When you close your eyes and think about a brand, their colors will probably be the first thing you envision. Try it… If we say McDonald’s, you’ll think yellow and red. If we say Facebook, you’ll think blue. If we say UPS, you’ll think brown and yellow.
Does this matter? Every company has to eventually just decide on colors, right? And most of the time they’re probably just choosing colors that look good together, right? That might be the case for some brands, but you might be surprised to learn that a brand’s color choices can be just as intentional as their logo, their product packaging, their website, and their merchandise itself.
That’s because they want you to feel something specific about their brand before you step foot inside a store, shop their website, or look up their socials. To do this, they use the psychology of color. Before we get into which colors evoke which emotions, let’s talk about why color for your branded merchandise is so important.
Command Attention
Colors can increase memory performance. Studies have shown that people are better able to recall details from an image when that image is in color vs. black and white. This means that using the right colors in your branding not only commands greater attention from your audience, you’re more likely to stick around in their memory as well.
Emotional Appeal
In 2018, a Harvard professor found that 95 percent of consumers make emotionally-driven purchasing decisions rather than logical ones. We’ll go into this more later, but every color drives some sort of emotional response, so brands hope to engage your emotions so you’re likely to buy more products.
Stay Consistent
Once you’ve nailed down the color(s) that perfectly represent your brand, keep them consistent in everything you do. From your website to the colors you post on your social media channels to the swag you create for employees and/or customers. The psychological power multiplies if you can create a signature color for your company. Some of these signature colors have been trademarked — such as Mattel Barbie Pink, Tiffany Blue, and T-Mobile Magenta. The more recognizable the colors of your brand are, the more weight you’ll hold over your competitors.
Now, the part you’ve been waiting for…
Psychology of Color
Here’s a look into some of the emotions that certain colors evoke:
- Yellow: Optimism, clarity, warmth
- Orange: Friendliness, cheerfulness, confidence
- Red: Excitement, youthfulness, boldness
- Purple: Creativity, imaginativeness, luxury
- Blue: Trust, dependability, strength
- Green: Peacefulness, growth, healthfulness
- Gray: Balance, calm
- Brown: Safety, reliability, dependability
Looking at that list, you can imagine why some of your favorite brands chose the colors they did. McDonald’s wants to invite you into a warm, happy place. Facebook wants you to feel safe when using their platform. UPS wants to be known as the most reliable, dependable delivery service. Cadbury wants to come across as luxurious and whimsical. And when you really think about it, you probably do feel those same emotions when thinking of each of those brands.
That’s the power of color. As you think about creating custom merchandise for your brand, get in touch with our team at Prodigy Promos to create the right swag with your unique colors to help you stand out.
