When you walk through a shop, what do you notice most about the products all around you on the shelves?
A selection of well known brands to show the affect colours have on branding.
Is it the shape of the packaging; the logo, fonts; the graphics? These elements certainly play a role in your overall opinion of a product. What really draws your attention, though? The answer is colour.
The colours used on product labels are what captures your eye and causes you to feel a range of different emotions. It’s all part of colour psychology. That in turn, has an effect on product branding.
Read on to discover more about colour psychology and how it affects branding and your product labels.
So, what do different colours mean?
Here’s an indication as to the different emotions, feelings and ethics associated with different colours. We’ve also given some examples of which brands use these colours.
Colour |
Emotions |
Used By |
| Yellow | Happiness, optimism, youth, attention grabbing |
Shell, Ferrari, Nikon, Cheerios, Fosters, IKEA |
| Red | Energy, urgency, passion, excitement, youth, power | Coca Cola, Lego, Virgin, Red Bull, Pinterest, YouTube |
| Blue | Trust, security, control, calm, dependable, strength | Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Barclays, Internet Explorer, Pepsi, BMW |
| Green | Growth, clarity, positivity, nature, spiritual, safety, good choices, restoration, relaxation |
BP, Starbucks, John Deere, Holiday Inn, Carlsberg, Garnier |
| Purple | Creativity, compassion, luxury, respect, wise | Yahoo, Hallmark, Cadbury, FedEx, Milka |
| Pink | Love, compassion, nurturing, romance, soft, feminine, care, sensitive, non-threatening | Barbie, Baskin Robbins, Roxy, Cosmopolitan |
Orange |
Enthusiasm, happiness, determination, attraction, expression, creativity | Fanta, Orange, MasterCard, Nickelodeon |
| Black | Power, elegance, luxury, mystery, sleek | Apple, Adidas, Puma, Burberry, Chanel, Zara, Elle |
These colours are all around us – do you the brands shown as examples have used the correct colours to display their brand values and messages?
Why is Colour Psychology Important to Branding?
Colours all relate to persuasion. It’s actually quite fascinating how human behaviour can be affected. Much research has been completed into how colours play a role into persuasion and how it can impact branding and the marketing of your business. In fact; it’s been found that as many as 90% of impulsive purchases are made based purely on colour.
The truly interesting part of colour psychology and branding however is the messages the colours you choose represent about your brand and how your chosen logo and product labels allow consumers to associate feelings with your company and products, inciting them to buy.
Quite simply; does the colour fit the brand and what they are selling? Do the chosen colours represent the personality of the brand?
Starbucks are a fitting example – people love to relax with a nice warm drink and their logo is green suggesting customers can expect to relax in their coffee shops, and feel restored and positive as a result.
The use of the colour red across Red Bull branding is entirely spot on, too. As an energy drink, the brand appeals to young, energetic people, whilst inspiring power and exciting activities.
So, it’s clear that the colour you choose to represent your business and the psychology behind the representations of those colours do play a large role in branding. Have you chosen the right colours for your brand?
Contact the team at Abbey Labels today to discuss your colour labels needs or for information on logo labels or label design.
Coca Cola: MAHATHIR MOHD YASIN / Shutterstock.com
Garnier: Sheila Fitzgerald / Shutterstock.com
Cadbury: bagwold / Shutterstock.com
Starbucks: mangpor2004 / Shutterstock.com
