There’s a debate going around the PK office right now about the true hue of a color in our brand guidelines — some are on Team Yellow, others Team Orange. The jury’s still out, but at the end of the day, what matters is that we’ve got a set of defining colors and we’re sticking to them.
“The color of your brand is an essential character in your brand?s story.” In the promotional products world, color is a core component of how end users interact wtih a brand. Since the purpose of our industry is to increase brand recognition, we are constantly considering the color and design of corporate logos. The first thing consumers see is your colors – and in a study called Impact of Color in Marketing, researchers uncovered that color alone dictates up to 90% of snap judgments made about products.
Below, we’ve come up with some facts and considerations for you when putting your brand on promotional products. Even if your colors have been established for years, these are great tips for translating your brand to embroidery or screen print – for first timers or for those who want to bring accent colors to the mix!
The Facts:
Color increases brand recognition by 80%. (Look left – imagine John Deere’s logo pink, or Coca-Cola green? The whole identity would be changed.)
Logo color attracts attention to and allows us to relate with a brand.
Color is understood through culture, interpreted differently by ethnicity, gender, age, and religion.
Colors can categorize. For instance, Fed Ex – their brand color is purple, but they use green, orange, grey and other colors to indicate a specific service.
Color combinations affect our interaction with the colors. See Pantone’s color pairings for this year to see what we mean!
Color Considerations:
– Choose brand colors that represent the personality you want your brand to embody – NOT the color’s stereotypical “meaning.”
– Co-brand with brands that offer products and styles that match with your values and reflect the context of your brand. (With PK pre-booking, you’ll have access to retail styles and colors not typically available in the corporate lines.)
– Work with your promotional products distributor to choose color combinations and designs that align with your brand’s values and guidelines.
– Ask about PMS Color Matching to keep your colors consistent across mediums – whether it’s on screen, on paper, or on a shirt.
– Check out this awesome infographic by Marketo for color-specific semantics.
Questions? Contact PKÂ to learn more about how we work with companies to match their brands with premium branded corporate apparel that fits within their branding guidelines and enhances their values.
