How to Choose the Right Colors for Your Brand

Ten years ago, Heinz unveiled a new type of ketchup That became an immediate success. It sold seven million bottles in Its first seven months and gained international Attention. It became so popular That When It sold out of Some Supermarkets, people Actually auctioned it off on eBay. Was So what so special about this ketchup? Did it taste better? Not at all. Was it made out of better ingredients? Nope.




Was there one difference. Was it green.

Now, Consider the story of Crystal Pepsi, a clear cola debuted in 1992. That though the soft drink tasted like regular Pepsi, It Seemed That Most people did not REACT well to the idea of ​​a clear drinking cola. After lackluster sales, Was discontinued the product after only a year.

The message is clear enough: the choice in color for your product and its marketing materials matter.

Choosing the Best Color for Your Brand: It's not Just an Artistic Decision

Research has shown Our emotions influence That color in a variety of Ways, spreading soft Most importantly, it's the first Sensory touch point with a customer or client. "The first point of interaction is shaped by the color, and color is the Most memorable sense," says Leslie Harrington, the executive director of The Color Association and a color consultant. "Before anything else, They see color."

Harrington, WHO Wrote a Ph.D. thesis titled Color Strategy: Leveraging Color to add and Extract Values ​​for Products and Brands, Clients urges her not to think of color as an artistic choice or preference, But Rather a business Grounded Decision.

"Color has been one of those things that's been left up to the designer to select something," she says. "The CEOs or management say 'oh I can not do that, I'm not artistic.' But my argument is That it's not about being artistic - it's not any Different than any other Strategic Decision Making for your business. "

Case studies have shown a consumer That's Decision to purchase products Can range from anywhere between 60 and 80 Percent based on the product's color. Color has the unique Ability to make or break the success of a product, Harrington notes. "It does not cost you any more to make the right color for your product Decision. But If You Choose the wrong color, from the onset, you're not going to Communicate what you want to your customer." In other words, the if you get it wrong, Can you really impact the overall performance of your company.

Dig Deeper: How To Manage Your Company's Brand


Choosing the Best Color for Your Brand: Color Selection

Color is contextual. For example, You Might buy a shampoo that's bright orange, soft you're probably Unlikely to buy a car in That Same color. So When thinking about a color for your product or marketing materials, it's Important to research the typical Among Choices of color your Competitors, and understand what color is a particular Is Trying to Communicate to a customer.

"Go Into the store and take a critical look at what colors are there," says Jill Morton, a color consultant and author of a series of e-books about color.