Choosing Your Brand Color
I've had this blog on my list for nearly 6 months. Beau came up with the idea because he was curious about how we end up using the colors we use when we're working on a branding, rebranding or packaging project. To me, it seemed like I would have to come up with some sort of scientific study of which colors mean what to people. And truth be told, I did some research along those lines. But despite my bad attitude about it, I think it's a solid topic. Nice work, Beau.
Owning A Color
The most compelling reason to use a certain color, in my mind, is the ability to stand out from the competition. A great example of this is the color that's come to be known as "Fiscalini Blue" around our office. When Fiscalini Cheese Company came to us for a rebrand and packaging redesign, we did our due diligence, as we always do, and spent a lot of time perusing the cheese case.A cheese brand that's positioned how Fiscalini is, often times ends up in a fairly disorganized cheese case with a host of other cheese brands and types. I remember looking through the Oliver's cheese case and realizing that there was an amazing opportunity to own a beautiful sky blue as a brand. Not only would it represent the natural and high-end feeling of the brand, but they would pop out among all of the other colors and immediately become easy to shop.
The Power of Color
Our recent rebrand of the natural beauty company, Sumbody, became a study in color. We quickly realized that the owner and driving force of Sumbody was also the human manifestation of the brand. Or vice versa, perhaps. She had put her heart and soul into the brand for so many years, that there was no way to separate her from the brand itself.This presented a number of opportunities as well as a number of challenges. The biggest challenge was the use of color. With several hundred products and a number of skincare lines, the color story was an essential part of making the brand shoppable. We developed a plan for the use of the different colors for different brands, making sure to take into account how they all worked as a unit and how well they associated with the product. But that was the tip of the iceberg.Once the printer was picked to produce the hundreds of labels, we began working on printed color samples. The runs were too small for Pantone colors, so we had to rely on the settings of the printer's digital press. We ran hundreds of sample colors before we found the exact right set. But it was a necessary exercise for the owner. As I said to her, "You like blue...but if someone buys you a shirt that's not the right color blue, is it going to become your favorite shirt? No. You may like it and wear it, but only the right blue becomes your go-to favorite shirt. That's your brand."
What Does a Color Say?
Color says a lot. I just don't think it's as cut and dry as it used to be. They used to say food packaging that uses the color blue doesn't sell. Tell that to my son when he looks for mac and cheese at the grocery store. I think companies have moved from avoiding colors to owning them because there was a gap in the competition.Like everything else, it's become a case-by-case decision. Pull together the information on your competition, look at the history of your brand, explore how different colors make you feel. The right color is out there...it's just not as easy as "Yellow means optimism" and "Red means excitement."So there you go, Beau. Like everything else, color comes down to developing a strategy and executing it. If you find the color that appeals to your audience, it's right, no matter what the scientific studies say.
Brandt Hoekenga is the Co-CEO and Creative Director for TIV Branding–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––TIV Branding is a boutique branding firm in Sonoma County, California. We specialize in building brands by using traditional, social and digital channels in unison. If you would like to discuss a project or find out more about how we do what we do, please email us at info@TIVbranding.com.