It’s been said that the golden rule of marketing is to try and connect to your customers through their hearts and not their wallets. There’s hardly any better way of establishing a relationship with new customers than by choosing the right color choice in your product packaging.
The associations our brains develop in response to certain colors are important in bridging the consumer market and marketing material gap. A closer look at colors used in advertising across various industries, and you’ll find that many of those colors feature repeatedly.
The choice of colors on a brand’s label doesn’t mean they are its favorite colors. They’re colors that the market connects with the most regarding their needs and expectations from the brand. It’s more by design than a coincidence, and brands have to customize an ideal color scheme for the most effective marketing efforts.
According to a Seoul International Color Expo secretariat research study, 93% of buyers focus on visual appeal. Nearly 85% make buying decisions based on color. This goes to show that color is often the sole reason people choose to buy a product.
Let’s look at the science of color combinations in marketing and how they will help you communicate your brand message most effectively.
How Color Choices in Marketing Influences Customers
The meaning and psychology of label colors can positively impact people’s willingness and ultimate decision to buy a product. Colors can communicate a message that words cannot replicate and are highly effective at emotional persuasion.
Brands and advertisers know that people make subconscious judgments about people, an environment, or a product within a few seconds of interacting with them. As such, marketers use certain colors, hues, shades, and tints to trigger a particular emotion and action.
The result of this marketing tactic is often both subtle and powerful. Consumers can be influenced to choose a product or service over their competitors or buy on impulse.
The color of a product can convince us that it tastes fresher than similar products with different colors. It can even make medicines a lot more effective. Drug manufacturers make stimulants yellow and sleeping pills blue because customers associate these colors with their intended effects.
If you think there might not be some truth behind it, think about your favorite brands and how certain colors feature prominently. Think about how bright red is synonymous with Netflix and Target or how yellow is widely associated with Best Buy.
Here’s a breakdown of different color psychologies, what they mean, and how they apply to the market.
Red Color Psychology
The color red is associated with a sense of urgency and is best suited for fast-food chains. Think of KFC, McDonald’s, and Burger King. It kindles appetite and passion, which is what fast-food restaurants want you to feel about their products.
Green Color Psychology
Green is associated with power, nature, health, and tranquility. It is used as a strategy to ease customers and stimulate harmony in their brains. This approach helps cultivate a viable environment of decisiveness.
Companies that use green in their labels include Whole Foods, BP, and Starbucks. Whole Foods uses green color since it’s associated with nature, health, and high-quality organic products.
John Deere also uses green since it’s associated with farming and agriculture. Starbucks uses green to promote relaxation in its cafes since people buy coffee from them during stressful days.
Blue Color Psychology
Blue is associated with peace, intelligence, and communication. As such, it comes as no surprise that it’s commonly used for social media logos more than any other. Think of Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Black Color Psychology
In marketing, black is more of a hue than it is a color. Black absorbs light and is associated with power, stability, strength, and authority. If used too frequently, it can easily become overwhelming. However, some brands such as Chanel and Nike have managed to pull it off with notable success.
Purple Color Psychology
Purple is commonly associated with respect and royalty. Therefore, it is frequently used in marketing anti-aging and beauty products. It is also associated with wisdom and creativity. Two big brands that use purple for this reason include Craigslist and Yahoo!.
White Color Psychology
The color white is associated with feelings of safety, purity, and cleanliness. It may not be the best color for every business, but it’s certainly effective for a brand with a minimalist label design.
How To Find Color Combinations to Design a Label That Sells
Now that you have a strong idea of color psychology and meanings work let’s briefly look at how you can use them to design a label that reflects your brand’s personality.
Combine Two Primary Colors
Two main colors will be easy for your clients to remember rather than three or four or five. This is especially important when designing your logo. Major brands that use this concept include FedEx, Best Buy, and Starbucks.
Choose Colors That Represent Your Brand Image
The choice of color combination will decide what emotions they will evoke from your customers. Consider the different color psychologies highlighted above as you make your decision.
Test Your Color Marketing Strategy
Testing is the only way you can find out if or not you’ve made the right decision. To determine which color palette is most effective, try and run numerous iterations of a split test. Print your designs and assess their appeal.
This will help you determine the color choice for each design element in your branding, from text to background and the call to action.
The Bottom Line
In today’s competitive retail markets, all brands must strive to make a colorful impression on potential buyers if they’re going to stand out from the competition.
As a marketer, it helps to understand that colors are key in selling a brand. However, the real challenge involves tapping into the potential of color psychology to communicate to your buyers.
The psychology of color combinations is a key aspect of any product label design. But color psychology is not restricted to evolving a particular emotion. It also involves using colors and printing designs that meet buyer expectations for certain brands and products.
Colors influence our perceptions of the world in a way that is neither logical nor obvious. What we associate a color with depends on our personal and societal backgrounds. As a marketer, you should combine this insight with market research to understand what your ideal target audience prefers.
Anchor Graphics aims to help businesses achieve a great custom label that’s both visually and emotionally appealing. Shoot us an email at marketing@anchorgraphics.com if you would like to know more about custom label design and label printing.