C
olours are a major part of your Brand Identity and play a role in your Brand Recognition. Just look at the Coca-Cola Company with their internationally recognised red brand, or Barbie and their signature pink.
Using the psychology of colour with your marketing skills will work to your advantage when reaching for your business goals.
Historical fact: The first colour wheel was presented by Sir Isaac Newton in the 17th century when he first discovered the visible spectrum of light.
1. Understand Colour Psychology
Subconsciously or not, colours are associated with different perceptions. Whether from symbolism or history, colours have meaning!
It is essential for you to be aware of that when deciding on your colour palette, as it will impact your consumers and their decision-making process.
A little note before jumping into it: Keep in mind that we’re not saying you have to choose your colours according to your values and their colour representation. Sometimes a good marketing move is to play the rebellious card – break the codes of the market and be seen as a disruptor! This can add to the ‘cool factor’ of your brand but be careful to align everything else, especially your Brand Voice.
In any case, you should still know your colour psychology to plan smart.
“it will impact your consumers and their decision-making process”
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(These images were created for our social media accounts – follow us on there to see more series like this in the future)
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2. Know Your Market’s Preferred Colours
Do some research on your competitor’s brand colours and get a good idea of the implicit codes of your market.
For example, Insurance and Law-related businesses will prefer shades of blue to inspire trust, integrity and responsibility. This is the smart move when they know their target audience will not care about anything other than having an expert who will get the job done.
An interesting newcomer on the market these past years is the simplistic YOUI logo. Instead of the trustworthy blue shades, they chose the formal and refined elegance of the white-on-black that will remain modern and timeless.
A great move, coupled with a different marketing strategy: using mainly Youtube ads before the significant ad migration from TV to Socials and promoting a series “Who’s in the car” with celebrities like The Veronicas.
Get inspired by this example or these! Here’s our advice:
- Research your market’s preferred colours by researching your competitors.
- Note the slight colour differences in relation to their values.
- Determine your unique points of differentiation and how they can be represented with colours.
- Reach out to your team, friends and family to get their impressions.
3. Choose Your Colour Palette
Decide which colours best reflect your brand identity and how many main colours you will use.
You need to know if you will use one primary colour and different types of hues or shades of this colour. Or, if you’ll only have clashing colours (opposite on the colour wheel) with no shades.
Then, you need to decide where each colour will appear and follow which guidelines. For example, the main titles on your website will appear in your main logo colour, whereas your second and third (H2, H3) titles will appear in another shade.
This process can be incredibly enjoyable, and we advise you to create mood boards to visualise your logo and website.
4. Gather All Your Choices In One Style Guide For Your Team
As we’ve said a lot before on this blog, consistency is key!
If you want your brand to appear consistent over all your mediums, you need to have a Style Guide with precise guidelines on where to use which colour.
You can design different colour palettes for different uses but make sure you list each guideline for each medium: logo, advertising purpose, website, social media, emails, stationary, in-store, and uniforms.
“consistency is key!”
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If you want to improve your visual identity, you can download our FREE checklist below to find your unique brand identity or you can ask for our professional help. We love creating unique colour palettes for our clients.
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Marie Rene | LinkedIn
