Color on Branding

The psychology of branding has always been a debatable topic and in the era of the internet and hyper information, it is quite obvious that the discussion will go to the next level. Branding has always been one of the most intriguing and fascinating topics for marketers, as it creates a visually appealing representation of the product or the organization and distinguishes it from the others. Choosing the right colour can be the most crucial factor that can elevate a brand to a global level or can be a complete disaster and finish the brand in spite of being great on the quality side.

Importance of colour on branding & psychology:

Researchers have always been fascinated regarding the impact of colour on branding and the effectiveness of choosing the right colour for the brand to make it presentable, appealing and attractive to lure the customers. The research citing 'Impact of colour on marketing', discovered that 90% of consumers make spot judgement of a product based on the colour associated with it. It may sound abrupt but as per the research, the impact of colour on effective branding indicates the relationship of perceived appropriateness of the colour being used for the particular brand.  Psychologist and Stanford professor Jennifer Aake has pointed out in her study, “Dimensions of Brand Personality”, five core brand personality traits that can be attributed to different colours, such as:

• Sincerity, honesty, trustworthiness, cheerfulness can be related to the colour - Blue
• Excitement, daring, warning, being imaginative can be traced to Red
• Reliability, success, intelligence can be attributed to Light Green
• High class, charm, elegance, royalty, youthfulness, happiness can be the remnant form of Violet
• Outdoor, Rugged nature can be related to Deep Yellow But, at the same time, it should also be kept in mind that branding is too broad to be generic in terms of colours. More than often, branding can be perceived as a blend of two or more colours; one being dominant on the other or a correlation of two colours and personal taste, culture, demographics, location all can be significant factors to perceive a brand. So, it will not be wrong to say that branding merely doesn’t depend on the colour itself. Varying colour trends: Colour can be deceptive at certain times as well. Depending upon gender, the same colour can be liked or disliked with great intensity. Men and women, based on their gender, nature and taste can choose colours that are quite different from their counterparts. Reception towards certain colours can be attributed to gender but at the same time, other factors do matter too! Colour coordination and combination are the favourite areas of every designer as they get to play around with different colours to create designs that are not just visually appealing but also aesthetically perfect, that leave a legacy behind. Two studies on colour combinations, one measuring aesthetic response and the other looking at consumer preferences, also found that while a large majority of consumers prefer colour patterns with similar hues, they favour palettes with a highly contrasting accent colour. The perfect instance would be the submit button click-through rate can be boosted by more than 20% just by merely changing the colour from green to red.

Conclusion:

Though multiple factors can change the outcome of branding, it is invariably true that colours do play a significant role in a brand’s success or failure.