Do You Use Color as a Signature Brand Cue?

As consumers become increasingly adept with their digital devices, they've put themselves in charge of the way they experience brands. That means that companies that have worked hard to hone and define their story—right down to the specific color palettes they use to tell their story—are scrambling to keep up. Hues and designs that work in print, on TV, or a laptop may be ineffective on a netbook or mobile phone.

At Lippincott, we know that all this consumer freedom means marketers need to be more deliberate than ever about how they color their customer's world. Su Mathews, a senior design partner at Lippincott, explains:

Q. Why is color increasingly important to a brand's storyline?
A.  Color increases brand recognition up to 80 percent. And people make a subconscious judgment within 90 seconds. Researchers estimate that anywhere between 62 percent and 90 percent of that assessment is based on color alone. A color that suits your brand—one that quickly becomes a signature brand cue—can make the difference between a company that seems friendly or indifferent, or one that seems cutting edge or out-of-step.

Q. Do most brands use color as a signature cue?
A.  Well, there are certainly only a handful of brands that overtly "own" a color, and use it as a marketing centerpiece. Tiffany has been using its blue box since 1837. And UPS has had great success with "What can brown do for you?" NBC, with its peacock logo, uses "more colorful" in its ads. But many brands have invested billions in color, even if they don't reference it. Coca-Cola may not call out its bright red to consumers, but it is recognized all over the world.

Q. How does color fit in to a brand's personality?
A. Whether we are conscious of it or not, colors have enormous emotional impact. They say babies cry more often in yellow rooms, for example. Dangerous criminals are more subdued when housed in pink rooms. It can even affect performance: Weight lifters put up bigger numbers in a blue room, for instance.

To put this into a brand context, when we worked with Walmart to refresh its stores, one powerful change was to update the color palette to signal the desired experience. For example, battleship grey walls gave way to vibrant yellow, green and orange in the grocery department, signaling Walmart's fresh, appetizing offerings. The right colors have a direct impact on how people feel and behave.