Color And The Brain

Visual perception is the primary sense humans have for exploring and making sense
of their environment. Colors trigger a diverse set of responses within the cerebral
cortex of the brain and throughout the central nervous system. The proper perception
of color has been one of the key drivers of human evolution. If color is that important
to human evolution, just think how important it is to building the value of your brand.

Once we humans identify a color, we instantly have a chemical reaction in our brain
that produces an emotional response. This response triggers a multitude of thoughts,
memories and associations to people, places and events. Color affects us in profound
ways. Our brains are designed to respond to color. This all happens instantly under our
conscious awareness.

We all know color is nothing more than the reflection of certain light waves picked up
by your optic nerve, transmitted through nerves to your brain. Color doesn’t really
exist; it’s only its reflection. Within our conscious minds, we have all been
predisposed and indoctrinated to give meanings and feelings to particular colors
within the context of what the culture at large values. These cultural associations to
specific colors need to be a big driver of your strategic and creative decisions when
forming the foundation of your brand’s identity in the marketplace.

Within the spectrum of visible light, there is a physiological effect. Colors with long
wavelengths (red for example) illicit the faster recognition response in the brain.
While colors with shorter wavelengths (blue) are more soothing and can actually
lower pulse, respiration and blood pressure. It’s no accident that an insurance brand
like Progressive would have blue as the primary color it its visual identity system.

The same is true for other colors in the spectrum. Yellow is a middle wavelength color
detected by the eye. Consequently yellow, because it is the brightest, commands
attention more easily. This is why yellow is used in road signs and the Yellow Pages.
Yellow is about attention, even caution, while red powerfully represents sex and
seduction.

Colors Convey A Mood And Defined Emotional State

Colors affect us in many different ways but all colors create a specific frame of mind
for people–it’s called a mood. Having people be in the most receptive mood is
essential for their engagement with your brand. Color sets the mood of brand
expression, and more importantly, creates mental associations to the meaning of your
brand within the context of the world it lives in.

John Deere owns green which means tractor. IBM has a royal blue, which means
stability and reliability. Fed Ex chose two clashing colors (orange and purple) which
means something important has dependably been delivered to you worthy of your
attention–and your signature.

Color And Visual Identity

Color is foundational to the visual identity of your brand in all its expressions and
executions–logos, packaging, products, environments and all forms of marketing
communications. UPS built their whole brand story around the proposition “what can
brown do for you?” Apple transformed how we think of desktop computers through
the creative use of color.

It’s amazing when you look back at the profound impact this simple little innovation
had in building the foundation of what Apple has become today. For strong ,well
managed brands, color is more than a subjective choice–it’s a strategic business
imperative.

Selecting The Right Color For Your Brand

To convey a simple idea of meaning and differentiation requires you select a color that
properly fits your strategic positioning. Selecting a color (and color scheme) for your
brand must represent the audience emotional associations and desires, and the value
proposition or promise your brand brings to those desires.

Selecting the appropriate color to represent and differentiate your brand must be based
on several criteria. Here are three of the most important:

The Target Audience

Who are those people, what do they care about, what mood do they need to be in to
engage with your brand? Different consumers are affected by color in different ways
and cultural trends are always in transition. What color best anchors the meaning of
your value to your audience and distinguishes your brand from the competition in the
category?

The Brand Archetype

If you have determined the appropriate archetype for your brand, what color best
represents the attributes of the archetype? For example, if your brand archetype is the
Explorer, you probably will consider colors that represent the outdoors or anything
that is associated with the persona of that archetype. Red probably would not be a
wise choice.
The Culture
Color means different things to people in different parts of the world, in different
cultures. In the US, white represents purity, while in some regions of Asia it is the
color of mourning. Color perceptions and meanings change with race, age, social
class, gender and religion. The demographics and psychographics that are most
dominate in the culture will be an important consideration in selecting the color that
represents your brand in markets the brand serves.

The Bottom Line

Selecting colors to represent your brand should never be an exercise in trendiness, or
coolness, driven by the whims of your ad agency creative director or the personal taste
of the CEO’s spouse. Properly chosen colors define your brand’s value, strengthen
and support your brand positioning, enable greater awareness and customer recall, and
distinguish your brand among its alternatives. Picking the right color should never be
underestimated.
 THE IMPORTANCE OF COLOR
IN MARKETING
  direct mail  launch room  creative design

 
When designing your print collateral — how do you effectively use text and colors
to attract your audience?
 
Although we live in a digital era, the art of leave-behind marketing will always
have a place in marketing strategies. Some say they are outdated, unnecessary,
and boring for your audience, who expect to see you on social media or your
website. However, marketers who see the big picture understand that leave-
behind materials can still make a great impression with the right design and copy.
 
Why are print collaterals still useful? Mainly because they offer a tactile fulfillment
that digital content doesn't provide. According to a MarketingProfs report, 92% of
people aged 18 to 23 consider that reading print over digital content is a lot
easier. Moreover, the same report shows that the response rate for direct mail
marketing is 37% higher than email. Not to mention that consumers claim they
trust printed advertisements 34% more than digital ads.
 
That said, it is evident that leave-behind marketing materials are still useful even
in the digital era. Yet, you still need a top-notch design and copy for your print
collateral. Let’s explore how to use colors and text to attract your audience with
your leave-behind materials.
 
 

The two approaches of colors in marketing

The psychology of colors fosters unique and exciting new dimensions for
marketers. There are two different ways color can contribute to how attractive
your print collateral will be for your audience:

1. Using contrasting colors to improve and ease readability

2. Using specific colors to trigger certain emotions, thoughts, and moods in your
audience

These two approaches of using colors in your marketing strategy, be it

your Instagram marketing strategy or offline marketing strategy, can have
different yet somehow similar effects on your audience.
 
While the first approach highlights the message you want to transmit to your
readers, the second approach gives them the right mood and emotion that will
influence how they perceive that message. However, both of them are, ultimately,
strategies that attract your audience.
 
The first approach must be perfectly blended with the text you add to your print
collateral to be effective. Using contrasting colors aims to highlight the message.
Yet, if the message fails to attract and engage the audience, your marketing
efforts won’t bring you the expected results. So, for comprehensive and engaging
copy, you can use tools such as Studicus, Grammarly, and BidForWriting  service.
 

The psychological effects of colors

In marketing, colors can be a powerful tool used to influence reactions and
responses in your audience. The psychology of colors explains that specific
colors can trigger certain emotions and moods in people. While some colors can
trigger urgency and alertness, others can make the audience feel calm or even
nostalgic.
 
According to Gloria Johnson, head of the marketing department at Wowgrade:
“Using colors properly in your print collateral can have a huge impact on how
people feel or react to your message. Depending on the message you want to slip
into the minds of the audience, certain colors can convert a complicated message
into an emotion that triggers a powerful response.”
 
Let’s explore what psychological effects certain colors can have on customers
when used in marketing:
 
Red: You have certainly noticed the huge red sales signs in stores or on
websites. Red is used for such purposes because it is the color that triggers
urgency in consumers. It can make consumers feel that if they don’t make a
purchase straight away, the product they want will be gone.
 
Blue: The color of the sky, often associated with calmness, can help brands look
more reliable in the eyes of their audience. Brands who want to pose as
trustworthy companies often use blue.
 
Green: Associated by consumers with health, calmness, and cheerfulness, green
also evokes the color of nature. Green is typically used by brands that want to be
associated with environmentally-friendly practices.
 
White: White is associated with purity, cleanness, and innocence. Companies
mainly use it from the healthcare industry who want to be associated with sterility.
Also, white can be used in combination with other colors to highlight essential
elements.
 
Black: In most cultures, black invokes negative feelings and loss. However, in
marketing, it is associated with the symbol of seriousness and formality. Similar to
white, black contrasts with other colors for a stronger impact.
 
Purple: In the psychology of colors, purple represents mysticism and magic. Yet,
in marketing, it is the color of royalty, wisdom, and sophistication.
 
Yellow: Yellow is generally a bright color that triggers optimism in people. It can
be used by companies that want to pose as energetic and fresh.
 
Depending on your company culture and the message you want to transmit to
your audience, you can use one or more of these colors to trigger the
psychological and emotional responses you want.  

 
The copy and color strategies must work well
together
As mentioned above, copy and colors must go hand-in-hand to create an
attractive design for your print collateral. The color strategy also needs to fit the
message you want people to perceive for your brand. 
Your written content is just as important as choosing the colors and design of
your leave-behind marketing materials. To write exciting, engaging, and
comprehensive copy that will be perfectly paired with your color strategy for your
print collateral, use the following tools:
 
Trustmypaper: a professional community of writers who can give you feedback on
how comprehensive and engaging your content is and how to improve your
writing skills.
 
Copyscape: 100% original content is critical if you want your print collateral to
attract your audience. Use this tool to ensure that your content is plagiarism-free. 
 
Grabmyessay: As with any content, editing can be time-consuming and
challenging. You can use this tool to get your content checked by professional
writers for any style or grammar mistakes.
 
Thesaurus: If you want to avoid repeating certain words multiple times in your
copy, you can use this tool to find new and engaging synonyms and antonyms.
 
In marketing, colors can help your brand stand out from your competitors by
influencing how your audience sees and perceives your message. If you create
print collateral that perfectly blends your copy and color strategy into the design, it
won’t be easy for your audience to ignore them. Emotionally, colors have the
power to influence consumers on a sound level, and, in combination with your
message, they can trigger the expected responses in your audience.
The Importance of Brand Colours
Colour plays an important role in marketing. When designing the branding and logo of your
company, colours play a crucial role. This is because they are the first things your target
market thinks of when thinking of your brand. Colour is one of the first things your target
market sees and can play a significant role in consumer behaviour.
When you think of Starbucks, you think green, when you think of McDonalds, you think of
yellow arches and when you think of Facebook, you think blue. These brand colours are seen
throughout the brands entirety. Facebook’s website is full of blue accents, the logo is blue,
and blue is all throughout the user experience. Starbucks has green in their store, on
employee uniforms, on the website and app, and on packaging. Colours are a great brand
identifier and it is important they relate to your brand.
Colours and Emotions

Colours can elicit specific emotions and affect us in many different ways as they have the
ability to create specific moods. Colour sets the mood of brand expression. Emotions are
powerful and have the ability to drive decision making. Brands want to cultivate strong
emotional connections with their customers and this can’t be done with just a logo; colours
are needed to cultivate these emotions. How consumers feel about a brand has more pull than
what they think of a brand. Furthermore, if you couple this with the fact that we know certain
colours evoke certain emotions, your brand colours then have the ability to impact sales and
performance.
Moreover, repetition of the same colour(s) can strengthen brand recognition and awareness. If
you are consistent with your brand colours, they become part of your brand in the eyes of
your target market. One way to be consistent is to incorporate your brand colours throughout
the entirety of the user experience. This means having your brand colours in your brand
collateral like your logo, website, storefront, in-store design, staff uniforms, packaging, and
advertisements. Using the same colours in all your brand collateral strengthens your brand’s
association with those colours and by extension, strengthen brand awareness as a whole.
With all that being said, you must choose your branding colours carefully as they have a
direct influence on your brand identity. Before determining your brand colours, you must
determine your brand identity and personality so you can pick colours that elicit that identity.
 So you have your brand identity and personality, now you need to determine which colours
match that. Here is a chart of brand colour meanings and the affect that the different branding
colours can have on people.
Colour Meanings and their Affect on People

Colour Colour Meaning Affect Branding Colours can

have on People

Red Passion, excitement, love danger, and  Signifies importance and

anger commands attention
 Makes you feel passionate and
energized

Orange Playfulness, vitality, happiness, and  It is invigorating and evokes

friendliness energy
 Aggressive but balanced
 Makes your feel energized and
enthusiastic

Yellow Happiness, youth, energetic,  Makes you feel happy and

comforting and optimism spontaneous
 Can be attention-grabbing or
affordable
 Associated with laughter, hope
and sunshine

Green Stability, health, wealth, prosperity,  Has a connection to nature

calming, relaxing and growth  Makes you feel optimistic and
refreshed
 Depicts growth, security and
inspires possibility

Light Tranquility, trust, openness, calmness,  Has a calming effect

Blue spirituality, and innocence  Makes you feel safe and relaxed
Dark Professionalism, security, and  It is mature and trustworthy
Blue formality   Too much can make you feel
cold and disengaged

Purple Royalty, mystery, creativity, and  It is wise and imaginative

luxury  Makes you feel creative
 Lighter shades are used to soothe
or calm

Pink Femininity, romance, sensitivity,  It ranges from modern to

tenderness, sweet, cute, charming, luxurious
youth, and innocence  Makes you feel playful and
romantic

Brown Rugged, aged, stability, support,  Has an old-fashioned/vintage

warm, practical, dependable and look or mood 
earthy  Makes you feel down to earth

White Cleanliness, virtue, pure, health and  It can range from affordable to
simplicity high-end
 Means minimalism and
simplicity

Gray Subdued, classic, responsible,  Stands for neutrality

dependable, serious, mysterious, and  Feels serious and professional
mature

Black Powerful, elegance, sophisticated,  Makes your feel sophisticated,

edgy, professionalism, simplicity, classic and serious
luxurious, and modern  Can also refer to mourning or
sadness

Picking your Brand Colours

When picking your brand colours there are a number of things to be considered. First, you
need to think of your target audience. Who is your target audience, what do they care about,
what mood do they need to be in to engage with your products and brand? What colour best
anchors the meaning of your value proposition to your target market and distinguishes you
from the competition? You must ask these questions before determining which colours suit
your brand best. You should also consider where your consumers are using your product; if it
is outdoors, you may want to bring in colours from the atmosphere and place your product is
used like green and brown for trees or blue and sand for a beach.
You also have to consider what the colours you choose mean in different cultures; especially
if your brand is present outside of your home country. Colours mean different things in
different cultures so you want to be sure these interpretations are in line with your brand.
Furthermore, colour perceptions and meanings change with age, social class, gender and
religion as well, which is why it is so important to understand your target market. Again, it is
critical to understand your brand personality traits too. Your brand personality traits coupled
with your target customers should be the foundation of your brand colours.
How to Pick your Brand Colours

Here is a general framework for picking your brand colours. We are going to plan on
choosing 3 brand colours, but there are some schemes that can have up to 4 colours. When
working with 3 colours you should pick a base, accent and a neutral. 
Base

When picking a base, you need to determine which of your brand’s personality traits is the
most important. Your base colour should reflect your brand’s most dominant personality trait
but also appeal to your target audience. This colour will not only be the base colour for your
brand but it will also help you determine your other brand colours.
Accent

The accent colour you choose will be used the most after your base colour. This colour is
critical and difficult to choose as it must match a brand personality trait as well as pair well
visually with your base colour while also appealing to your audience. We will briefly touch
on colour schemes to make it easier to pick your colours later on in this blog post. 
Neutral

Finally, you need to choose your neutral. This colour will be present in most of your designs
as it will most likely be a background colour so with this in mind, be sure to choose
something that avoids added attention. Typically your neutral will be a hue of grey or a beige,
white or off-white. Black is also an option but it tends to be overpowering. You know your
brand and audience though, so choose what you think is best.
Colour Schemes

Now onto colour schemes. You should keep a colour scheme in mind when picking your
colours because once you have your base colour, you can use colour schemes to help
determine your accent colour(s). Typically, brands will use one of these common colour
schemes: monochromatic, analogous, complementary, or triadic. You can use the Adobe
Color website to play around with different colour schemes on the colour wheel.