Colors that Encourage Consumers

Colors are an integral part of a brand strategy. The color palette chosen to represent your brand can subconsciously communicate a variety of messages, and it's been proven through market research that color directly impacts consumers.

Red, green and blue are primary colors as they cannot be created by mixing other colors. Combining all three primary colors in equal intensities produces white. It's quite well known that the color red inspires impulsive buying. Our eyes are drawn to the color like ducks to water. Just walk into any supermarket and look at the color most often used on products. It's red. The next one is yellow. Both colors tend to raise your blood pressure just a tad and dilate your pupils. They cause excitement, which goes to prove one thing: color affects the consumers.

For a long time, color has been used by both advertiser and merchandiser to encourage the consumer to take action (purchase the product or service). In fact, the use of color in advertising and merchandising has become somewhat of a science into itself. Sometimes a color is selected for the sole purpose of drawing attention to the product or ad. This is when red or yellow may be used. But you can also attract attention by using a combination of colors. For instance, Stagg Chili uses a black background with gold letters. The cereal product, Total, creates eye-catching appeal with a blue package and a red logo.

Color can also be used to relate to a particular product or service. Consider the Green Giant products. Their packages are set in a white background with the famous green logo. Healthy Choice is another example of using green. Both products are trying to emulate freshness or healthfulness. Green does the job. Root beer is sold, using packages created in brown shades. A & Wis a perfect example, which uses brown and orange.

Designers often select colors to bring life to an otherwise dull advertisement. Sometimes those colors selected by a designer aren't necessary based on any real scientific choice, just as a judgment call. But when push comes to shove, the designer can usually give you a reason why he or she selected one color over another. Of course, as with everything else these days, there have been plenty of studies done on color.

Here's a short review of some of the basics used today in ads or product development and what they mean:

Blue is the all-time color favorite for most folks, especially men. Cool blue is perceived as trustworthy, dependable, fiscally responsible and secure. Strongly associated with the sky and sea, blue is serene and universally well-liked. Blue is an especially popular color with financial institutions, as its message of stability inspires trust.

Yellow, along with red, raises our blood pressure a bit and catches our eye. Yellow embodies life, joy and offers a high-impact visual. It adds brightness to our lives. In every society, yellow is associated with the sun. Thus, it communicates optimism, positivism, light and warmth. Certain shades seem to motivate and stimulate creative thought and energy. The eye sees bright yellows before any other color, making them great for point-of-purchase displays.

Red is the attention grabber. It is considered the hottest color with the highest impact for attention and action. It has a strong masculine appeal. Red activates your pituitary gland, increasing your heart rate and causing you to breathe more rapidly. This response makes red aggressive, energetic, provocative and attention-grabbing. Count on red to evoke a passionate response, although not always a favorable one. For example, red can represent danger or indebtedness.

Green connotes health, freshness and serenity. However, green's meaning varies with its many shades. Deeper greens are associated with wealth or prestige, while light greens are calming. Green is often used with health food products, recycling and vegetables.

Brown, although considered a masculine color, has a strong appeal to women as well. Symbolizes home and hearth. Brown conveys simplicity, durability and stability. It can also elicit a negative response from consumers who relate to it as dirty. Certain shades of brown, like terracotta, can convey an upscale look. From a functional perspective, brown tends to hide dirt, making it a logical choice for some trucking and industrial companies.

Black is the embodiment of sophistication, gives an expensive message. It also lends itself wonderfully as a background color to accentuate other colors, such as: yellow, red and orange. Black is serious, bold, powerful and classic. It creates drama and connotes sophistication. Black works well for expensive products, but can also make a product look heavy.

Cheerful orange evokes exuberance, fun and vitality. With the drama of red plus the cheer of yellow, orange is viewed as gregarious and often childlike. Research indicates its lighter shades appeal to an upscale market. Peach tones work well with healthcare, restaurants and beauty salons. Orange is the color of harvest, the "feast" color, and it evokes strong emotions regarding holidays, home, eating.

White connotes simplicity, cleanliness and purity. The human eye views white as a brilliant color, so it immediately catches the eye. White is often used with infant and health-related products.

Thus color provides an accent or an ambiance to the visual presentations.

You should bear in mind that whatever the color you choose, keep it simple (not more than three colors per item) and be consistent. In other words, if you have a product that is packaged in red, a logo in blue and an advertisement to promote both in green, you're not helping the consumer to identify your product, logo and ads from all the other stuff that's out there.

Remember to always stay with the same color palette. It helps your identity and is certainly more pleasing to the eye.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-30