Can you imagine Coca-Cola without its red and white color symbol? Or Mcdonald’s without picturing its famous yellow arch? In every aspect, color plays a significant role in identifying and associating with the brand. It creates visual identity and you can immediately recognize a brand.
A successful and extensive brand strategy needs to consider the importance of color. Whether designing the brand or logo of the business, choosing the right color is very crucial. It’s because the color is the first perception that customers will have about the brand and it often triggers certain emotions.
Here, we’ll discuss the top six reasons why colors are important in branding.
Color Ensures Brand and Audience Recognition
Colors give every brand a unique identity and help its potential customers to reach out more. Let’s take an example. Suppose four motor bike companies have launched their latest models in the market. But most people won’t be able to remember the company names. Instead, they can recognize the brand through their logo and color combination.
If the colors are red, blue, orange and black, people will remember the colors only. The color they’ll see the most, the brand they’ll search for the most. Color is basically linked to memory and hence, it’s easier to recognize it by its name, especially when you have seen it only once.
Furthermore, color preference and perception can differ by gender. For instance, most men prefer dark, non-transparent, bold colors. On the other hand, women like much softer and something mixed with white.
So, if you ever start a coffee shop, you can offer solid colored coffees to men to excite them about the drink. Whereas, try the breakfast sandwiches with a soft tone for the women to remind them of the peaceful morning.
Color Impacts on Mood
Studies show that color can have a great influence on customers’ moods. For example, KFC’s logo in the trapeze shape with red and white background triggers the feeling of hunger.
Though it’s not proven, red excites human emotions, increases heart rate and motivates the mind to take action. It potentially escalates appetites.
Similarly, yellow implies the color of joy and inspires the original thought. Whereas blue stands for serenity and security and it’s the most favorite color of many brands. Who doesn’t know the popular social media site Facebook logo is in blue.
Henceforth, you need to choose the color wisely while designing a logo for your new brand. If you’re confused about colors that suits the brand then you need to find color name. Also, it is important to understand the emotions of different colors.
Color Defines Visual Identity of Brand
A brand visual identity incorporates the logo, colors, typography, imagery and unique design. Among these, color is the primary visual element that provides strength and consistency to the brand. Logos may define the company, but its color goes deep into people’s minds so that they remember it for long.
For example, UPS made their entire brand based on only one theory, “what can brown do for you?”. Or if you see a red, yellow, green and blue colored “G”, you know what it means. It’s the logo of Google.
Just make sure your brand logo colors have a contrast effect and stand out among the almost similar ones. That’s how people can distinguish your brand easily.
Color Affects Perception
As already said color effects emotions powerfully; it plays a major role in marketing. Different colors depict different emotions and based on which one (or ones) you’re selecting for the branding, affects customers’ perceptions.
Keep in mind that your brand has a unique identity. Its values and targets should be reflected through its elements and color are one of those elements.
However, there’re some common mistakes that you may make. Such as choosing a color because you like it or the competitors have. Many business owners do not even try to determine the color psychology behind their brand reference. These can create a negative impact and hence, you should avoid such mistakes while branding.
Brand Consistency
When you finalize the colors for branding, the next important thing is to stick to that color theme. It ensures consistency in the brand. But how does it help it?
The consistent brand does not send a wrong signal to the customers with a mixed message. If a brand uses a cheerful color and uses happy voice tone to connect with youngsters and then suddenly shifts to a more serious color and tone, audiences will become confused. Consequently, they won’t stay loyal to the brand.
You can check the social site LinkedIn has maintained its color, logo and tone consistent over the years.
Color Represents Culture
Color means various things to various people all around the world. In short, it represents different cultures. In Asia, white stands for mourning, while it symbolizes purity in the US.
Basically, color perception varies by gender, age, race, location and social class. Therefore, you must consider the demographics to present your brand with the correct color. It impacts people’s minds in a great way and increases your brand value.
So, keep the above factors in mind during branding. The right color set the path to success for your brand. It’ll strengthen the brand’s position in the market and generate awareness.
