At Visual Caffeine, we take our colors seriously. No, we don’t mean on our wallpaper patterns and handbags. We think about color more intensely than the average person simply because, as branding professionals, we know that color matters. Not only does it matter, but it’s essential to how your brand is perceived by your clients and potential consumers. The color that you as a business owner love, may not be the right color for your brand—unless your business is essentially you and the color scheme fits an overall aura that you as an individual consistently utilize in your daily life, and even then it’s debatable (but, that’s another blog for another time). Moving on—let’s get down to pretty, colorful, brass tacks. Here are three ways your brand colors matter:
- They Subconsciously Move Your Target Audience
Colors play an intense role in how consumers choose their products. Did you know that men and women see the color red differently? Or, did you know, that color is a universally pleasing color to the eye? This doesn’t mean that you don’t have to think about shades! It does mean that color goes way beyond sight—there’s a feeling you can get from a specific shade. Make sure you’re using the right shade to grab the audience the right way.
- Consumers Are More Likely to Recognize Your Brand Colors
Guess what? All that work you did in choosing your business name was a waste of time. Just kidding. However, research heavily suggests that consumers spot colors of brands much faster than they spot names. So, while it’s important to have a great name, it’s just as important (sometimes even more important visually) to have the perfect color.
- Color Creates Consistency
Purple isn’t one color. There are a dozen different shades of purple, and should your brand choose to use this color, you had better pick the right shade and use it consistently. This play into “brand guidelines” which is basically a handy booklet that sets the standards for tones, fonts, logos and language that are used for a specific brand. Why is this important? Because even the slightest lack of consistency can spell disaster for your brand.
Color isn’t easy. In fact, there are entire marketing departments set up in-house of most companies to ensure that color elements are received well and with clarity by consumers. However, when it comes to smaller businesses–outside the corporate world–it takes an objective professional to throw you some ‘shade’ and let you know what’s not working and how that can be fixed. If you’re looking to re-brand, or have questions regarding what your next step in branding should be, drop us a line.
