New shades color our lives: Use them to attract business
One day recently, upon seeing me dressed in a red jacket, a coworker told me she read an article proclaiming red as “the new black.” Two weeks prior, shopping for dress shoes, the sales associate told me that navy is becoming “the new black.” When selecting paint colors for my home six months ago, I was advised chocolate brown is the new “it” color. Two questions arose in my mind: “What does all this mean?” and “How does black feel about all these upstart colors?”
Color is a very powerful force. One memory of colors most of us share is the wonderful box of eight crayons our chubby little pre-school hands used to scribble our first drawings. As we grew, our knowledge of color expanded, and we all learned in biology class about the savvy color choices Mother Nature has made in the plant and animal kingdoms. Flowers are brightly colored to attract bees for pollination. Many animals are colored to attract mates or to camouflage themselves in their surroundings in order to stay safe from predators.
I have no idea how many colors officially exist in the world, but some would say not many more than the eight shades from those childhood artistic endeavors. Green is green, right? Let’s see, there’s lime green, grass green, avocado green, emerald green, watermelon green, sea grass green, wasabi green, moss green, blue green, and the dizzying array goes on. But why do we care what green means?
Colors evoke emotional responses, although we are not always aware of the emotions associated with various hues. The meanings of colors are evolving, and new shades are more prevalent in the landscape of our everyday lives.
Who remembers brown being associated with dirt? Not the soil of Mother Earth, but unseemliness? Ask someone to play word association with you and see if you get some surprising results. Now brown is hip, natural, rich and chic and evokes thoughts of chocolate or coffee—better yet, espresso!
Have you noticed how many celebrities now wear gowns in shades of deep brown on the red carpet? Try pink. Responses might be “strong, confident and bold.” Pink has new meaning due to association with the fight against breast cancer. Gone are the days of pink being frivolous and feminine only.
How about green? If you called someone “green” it used to be an insult, referring to his or her inexperience and lack of knowledge. Ask a teenager what “green” means today and the automatic response will be “environmentally conscious,” the highest praise in 2007. Watch to see if the “Red” campaign being developed by The Gap and U2’s Bono successfully connects the hue with the fight against AIDS and brings red to the forefront of our color consciousness.
Where do color trends originate? Many sources actually are responsible for the colors you see used in fashion and consumer goods. Fashion designers often find inspiration in social happenings. Color predictor Lea Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, is considered one of the world’s foremost authorities on color and color trends. According to Eiseman, a trend has to make it on the fashion runway three consecutive seasons (that’s 18 months for those of you who aren’t fashionistas) in order to be considered for a color forecast. Once a color has become a staple in the fashion industry, look for it to emerge in consumer electronics, home furnishings and appliances. Do you know anybody with an orange washing machine, a pink cell phone, a red laptop or a lime green MP3 player? What is the final frontier for a color to reach the status of a force to be reckoned with? The auto industry. This makes perfect sense to me. Aside from a home, a car is generally the next most valuable piece of personal property consumers buy and keep for a long period of time.
Your business also chooses colors that create associations in the minds of consumers for long periods of time. Your branding strategy alone is full of color cues your potential customers see. These cues are present in your logo, signage, product packaging, marketing materials and, of course, your Web site. It’s wise to stop and consider what you are telling the world about your business with the colors that are closely associated with your brand. What subliminal color message are you sending? Are you making the right choices to attract business or are these colors detracting from your intended image and message? For example, often times a client will tell us they have their heart set on a color. But choosing to make the background of your Web site red, just because you like red, may not make sense. In fact, it’s more important to know and understand how your future customers feel about the color. Did you know many people still believe red is the color of anger?
Other things to consider include readability and how well it compliments the image you are trying to convey. Professional advice when devising a branding strategy is well worth the investment to ensure the development of a successful brand. And don’t forget, color can play a huge role in the impact of your branding and how memorable it is.
Maybe you have an established logo or product packaging that has been your hallmark for years and a change doesn’t seem practical. There are still evolutionary decisions you can make with an existing brand. How to incorporate color into your marketing plan in conjunction with your Web site, direct mail pieces, marketing materials and even office design are decisions you shouldn’t leave to chance or whim. Know who your customers are and how that demographic perceives colors.
Whatever your color choice: brown, pink, green, red or old reliable black, put some thought into building a brand image and attracting customers to your business. And if you happen to run into the color black somewhere, please tell him I’m still a big fan. v
Lili Vianello is president of Visionworks Marketing & Communications, a Columbia-based full service advertising, marketing and public relations firm.