The festival of colour, Holi, has just passed, with people celebrating the onset of spring in a riot of colour, prayer and celebration. The vibrancy of the event with its emphasis on colour brings a uniqueness to this festival when compared to other festivals around the world.

Given that the festival has just gone by, it is a great time for SME owners to reflect upon the importance of colour in branding and marketing. It has been demonstrated that there is a science to how people react to different colours; moreover, there are marked differences in how men and women react to certain colours as well. As a business owner constructing a marketing strategy, it is absolutely essential to consider your target market the goal of the marketing campaign.

Using this knowledge of colour being at the heart of determining appeal, an SME can then build an appropriate logo to reach out to a particular audience, or construct a marketing campaign to appeal to the eyes of the consumers most sought after. Learn in this article how to leverage it to grow your business.

Role of colour

Ever thought about why you are drawn to a certain outfit much more than another, or one kind of food for that matter? Colour can often be the sole reason someone purchases a product. 93% of buyers focus on visual appearance, and almost 85% claim colour to be their primary reason for their purchase, according to one report. A hue plays an important role not just in the way we perceive things, but also in creating ‘likeability'. There are definite associations with certain colours, and brands scientifically use these colours to build affinity with their target audience.

A few reasons why colour is important in developing your brand:

Leveraging preconditioned associations

The words ‘redhead’ or ‘blonde’ as stereotypical as they sound, are the result of a deep psychological conditioning. Through our lives we are subject to various stimuli, water, fire (like on the stove), sand etc. Experiencing water and seeing it through various mediums where it appears blue, makes us associate the colour with coolness, transparency and calmness. It is something that soothes. There’s a reason why most banks have blue in them, because it connotes trust and clarity – again linked to the blue. A fiery colour, on the other hand, could be associated with heat, action, activity. Sports brands are a great example - they usually use reds somewhere in their brand language.

Assertions within a set of information

Simply highlighting a word or an important line draws one’s attention and helps the targeted audience easily absorb the message conveyed by the brand. Warmer colours are usually used to convey such messages or offers. Sales and offers are a typical example.

Targeting your audience by gender

According to colour assignment by Joe Hallock from Microsoft, colour preference shows that when it comes to shades, tints, and hues, men generally prefer bold colours while women prefer softer colours. Also, men were more likely to select shades of colours as their favourites (colours with black added), whereas women are more receptive to tints of colours (colours with white added). This helps brands to select colours which are more targeted towards their audience.

Ease of recognition

Colours can leave a lasting impression and elicit a wide range of reactions and emotions, making them an important thing to consider when creating your logo, painting your offices, or designing marketing tools.The right combination of colour will define what the brand stands for and how the brand wants their customers to recognise them. Recall is much easier if a brand uses a set of colours and constantly re-asserts these to their audiences.

Read more here about the strategic importance of colour in branding.

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