the use of color in advertising professional communication jane boyd
TRANSCRIPT
Colors and Emotions
• Simulates Nervous system
• Evokes emotional states
• Travels through eyes to brain– Releases hormones
Colors and business
• Meanings of colors are based on– Culture– Race– Gender– Age
– Example: White » US – wedding, innocence» China - Death
Colors and “branding”
• Companies use certain colors to “brand” their product.– Easy to remember– Easy to recognize
– IBM = Blue – UPS – Brown – Tide – Orange
Meaning of colors in Marketing (North American Culture)
• White – – Pure– Clean– Youthful
– Implies purity in clothing– Sterilization in the Medical field
Black
• Power
• Elegant
• Secretive
– Used to target high end marked or – Used in youth market to add mystery
Red
• Passion
• Excitement
• Danger
• Used to– Draw attention– Causes blood pressure and heart rate to rise– Used to inject excitement in product
Orange
• Vibrant
• Energy
• Play
• Adds fun to company
• Creates a playful environment for customers
Yellow
• Warm
• Happy
• Alert
• Attractor to business with a relaxed feeling
Green
• Natural
• Healthy
• Plentiful
• Creates calming affect and grow image
• Go Green.
Purple
• Wise
• Royalty
• Celebration
• Purple tones for premium service
Blue
• Loyal
• Peaceful
• Trustworthy
• Most popular color
• Neutral color on global scale
• Safe choice for building customer loyalty
Brown
• Healthy
• Natural
• Masculine
• Symbolizes home and hearth
• Reliable, trustworthy
Tips for using color
• Stay within the same color palette– Helps to identify and “brand” your product
• Keep it simple– No more than 3 colors– Be consistent
Color across the world
• Red– China: Good luck, celebration, summoning
– Cherokees: Success, triumph
– India: Purity
– South Africa: Color of mourning
– Russia: Bolsheviks and Communism
– Eastern: Worn by brides
– Western: Excitement, danger, love, passion, stop, Christmas (with green)
Orange
• Ireland: Religious (Protestants),
• Europe – Changing seasons
• Western: Halloween (with black), creativity, autumn
Yellow
• China: Nourishing
• Egypt: Color of mourning
• Japan: Courage
• India: Merchants
• Western: Hope, hazards, coward
Green
• China: Green hats indicate a man's wife is cheating on him, exorcism
• India: Islam
• Ireland: Symbol of the entire country
• Western: Spring, new birth, go, Healing. Natural
Blue• European : soothing, “something blue” is a bridal tradition – but
usually pale blue. Reliable.
• Cherokees : defeat, trouble.
• Iran : mourning.
• China : immortality.
• Middle East : protection.
• Worldwide : ’safe’ color.
White
• Japan: White carnation symbolizes death
• Eastern: Funerals
• Western: Brides, angels, good guys, hospitals, doctors, peace (white dove)