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Colour Psychology
Colour Theory
Brand Colours
Visual Branding
Marketing
ARTICLE #83
Colour Psychology: How to use it in marketing and branding?
Colour Psychology
Colour Theory
Brand Colours
Visual Branding
Marketing
Written by:
9 min read
Updated on: August 14, 2024
Toni Hukkanen
Head of Design
Creative Direction, Brand Direction
Toni Hukkanen
Head of Design
Creative Direction, Brand Direction
Toni Hukkanen
Head of Design
Creative Direction, Brand Direction
Colour psychology in persuasion is one of the most interesting and debated aspects of marketing. Colour influences 85% of purchase decisions of customers, and merchandisers use it to trigger emotions and persuade customers to buy.
There are different colours you can use in marketing and branding, but you should know the meaning behind them. As each colour represents something different, you must understand how certain colours will align with your brand.
In this detailed guide, we have elaborated on colour psychology in marketing and branding, its impacts and how you can use theory to your advantage.
Colour psychology in persuasion is one of the most interesting and debated aspects of marketing. Colour influences 85% of purchase decisions of customers, and merchandisers use it to trigger emotions and persuade customers to buy.
There are different colours you can use in marketing and branding, but you should know the meaning behind them. As each colour represents something different, you must understand how certain colours will align with your brand.
In this detailed guide, we have elaborated on colour psychology in marketing and branding, its impacts and how you can use theory to your advantage.
Colour psychology in persuasion is one of the most interesting and debated aspects of marketing. Colour influences 85% of purchase decisions of customers, and merchandisers use it to trigger emotions and persuade customers to buy.
There are different colours you can use in marketing and branding, but you should know the meaning behind them. As each colour represents something different, you must understand how certain colours will align with your brand.
In this detailed guide, we have elaborated on colour psychology in marketing and branding, its impacts and how you can use theory to your advantage.
What is colour psychology?
What is colour psychology?
What is colour psychology?
Colour psychology is research about how colour affects human behaviour and emotions. Different tones, hues, and colours create varying associations that impact our mood and decision-making.
In marketing, colours directly influence how buyers perceive different products and brands, so you should pick the ones that align with your business goals and target audience. Colour is a powerful tool for designing more memorable and meaningful brand experiences, and using the right one can either make or break your marketing game.
Colour psychology is research about how colour affects human behaviour and emotions. Different tones, hues, and colours create varying associations that impact our mood and decision-making.
In marketing, colours directly influence how buyers perceive different products and brands, so you should pick the ones that align with your business goals and target audience. Colour is a powerful tool for designing more memorable and meaningful brand experiences, and using the right one can either make or break your marketing game.
Colour psychology is research about how colour affects human behaviour and emotions. Different tones, hues, and colours create varying associations that impact our mood and decision-making.
In marketing, colours directly influence how buyers perceive different products and brands, so you should pick the ones that align with your business goals and target audience. Colour is a powerful tool for designing more memorable and meaningful brand experiences, and using the right one can either make or break your marketing game.
How does colour psychology impact your brand?
Colour psychology is valuable in shaping the perceptions that drive customer behaviour. Studies show that customers identify colour as a primary reason for preferring one brand over another.
Considering this, colour psychology plays an important role in everything from logo design to overall brand experience across channels and touchpoints. However, the impacts vary slightly from person to person based on personal experience, gender, neurological differences, and cultural context. You can understand the general guidelines from countless studies on colour psychology in marketing.
You might already know that red evokes feelings of danger or romance, but what about less common brand colours like orange or magenta? As colour is one of the most fundamental stimuli in human cognition, it is important to consider its impact when shaping your brand story for your target audience.
Colour psychology is valuable in shaping the perceptions that drive customer behaviour. Studies show that customers identify colour as a primary reason for preferring one brand over another.
Considering this, colour psychology plays an important role in everything from logo design to overall brand experience across channels and touchpoints. However, the impacts vary slightly from person to person based on personal experience, gender, neurological differences, and cultural context. You can understand the general guidelines from countless studies on colour psychology in marketing.
You might already know that red evokes feelings of danger or romance, but what about less common brand colours like orange or magenta? As colour is one of the most fundamental stimuli in human cognition, it is important to consider its impact when shaping your brand story for your target audience.
Colour psychology is valuable in shaping the perceptions that drive customer behaviour. Studies show that customers identify colour as a primary reason for preferring one brand over another.
Considering this, colour psychology plays an important role in everything from logo design to overall brand experience across channels and touchpoints. However, the impacts vary slightly from person to person based on personal experience, gender, neurological differences, and cultural context. You can understand the general guidelines from countless studies on colour psychology in marketing.
You might already know that red evokes feelings of danger or romance, but what about less common brand colours like orange or magenta? As colour is one of the most fundamental stimuli in human cognition, it is important to consider its impact when shaping your brand story for your target audience.
Psychology of colours used in marketing and branding
There is no shortage of benefits to understand colour psychology when it comes to marketing and branding. Each colour has its own influence on customers and plays a major role in increasing brand awareness and recognition. We have mentioned a list of 10 most commonly used colours in marketing and branding along with their psychology guidelines to help you understand.
Red
Red is one of the most emotionally charged colours, and you should be careful when choosing it for branding purposes. Though a long list of top brands have used this colour in their marketing, it requires some tact and restraint to do it well.
As the red colour intensifies and speeds up our reactions, it reduces our analytical thinking. This trait makes it one of the best colours for advertising. Red also has the longest wavelength of all colours, and you commonly see it on tags at clearance sale prices.
Some studies show that athletes facing opponents wearing red are more likely to lose. Red is the colour of stop signs and negative finances. This colour also increases appetite and often uses colourful terms centred on excitement.
The positive emotions associated with red are power, passion, fearlessness, strength, and energy. In contrast, the negative ones are danger, anger, aggression, pain, and warning.
Green
The easiest colour on our eyes is green because it needs no adjustment when it hits the retina. It is a calming and pleasing colour. You might have noticed performers waiting in green rooms before going on stage to calm their nerves.
Green is also the colour of balance, and brands related to nature and fertility often use it. Whole Foods uses green colour due to its reputation for fresh, high-quality products, and the brand positions itself as America's healthiest grocery store.
The positive emotions associated with green colour are health, hope, nature, growth, freshness, and prosperity. The negative associations include stagnation, blandness, envy, boredom, and sickness.
Purple
In terms of colour psychology in marketing, purple balances masculine and feminine traits. It is at once warm and cool, yet neither.
Purple is the colour of royalty and bravery and implies wealth, luxury, and sophistication. It is among the rarest colours in nature and can come across as either special or artificial. It has the shortest wavelength and is the last to be visible, so it is often associated with space, time, and the cosmos.
The positive associates of purple are wisdom, spirituality, wealth, and wisdom. Its negative associations include introversion, inferiority, extravagance, suppression, and moodiness.
Orange
Orange colour stimulates the feelings of excitement, warmth and enthusiasm. It is an energetic and fun colour, which is why it is often used in branding sports teams.
With its resemblance to red and yellow, it is used to draw attention, from traffic cones to website buttons. According to research, orange is associated with value, e.g., Home Depot. Nickelodeon's iconic splat is one of the most famous orange logos.
The positive associations of orange include courage, warmth, energy, confidence, and innovation. The negative associations are frustration, frivolity, ignorance, immaturity, and deprivation. Almost 29% of people rank orange as their least favourite colour.
Yellow
Though there are fewer fans of yellow colour in marketing, those who like it are passionate about their preference. It is a cheerful hue, but too much of it can trigger feelings of anger, fear, and frustration.
You might not find yellow on a cruise ship because it can make people nauseous. Yellow is one of the most difficult colours to process visually, and some studies show that it can make babies cry.
Due to its stimulating and attention-grabbing traits, yellow is the brand colour used in traffic signs, advertisements, warning labels, and post-it notes.
The other brand meanings linked to yellow are warmth, happiness, intellect, creativity and optimism. Negative associations are fear, anxiety, caution, irrationality, and frustration.
White
Brands associated with purity use white colour in their marketing and branding. In healthcare branding, white highlights sterility and cleanliness. In other places, it is a sign of minimalism.
Brands like Apple and Tesla use white to denote a sleek, chic style. White is the simplest of all colours and symbolises freshness and new beginnings. Other positive associations for white colour are clarity, cleanness, simplicity, and purity. The negative associations include coldness, isolation, emptiness, and unfriendliness.
Blue
Blue is the colour of the mind that highlights clarity and communication. It is the favourite colour of the world's population (especially men).
Brands find it the safest colour and more than 33% of them use it as their primary colour. It is also common in the financial industry because it brings up the emotions of trustworthiness and security.
Studies show that people working in blue are comparably more productive. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter choose this colour to appear dependable.
The positive attributions of the blue colour are trust, logic, loyalty, and dependability. The negative associations are emotionless, uncaring, coldness, and unfriendliness.
Black
You will find black everywhere, from websites to logos and emails. It is a staple colour that makes a brand appear sophisticated, elegant, and powerful. Luxury brands like Chanel use this colour in their logos.
You will also notice that almost three in ten high-tech companies use black in their logos. Although black has many positive associations, it also represents coldness and oppression. Some people consider it emblematic of evil.
Though black is a popular colour in the fashion industry, you won't see it in any healthcare industry due to its resemblance to death and mourning. Nike uses black-and-white advertising, and its logo highlights its power-focused branding.
Grey
Pure grey colour doesn't seem to have a dominant association with colour psychology in marketing. But, due to its modern and sophisticated hue, technology and luxury brands like Jaguar, Apple, WordPress, Nestle, and Forbes use it.
The positive associations of grey include neutrality, balance, intelligence, strength and reliability. The negative associations are blandness, depression, lack of energy, and lack of confidence.
Magenta
Magenta has different psychological impacts and distinct hues from red or purple. It is a colour of emotional balance and harmony.
This colour brings up feelings of compassion, support, and kindness, while its associations include self-respect and contentment.
T-Mobile has used this colour to stand out from its competitors. Other companies like Barbie use it as a symbol of femininity and youthfulness.
There is no shortage of benefits to understand colour psychology when it comes to marketing and branding. Each colour has its own influence on customers and plays a major role in increasing brand awareness and recognition. We have mentioned a list of 10 most commonly used colours in marketing and branding along with their psychology guidelines to help you understand.
Red
Red is one of the most emotionally charged colours, and you should be careful when choosing it for branding purposes. Though a long list of top brands have used this colour in their marketing, it requires some tact and restraint to do it well.
As the red colour intensifies and speeds up our reactions, it reduces our analytical thinking. This trait makes it one of the best colours for advertising. Red also has the longest wavelength of all colours, and you commonly see it on tags at clearance sale prices.
Some studies show that athletes facing opponents wearing red are more likely to lose. Red is the colour of stop signs and negative finances. This colour also increases appetite and often uses colourful terms centred on excitement.
The positive emotions associated with red are power, passion, fearlessness, strength, and energy. In contrast, the negative ones are danger, anger, aggression, pain, and warning.
Green
The easiest colour on our eyes is green because it needs no adjustment when it hits the retina. It is a calming and pleasing colour. You might have noticed performers waiting in green rooms before going on stage to calm their nerves.
Green is also the colour of balance, and brands related to nature and fertility often use it. Whole Foods uses green colour due to its reputation for fresh, high-quality products, and the brand positions itself as America's healthiest grocery store.
The positive emotions associated with green colour are health, hope, nature, growth, freshness, and prosperity. The negative associations include stagnation, blandness, envy, boredom, and sickness.
Purple
In terms of colour psychology in marketing, purple balances masculine and feminine traits. It is at once warm and cool, yet neither.
Purple is the colour of royalty and bravery and implies wealth, luxury, and sophistication. It is among the rarest colours in nature and can come across as either special or artificial. It has the shortest wavelength and is the last to be visible, so it is often associated with space, time, and the cosmos.
The positive associates of purple are wisdom, spirituality, wealth, and wisdom. Its negative associations include introversion, inferiority, extravagance, suppression, and moodiness.
Orange
Orange colour stimulates the feelings of excitement, warmth and enthusiasm. It is an energetic and fun colour, which is why it is often used in branding sports teams.
With its resemblance to red and yellow, it is used to draw attention, from traffic cones to website buttons. According to research, orange is associated with value, e.g., Home Depot. Nickelodeon's iconic splat is one of the most famous orange logos.
The positive associations of orange include courage, warmth, energy, confidence, and innovation. The negative associations are frustration, frivolity, ignorance, immaturity, and deprivation. Almost 29% of people rank orange as their least favourite colour.
Yellow
Though there are fewer fans of yellow colour in marketing, those who like it are passionate about their preference. It is a cheerful hue, but too much of it can trigger feelings of anger, fear, and frustration.
You might not find yellow on a cruise ship because it can make people nauseous. Yellow is one of the most difficult colours to process visually, and some studies show that it can make babies cry.
Due to its stimulating and attention-grabbing traits, yellow is the brand colour used in traffic signs, advertisements, warning labels, and post-it notes.
The other brand meanings linked to yellow are warmth, happiness, intellect, creativity and optimism. Negative associations are fear, anxiety, caution, irrationality, and frustration.
White
Brands associated with purity use white colour in their marketing and branding. In healthcare branding, white highlights sterility and cleanliness. In other places, it is a sign of minimalism.
Brands like Apple and Tesla use white to denote a sleek, chic style. White is the simplest of all colours and symbolises freshness and new beginnings. Other positive associations for white colour are clarity, cleanness, simplicity, and purity. The negative associations include coldness, isolation, emptiness, and unfriendliness.
Blue
Blue is the colour of the mind that highlights clarity and communication. It is the favourite colour of the world's population (especially men).
Brands find it the safest colour and more than 33% of them use it as their primary colour. It is also common in the financial industry because it brings up the emotions of trustworthiness and security.
Studies show that people working in blue are comparably more productive. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter choose this colour to appear dependable.
The positive attributions of the blue colour are trust, logic, loyalty, and dependability. The negative associations are emotionless, uncaring, coldness, and unfriendliness.
Black
You will find black everywhere, from websites to logos and emails. It is a staple colour that makes a brand appear sophisticated, elegant, and powerful. Luxury brands like Chanel use this colour in their logos.
You will also notice that almost three in ten high-tech companies use black in their logos. Although black has many positive associations, it also represents coldness and oppression. Some people consider it emblematic of evil.
Though black is a popular colour in the fashion industry, you won't see it in any healthcare industry due to its resemblance to death and mourning. Nike uses black-and-white advertising, and its logo highlights its power-focused branding.
Grey
Pure grey colour doesn't seem to have a dominant association with colour psychology in marketing. But, due to its modern and sophisticated hue, technology and luxury brands like Jaguar, Apple, WordPress, Nestle, and Forbes use it.
The positive associations of grey include neutrality, balance, intelligence, strength and reliability. The negative associations are blandness, depression, lack of energy, and lack of confidence.
Magenta
Magenta has different psychological impacts and distinct hues from red or purple. It is a colour of emotional balance and harmony.
This colour brings up feelings of compassion, support, and kindness, while its associations include self-respect and contentment.
T-Mobile has used this colour to stand out from its competitors. Other companies like Barbie use it as a symbol of femininity and youthfulness.
There is no shortage of benefits to understand colour psychology when it comes to marketing and branding. Each colour has its own influence on customers and plays a major role in increasing brand awareness and recognition. We have mentioned a list of 10 most commonly used colours in marketing and branding along with their psychology guidelines to help you understand.
Red
Red is one of the most emotionally charged colours, and you should be careful when choosing it for branding purposes. Though a long list of top brands have used this colour in their marketing, it requires some tact and restraint to do it well.
As the red colour intensifies and speeds up our reactions, it reduces our analytical thinking. This trait makes it one of the best colours for advertising. Red also has the longest wavelength of all colours, and you commonly see it on tags at clearance sale prices.
Some studies show that athletes facing opponents wearing red are more likely to lose. Red is the colour of stop signs and negative finances. This colour also increases appetite and often uses colourful terms centred on excitement.
The positive emotions associated with red are power, passion, fearlessness, strength, and energy. In contrast, the negative ones are danger, anger, aggression, pain, and warning.
Green
The easiest colour on our eyes is green because it needs no adjustment when it hits the retina. It is a calming and pleasing colour. You might have noticed performers waiting in green rooms before going on stage to calm their nerves.
Green is also the colour of balance, and brands related to nature and fertility often use it. Whole Foods uses green colour due to its reputation for fresh, high-quality products, and the brand positions itself as America's healthiest grocery store.
The positive emotions associated with green colour are health, hope, nature, growth, freshness, and prosperity. The negative associations include stagnation, blandness, envy, boredom, and sickness.
Purple
In terms of colour psychology in marketing, purple balances masculine and feminine traits. It is at once warm and cool, yet neither.
Purple is the colour of royalty and bravery and implies wealth, luxury, and sophistication. It is among the rarest colours in nature and can come across as either special or artificial. It has the shortest wavelength and is the last to be visible, so it is often associated with space, time, and the cosmos.
The positive associates of purple are wisdom, spirituality, wealth, and wisdom. Its negative associations include introversion, inferiority, extravagance, suppression, and moodiness.
Orange
Orange colour stimulates the feelings of excitement, warmth and enthusiasm. It is an energetic and fun colour, which is why it is often used in branding sports teams.
With its resemblance to red and yellow, it is used to draw attention, from traffic cones to website buttons. According to research, orange is associated with value, e.g., Home Depot. Nickelodeon's iconic splat is one of the most famous orange logos.
The positive associations of orange include courage, warmth, energy, confidence, and innovation. The negative associations are frustration, frivolity, ignorance, immaturity, and deprivation. Almost 29% of people rank orange as their least favourite colour.
Yellow
Though there are fewer fans of yellow colour in marketing, those who like it are passionate about their preference. It is a cheerful hue, but too much of it can trigger feelings of anger, fear, and frustration.
You might not find yellow on a cruise ship because it can make people nauseous. Yellow is one of the most difficult colours to process visually, and some studies show that it can make babies cry.
Due to its stimulating and attention-grabbing traits, yellow is the brand colour used in traffic signs, advertisements, warning labels, and post-it notes.
The other brand meanings linked to yellow are warmth, happiness, intellect, creativity and optimism. Negative associations are fear, anxiety, caution, irrationality, and frustration.
White
Brands associated with purity use white colour in their marketing and branding. In healthcare branding, white highlights sterility and cleanliness. In other places, it is a sign of minimalism.
Brands like Apple and Tesla use white to denote a sleek, chic style. White is the simplest of all colours and symbolises freshness and new beginnings. Other positive associations for white colour are clarity, cleanness, simplicity, and purity. The negative associations include coldness, isolation, emptiness, and unfriendliness.
Blue
Blue is the colour of the mind that highlights clarity and communication. It is the favourite colour of the world's population (especially men).
Brands find it the safest colour and more than 33% of them use it as their primary colour. It is also common in the financial industry because it brings up the emotions of trustworthiness and security.
Studies show that people working in blue are comparably more productive. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter choose this colour to appear dependable.
The positive attributions of the blue colour are trust, logic, loyalty, and dependability. The negative associations are emotionless, uncaring, coldness, and unfriendliness.
Black
You will find black everywhere, from websites to logos and emails. It is a staple colour that makes a brand appear sophisticated, elegant, and powerful. Luxury brands like Chanel use this colour in their logos.
You will also notice that almost three in ten high-tech companies use black in their logos. Although black has many positive associations, it also represents coldness and oppression. Some people consider it emblematic of evil.
Though black is a popular colour in the fashion industry, you won't see it in any healthcare industry due to its resemblance to death and mourning. Nike uses black-and-white advertising, and its logo highlights its power-focused branding.
Grey
Pure grey colour doesn't seem to have a dominant association with colour psychology in marketing. But, due to its modern and sophisticated hue, technology and luxury brands like Jaguar, Apple, WordPress, Nestle, and Forbes use it.
The positive associations of grey include neutrality, balance, intelligence, strength and reliability. The negative associations are blandness, depression, lack of energy, and lack of confidence.
Magenta
Magenta has different psychological impacts and distinct hues from red or purple. It is a colour of emotional balance and harmony.
This colour brings up feelings of compassion, support, and kindness, while its associations include self-respect and contentment.
T-Mobile has used this colour to stand out from its competitors. Other companies like Barbie use it as a symbol of femininity and youthfulness.
How to use colour psychology in marketing and branding?
It is not a one-size-fits-all process to choose the right colours for your particular brand. A lot of it depends on your personal preference, such as if you don't like magenta, you won't like to use it as the primary colour for your brand. Therefore, it is important to know how to use colour psychology in marketing and branding.
Understand the fundamentals of colour psychology
Knowing the basics plays a major role in using colour psychology in marketing. As different colours highlight different emotions, it is good to understand the positive and negative associations with them.
Then, choose a colour that is authentic to your brand. Avoid choosing colours that feel inappropriate for your brand. It is important to consider these factors, as you won't see pink logos for construction companies.
Start with emotions
Whether you are deciding on a palette for new ads or rethinking your brand colours, the best way to start is with the emotions you want from your audience. Those emotions can be fear, curiosity, confidence, energy or hope. Build a buyer persona and ask yourself which colour or colours will resonate with this person.
Along with the emotions of your audience, you should also focus on your brand personality. This is the part of your brand that audiences identify with on a human level. It is like how you would describe your brand if it were a person.
Get inspiration from other brands
For inspiration and a better understanding of colour psychology, you can pay attention to ads, websites, and other people's branding to determine how those colours make you feel. But don't copy them, as you have to ensure competitive differentiation.
You can do a competitive brand audit for a survey of colours your top competitors use to find opportunities for differentiation.
Ensure consistency with your overall branding
One thing you should never overlook is consistency with your branding efforts. You must consistently execute whichever colour you decide to move forward with.
For best outcomes, you can codify consistent brand colours in a comprehensive and definitive brand guidelines document. Distribute those guidelines to anyone tasked with bringing your brand to life to ensure they use the right colour codes in all areas.
Conduct colour tests with your audience
Even if you try your best to build a buyer persona and incorporate your audience’s preferences in your branding strategies, you can't always predict what will be the response of your audience to a certain colour, shade, tone or tint in the colour palette. That's why you should run an A/B test.
Try to test two different colour backgrounds in your buttons or ads on your website and see which one your audience prefers. Use the results to improve your marketing and branding.
It is not a one-size-fits-all process to choose the right colours for your particular brand. A lot of it depends on your personal preference, such as if you don't like magenta, you won't like to use it as the primary colour for your brand. Therefore, it is important to know how to use colour psychology in marketing and branding.
Understand the fundamentals of colour psychology
Knowing the basics plays a major role in using colour psychology in marketing. As different colours highlight different emotions, it is good to understand the positive and negative associations with them.
Then, choose a colour that is authentic to your brand. Avoid choosing colours that feel inappropriate for your brand. It is important to consider these factors, as you won't see pink logos for construction companies.
Start with emotions
Whether you are deciding on a palette for new ads or rethinking your brand colours, the best way to start is with the emotions you want from your audience. Those emotions can be fear, curiosity, confidence, energy or hope. Build a buyer persona and ask yourself which colour or colours will resonate with this person.
Along with the emotions of your audience, you should also focus on your brand personality. This is the part of your brand that audiences identify with on a human level. It is like how you would describe your brand if it were a person.
Get inspiration from other brands
For inspiration and a better understanding of colour psychology, you can pay attention to ads, websites, and other people's branding to determine how those colours make you feel. But don't copy them, as you have to ensure competitive differentiation.
You can do a competitive brand audit for a survey of colours your top competitors use to find opportunities for differentiation.
Ensure consistency with your overall branding
One thing you should never overlook is consistency with your branding efforts. You must consistently execute whichever colour you decide to move forward with.
For best outcomes, you can codify consistent brand colours in a comprehensive and definitive brand guidelines document. Distribute those guidelines to anyone tasked with bringing your brand to life to ensure they use the right colour codes in all areas.
Conduct colour tests with your audience
Even if you try your best to build a buyer persona and incorporate your audience’s preferences in your branding strategies, you can't always predict what will be the response of your audience to a certain colour, shade, tone or tint in the colour palette. That's why you should run an A/B test.
Try to test two different colour backgrounds in your buttons or ads on your website and see which one your audience prefers. Use the results to improve your marketing and branding.
It is not a one-size-fits-all process to choose the right colours for your particular brand. A lot of it depends on your personal preference, such as if you don't like magenta, you won't like to use it as the primary colour for your brand. Therefore, it is important to know how to use colour psychology in marketing and branding.
Understand the fundamentals of colour psychology
Knowing the basics plays a major role in using colour psychology in marketing. As different colours highlight different emotions, it is good to understand the positive and negative associations with them.
Then, choose a colour that is authentic to your brand. Avoid choosing colours that feel inappropriate for your brand. It is important to consider these factors, as you won't see pink logos for construction companies.
Start with emotions
Whether you are deciding on a palette for new ads or rethinking your brand colours, the best way to start is with the emotions you want from your audience. Those emotions can be fear, curiosity, confidence, energy or hope. Build a buyer persona and ask yourself which colour or colours will resonate with this person.
Along with the emotions of your audience, you should also focus on your brand personality. This is the part of your brand that audiences identify with on a human level. It is like how you would describe your brand if it were a person.
Get inspiration from other brands
For inspiration and a better understanding of colour psychology, you can pay attention to ads, websites, and other people's branding to determine how those colours make you feel. But don't copy them, as you have to ensure competitive differentiation.
You can do a competitive brand audit for a survey of colours your top competitors use to find opportunities for differentiation.
Ensure consistency with your overall branding
One thing you should never overlook is consistency with your branding efforts. You must consistently execute whichever colour you decide to move forward with.
For best outcomes, you can codify consistent brand colours in a comprehensive and definitive brand guidelines document. Distribute those guidelines to anyone tasked with bringing your brand to life to ensure they use the right colour codes in all areas.
Conduct colour tests with your audience
Even if you try your best to build a buyer persona and incorporate your audience’s preferences in your branding strategies, you can't always predict what will be the response of your audience to a certain colour, shade, tone or tint in the colour palette. That's why you should run an A/B test.
Try to test two different colour backgrounds in your buttons or ads on your website and see which one your audience prefers. Use the results to improve your marketing and branding.
Colour psychology in marketing and branding examples
Different well-reputed companies have established unique and powerful brand identities using colour psychology. We have discussed a few examples to inspire you for your marketing and branding campaigns.
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is one of the world's most recognisable brands. Its strong brand identity is due to its red branding, which is used in the logo, packaging, and marketing campaigns.
The red colour demands attention, and it has been proven to quicken the human heart rate and raise blood pressure. Whenever its logo is spotted, an average human feels courageous and ready to take action.
McDonald's
This giant fast-food restaurant doesn't need an introduction. McDonald's uses red and yellow colours to evoke feelings of excitement, energy, happiness, and optimism. Despite many logo variations since 1961, the yellow and red colours have remained part of its brand identity.
If someone is chasing a dose of cheerfulness, a visit to McDonald's would be a fast and simple way to secure it.
Cadbury
Cadbury's colour palette has vibrant shades of purple, like velvety plum. Whenever someone notices a deep purple colour, they remember Cadbury’s most iconic products, such as Roses, Creme Eggs, and Dairy Milk.
Many brands are seeking to cannibalise their own offerings by adopting Cadbury purple in their brand design.
Facebook is one of the most widely used social networking sites in the world. The use of blue colour brings up different emotions and establishes a unique brand identity.
Blue colour encourages communication and promotes interaction. It also appeals to all genders. The other great thing about this blue is its inclusivity as a colour. As 10% of the population is red-green colourblind, blue is a good cool-toned colour so individuals can see text, logos, and other web content.
Different well-reputed companies have established unique and powerful brand identities using colour psychology. We have discussed a few examples to inspire you for your marketing and branding campaigns.
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is one of the world's most recognisable brands. Its strong brand identity is due to its red branding, which is used in the logo, packaging, and marketing campaigns.
The red colour demands attention, and it has been proven to quicken the human heart rate and raise blood pressure. Whenever its logo is spotted, an average human feels courageous and ready to take action.
McDonald's
This giant fast-food restaurant doesn't need an introduction. McDonald's uses red and yellow colours to evoke feelings of excitement, energy, happiness, and optimism. Despite many logo variations since 1961, the yellow and red colours have remained part of its brand identity.
If someone is chasing a dose of cheerfulness, a visit to McDonald's would be a fast and simple way to secure it.
Cadbury
Cadbury's colour palette has vibrant shades of purple, like velvety plum. Whenever someone notices a deep purple colour, they remember Cadbury’s most iconic products, such as Roses, Creme Eggs, and Dairy Milk.
Many brands are seeking to cannibalise their own offerings by adopting Cadbury purple in their brand design.
Facebook is one of the most widely used social networking sites in the world. The use of blue colour brings up different emotions and establishes a unique brand identity.
Blue colour encourages communication and promotes interaction. It also appeals to all genders. The other great thing about this blue is its inclusivity as a colour. As 10% of the population is red-green colourblind, blue is a good cool-toned colour so individuals can see text, logos, and other web content.
Different well-reputed companies have established unique and powerful brand identities using colour psychology. We have discussed a few examples to inspire you for your marketing and branding campaigns.
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is one of the world's most recognisable brands. Its strong brand identity is due to its red branding, which is used in the logo, packaging, and marketing campaigns.
The red colour demands attention, and it has been proven to quicken the human heart rate and raise blood pressure. Whenever its logo is spotted, an average human feels courageous and ready to take action.
McDonald's
This giant fast-food restaurant doesn't need an introduction. McDonald's uses red and yellow colours to evoke feelings of excitement, energy, happiness, and optimism. Despite many logo variations since 1961, the yellow and red colours have remained part of its brand identity.
If someone is chasing a dose of cheerfulness, a visit to McDonald's would be a fast and simple way to secure it.
Cadbury
Cadbury's colour palette has vibrant shades of purple, like velvety plum. Whenever someone notices a deep purple colour, they remember Cadbury’s most iconic products, such as Roses, Creme Eggs, and Dairy Milk.
Many brands are seeking to cannibalise their own offerings by adopting Cadbury purple in their brand design.
Facebook is one of the most widely used social networking sites in the world. The use of blue colour brings up different emotions and establishes a unique brand identity.
Blue colour encourages communication and promotes interaction. It also appeals to all genders. The other great thing about this blue is its inclusivity as a colour. As 10% of the population is red-green colourblind, blue is a good cool-toned colour so individuals can see text, logos, and other web content.
Frequently Asked Questions
What colour attracts customers to buy?
Red colour attracts customers to make purchases. It is a common buy button choice on ecommerce websites. It is also effective for B2B software vendors. HubSpot A/B tested the call-to-action button colour for Performable, and red outperformed green by 21%.
What is the Gen Z marketing colour?
The Gen Z marketing colours are the brightest, including green, blue, bright yellow and neon.
How many colours should a brand have?
A brand should at least have three colours. But if you plan to create a brand website, you can add a fourth colour such as an ancient colour to attract the attention of users. This colour can be used for buttons and other clickable elements of your website.
Final Thoughts
Marketers are becoming more competitive, and product cycles are shortened these days. Therefore, every marketer has to apply every rule in the book to generate sales. The use of colour psychology is common in many industries, including real estate, fishing, retail sales, auto manufacturers, and restaurants. But, making a few changes in colour schemes can influence sales, brand loyalty, and conversion.
Many brands use the Isolation Effect, which suggests that a unique colour will stand out more in a field of uniform hues. Brands that apply this psychological principle to brightly coloured CTA buttons on their monochromatic landing pages may have more success driving customers to purchase.
Frequently Asked Questions
What colour attracts customers to buy?
Red colour attracts customers to make purchases. It is a common buy button choice on ecommerce websites. It is also effective for B2B software vendors. HubSpot A/B tested the call-to-action button colour for Performable, and red outperformed green by 21%.
What is the Gen Z marketing colour?
The Gen Z marketing colours are the brightest, including green, blue, bright yellow and neon.
How many colours should a brand have?
A brand should at least have three colours. But if you plan to create a brand website, you can add a fourth colour such as an ancient colour to attract the attention of users. This colour can be used for buttons and other clickable elements of your website.
Final Thoughts
Marketers are becoming more competitive, and product cycles are shortened these days. Therefore, every marketer has to apply every rule in the book to generate sales. The use of colour psychology is common in many industries, including real estate, fishing, retail sales, auto manufacturers, and restaurants. But, making a few changes in colour schemes can influence sales, brand loyalty, and conversion.
Many brands use the Isolation Effect, which suggests that a unique colour will stand out more in a field of uniform hues. Brands that apply this psychological principle to brightly coloured CTA buttons on their monochromatic landing pages may have more success driving customers to purchase.
Frequently Asked Questions
What colour attracts customers to buy?
Red colour attracts customers to make purchases. It is a common buy button choice on ecommerce websites. It is also effective for B2B software vendors. HubSpot A/B tested the call-to-action button colour for Performable, and red outperformed green by 21%.
What is the Gen Z marketing colour?
The Gen Z marketing colours are the brightest, including green, blue, bright yellow and neon.
How many colours should a brand have?
A brand should at least have three colours. But if you plan to create a brand website, you can add a fourth colour such as an ancient colour to attract the attention of users. This colour can be used for buttons and other clickable elements of your website.
Final Thoughts
Marketers are becoming more competitive, and product cycles are shortened these days. Therefore, every marketer has to apply every rule in the book to generate sales. The use of colour psychology is common in many industries, including real estate, fishing, retail sales, auto manufacturers, and restaurants. But, making a few changes in colour schemes can influence sales, brand loyalty, and conversion.
Many brands use the Isolation Effect, which suggests that a unique colour will stand out more in a field of uniform hues. Brands that apply this psychological principle to brightly coloured CTA buttons on their monochromatic landing pages may have more success driving customers to purchase.
ARTICLE #83
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