketing.
The Colors and How They Influence Customers’ Buying Patterns
Red, green, yellow, and blue are the psychological primary colors. There is a direct correlation between these colors and emotions, the mind, the body, and the crucial equilibrium between all three. What exactly makes colors influence sales? Find out why these ten colors are the top choices and how they work on the minds of consumers.
1. Yellow
Yellow is associated with memory, intensity, friendliness, emotional strength, self-esteem, and confidence. It can be a tricky color to use in certain situations, but from a branding and marketing perspective, yellow is a happy color.
It is the strongest color psychologically, and it stimulates the brain to increase memory function. It draws the attention of customers, especially when used as an accent color and is often used in window displays.
2. Green
Green leaves consumers feeling relaxed and positive. It is also associated with indulgence, restoration, rest, harmony, environmental awareness, balance, and reassurance. The eye perceives green with no adjustments, accounting for the feeling of restfulness often experienced when being outdoors, for example.
Brighter shades of green indicate healthy energy and vibrancy, while the darker hues relax moods. From a branding standpoint, it leaves customers with the impression of a product with a friendly attitude.
3. Blue
Blue is the favorite of all colors worldwide, and it affects the mental, rather than the physical aspect. It is associated with duty, reflection, logic, trust, intelligence, communication, and reliability. Softer tones promote concentration and soothe the mind, while darker hues promote clear thoughts.
Since consumers see blue as a trustworthy color, from a branding standpoint, it instills the consumer with confidence in their purchase or choice of service. Many top brands have chosen blue to build their brand, including Facebook, Chase, and AMEX.
4. Pink
Pink is a feminine and romantic color that is often used to market products aimed at young girls and women. It is associated with delicateness, love, trendiness, physical tranquility, warmth, nurturing, and innocence.
Since pink is a red shade, it physically affects humans but in a soothing way, as opposed to the intense stimulation brought on by true red. Although women show no partiality for the color according to surveys, it is still widely used for brand marketing targeting that demographic.
Light shades may lower blood pressure, while brighter hues may cause blood pressure to increase.
5. White
While black absorbs color completely, white completely reflects it. It gives a sharp perception of increased space but can be a strain to look at when there are no other colors present. It is associated with cleanliness, calmness, justice, fresh beginnings, clarity, sterility, hygiene, efficiency, purity, sophistication, and simplicity.
From a marketing and branding standpoint, white is often the dominant background color used to set off accent colors.
6. Red
The passion of red is well known to marketers. There is power behind the color that grabs our attention right away. It has a physical effect that increases pulse rate and stimulates.
Red is associated with warmth, strength, stimulation, physical courage, excitement, love, and energy. It is a very basic color with no subtlety and has the longest wavelength. Red is also an exclamation color that encourages consumers to act, making it effective for sales promotions.
7. Teal
Teal is not present on the fundamental color wheel, but it is a striking color that is fresh and less formal than true blue. It is associated with vitality and focus and has true staying power. When people think of teal, they often refer to blue skies or appliances in the kitchen during the mid-century.
Tiffany & Co. is one of the largest brands to use teal. They have a patent on their “robin’s egg” blue color. Marketers use teal in branding to promote an image that is trustworthy and carefree.
8. Orange
Orange is a mix of yellow and red, making reactions both emotional and physical. It is associated with fun, physical comfort, security, abundance, warmth, food, caution, and energy.
Although a struggling color, marketers use orange in branding to force consumers to take a second look and decide whether the brand is for them. It focuses on aggression to loudly shout a call to action, making it perform well in situations like impulse buys.
9. Black
Black is associated with substance, glamour, efficiency, sophistication, emotional safety, and security. It is perceived as having absolute clarity, seriousness, and uncompromising excellence.
Many logos use a combination of black and white, but black needs to be used sparingly to be seen as dramatic. Many premium brands such as Chanel, Burberry, Prada, and Cartier market with the careful use of black.
10. Purple
Purple is a fun color that has close ties to the spirit world. It is the shortest wavelength and is associated with luxury, quality, truth, creativity, spiritual awareness, authenticity, containment, and royalty.
Brands that use purple tend to stand out and receive consumer attention, mostly because the link with royalty gives the impression of the finest quality products. It appeals to children, making it a fixture in toy and candy packaging. For adults, purple is often featured in anti-aging and beauty products.
Final thoughts
Depending on the product, color is responsible for consumer choice in close to 90% percent of impulse buys. Since our brain tends to prefer brands that are recognizable immediately, brand identity creation should rely heavily on color.
Customer reaction to your color choice is not a complete science, but making certain predictions are possible. For example, if you want the consumer to feel delicate, consider using pink. If you want the consumer to confident and happy, consider the use of yellow.
The proper labeling and packaging will make all the difference to your sales, so consider your options carefully before making a final decision.