Your Brand Colors Actually Matter. Like, A Lot.

And it’s more than just for looks.

Branding is not only an art, but also a science. The colors you choose to represent your company on your website, logo, business cards, social media, print design, etc. have an effect on the conscious of the person viewing these items. Branding, as a package, sends a persuasive message… are you sending the right one?

Colors have different meanings to each person based on cultural upbringing, life experiences, personal preferences, etc. Seeing the color yellow (the happiest colors in the color spectrum, psychologically) may make me really motivated and happy, but it could make you cringe because it gives you bad memories of having to ride the school bus as a kid. As variable as color perception can be based on feelings from person to person, there is still valuable research that proves color matters when developing your brand. It matters a lot.

Here’s a list of proven facts about how color impacts branding:

• There‚Äôs a study called ‚ÄúImpact of Color on Marketing,‚Äù and the researches found that up to 90% of immediate judgments made about products/brands can be based on color.
• Perceived appropriateness: Does the color ‚Äúfit‚Äù what is being sold? Source
• Colors affect the personality of your brand. Would you think a company branded with navy blue and grey is a fun, innovative, energetic place to work? Or more corporate, buttoned-up, and structured? Source
• Our brains prefer brands that are immediately recognizable, which makes color a key player when creating your brand identity. Source

This is what you need to think about when choosing your brand colors:

• Choose colors that are different than your competition. How do you expect to stand out if you look just like the guys next door? At Kinetix, we are the only company in our competitive space that uses orange and purple. Most of our competitors use a form of darker blue/navy and/or green.
• Think about your brand‚Äôs personality and work culture. Are your people loud, fun, innovative, happy, and always up for a mid-day game of Ping-Pong? Or are your people more serious, calm, and conservative? You may want to lean toward colors that represent those traits.

If you’re in the market to develop, define, or re-define your brand, soak on the facts you’ve just read. Your homework is to write down your company’s personality traits, how you want to be perceived by potential customers, analyze the branding of your competition and write down their colors.

Next week, we’ll dive deeper on what different colors can represent and look at some examples.

Trivia Question: Ever wonder why you feel a little hungry or your mouth starts to water when you see the McDonald’s logo? I’ll reveal the answer next week. Or Google it. The choice is yours.