Using color to boost your brand [infographic]

According to one researcher and a portion of his psychologically based infographic shown below (click for the full visual), big name brands in the foodservice industry pay equally big bucks to be dominant in the minds of their consumers. McDonald’s logo, for example, is one of the most valuable brands in the world, topping $39 billion.

But as you can see, there’s an underlying reason why McDonald’s and other internationally known brands have become embedded in the psyche of our families – a reason that goes beyond the media in which these companies market themselves.

It all comes down to natural, human response.  And color.

Studies have shown that people can form a subconscious thought about a product within 90 seconds of seeing it, and between 62% and 90% of what is assessed in the mind is based on color alone. Secondly, 84.7% of consumers will cite color as the primary reason they buy a particular product.

Source: FinancesOnline.com

Below are a few additional logo examples, not represented in the infographic, that I thought illustrated an exceptionally true response to color:

• Hallmark adopts the notions of royalty, power, romance and nostalgia in both the use of purple and the crown emblem in its logo. Plus, the brand’s emotion-filled commercials and the movies shown on its television channel are never short of nostalgia.
• Whole Food Market’s logo uses a predominately green color to promote an association with nature and earth and feelings of relaxation and peacefulness. All tie nicely into the company’s reputation as a wholesome, clean and reliable market for produce and food items.
• Home Depot’s branding team did not accidentally choose orange as the striking color for its logo. The color is oftentimes associated with happiness of sunshine and brings about feelings of enthusiasm, creativity and determination. Paired with their bold tagline of “Let’s do this,” the company gives all us new homeowners the extra oomph to start that next DIY project.

Try this the next time you’re out on a Sunday afternoon doing some grocery shopping: you’ve got your kids throwing things into the cart and begging for a snack while you’re trying to decide on a particular product out of roughly 20 brand choices.

Out of your many choices, which brand are you most readily drawn to based on its color or set of colors?  What did the color seem to ‘say’ about the brand?  Let us know in the comments section!