adminShelter Chieza Change Management
I have recently developed an interest in colours, and have made an effort to combine this with my newly-found passion for decorating, which is helping me to exhibit my creativity.
I was thoroughly pleased that Pantone Incorporated, the global authority on colour and provider of professional colour standards for the design industry, recently announced the highly anticipated Pantone Colour of the Year 2014 as Radiant Orchid, a purple version.
If you are thinking of rebranding, you might want to consider some of our important pointers. Remember corporate colours have a direct reference to your personal preferences, experiences, upbringing, cultural differences and context.
Colour plays a persuasive role on your customers.
Colour also plays a role in purchases and branding.
Customers tend to base their judgements or conclusions about a product on the colour of either the product itself or the packaging.
That is why your team must first try to make predictions and reactions so that you can know which colour works best.
There are some colours that are associated with various things.
For instance brown is associated with unpolishedness, purple with sophistication, red with excitement and green with life or calmness.
It is therefore critical for companies to know beforehand what their choice of colour represents.
A little survey would assist you in aligning men or women’s favourite colours to achieve your objectives.
The danger is that most managers simply dictate the colour they prefer to their graphic artists.
By determining this information you are in a better position to segment gender issues in terms of your ideal buyers.
The names of colours also matter, for example it’s more appealing to say to someone our corporate colours are Mocha or chocolate rather than brown.
It’s the same with names of products. Consumers would rush for a product that has a sophisticated or appealing name than one which has a simple one.
I picked up a book that referred to jelly beans as razzmatazz, it seems fancier as compared to saying lemon yellow. As strange as it may seem, choosing creative, descriptive and memorable names to describe certain colours such as “sky blue” as compared to light blue can be an important part of making sure the colour of the product achieves its biggest impact.
When making your corporate material, always consider the colour.
Colours not only enhance the appearance of the item, they also influence customer behaviour.
You will do well to consider the impact that the colours you use will have on your target market.
Someone recently asked me why most fast food restaurants in town are decorated with vivid reds and oranges colours.
It’s not a coincidence that these colours are used. Studies worldwide have shown that red and orange colours encourage diners to eat quickly and leave, and that’s exactly what fast food outlets want you to do.
Red and black, which are used by some fast food chains, have romantic connotations which appeal to couples that are on a date.
Pay attention to the primary colours that you use for your products.
If your target is young children then you should use brighter colours because they respond more to these.
When working with colours it is important to know your target market’s cultural background, their attitudes, preferences and social background.
I learnt a few things about colours and cultures recently when I went on the internet. For instance white is the colour of death in Chinese culture while in Brazil it is purple.
Yellow is sacred to the Chinese, but it signifies sadness in Greece and jealousy in France. In North America, green is typically associated with jealousy.
A recent survey pointed out that impulse shoppers respond best to red-orange, black and royal blue.
The individuals that plan and stick to budgets respond best to pink, teal, light blue and navy.
Traditionalists also respond to pastels – pink, rose, sky blue.
Isn’t it amazing that the black or dark cars represent a high level of sophistication in this country, a black Mercedes seems to make a statement more than a white one, even though it’s the same make.
Never forget your target market. If you are selling a phone with applications that are kids friendly to parents you need to balance the colours.
The phone itself may have bright colours but the marketing material you use such as brochures may be more subtle with blue and pink colours because now you are appealing to mature buyers. I always advise people to test the market before a major roll out.
First, think about your target market. Let’s say that you are selling books for young children, but you are marketing to grandparents.
You would probably design the books in bright, primary colours (reds, blues, and yellows) to appeal to the children who will use them however the marketing materials (web site, brochures, etc) would be designed with grandparents in mind.
Give some thought to the message you want to send out to your customers then choose colours that best communicates that message.
Till next week, may God richly bless you.
Shelter Chieza is an advisor in management issues. She can be contacted at [email protected]
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