How does colour affect your marketing messages?

Some experts advise using the same colours for all marketing messages, where others suggest changing colours to match your product areas. So what else is there to think about when choosing colours for marketing?

According to the Colour Marketing Group, four colours are forecasted to be popular in 2016. In North America it will be ‘uni-blue’, in Europe it will be ‘brave red’, in Asia and the Pacific it will be ‘naturban green’ and in Latin America it will be ‘maiz yellow’.

Will you take this into consideration when selecting an appropriate colour for your brand?

Colour affects emotions

Colours invoke different emotions depending on what country you are advertising in. Find out if there are any colours that cause offense or represent something that you do not want to be associated with before embarking on a marketing campaign.

Some industries have their own colour scheme

Picking a colour that’s associated with your industry can be a safe option so your audience doesn’t become unsettled with a scheme that doesn’t fit your brand.

In the U.S., red is related to meat foods, toys and pizza, blue is associated with dairy products, toys and financial services and pink is related to Barbie and cosmetics. So starting a finance firm with a pink banner might not be ideal.

Match your brand personality

If your brand is considered to be loud and dynamic, consider using the main eight colours of a Crayola crayon box, like McDonalds and Toys R Us do. On the other hand, to portray a more sophisticated brand image, try differing shades of colour like Jaguar and Armani have done.

Avoid competition colours

Some companies have distinctive colours that automatically promote brand recall like Shell’s bright yellow and Sainsbury’s orange. Try to distinguish yourself from your competitor, for example Pepsi blue and Coca-Cola red.

Read and comment on the original Entrepreneur article.