8 ways the use of colour in branding is evolving

From the street to the supermarket shelf, the use of colour has been a visceral differentiator among brands and logo design. Companies across all industries have built moats of colour to define and defend their brand identity. While the use of colour in branding is nothing new, the shift to the digital world has brands using colour in more nuanced, strategic and multi-faceted ways to better connect with consumers and give themselves a distinct and authentic brand personality.

But what role should colour play in today’s brand environment? Here are eight ideas to keep in mind…

01. Align colour with character

Aligning brand colour with brand character gives a strong and concrete foundation from which to begin building equity and affinity. From its early origins, Apple took on the big blues of HP and IBM by forging its own path.

And while over the years it has used and defined colour trends through product design and advertising, today Apple takes a minimalist approach to “brand” colour, giving it incredible flexibility to dip in and out of colour trends, to operate across many different industries and always, it seems, to be culturally relevant and of the moment. Apple, with its highly nuanced appreciation for materials, leverages sleek glass and cool aluminum product design and store fascia, and gives its products the freedom to live in and frame its audience’s world of colour.

02. Think separately about colour and logo

Don’t confuse logo colour and brand colour. Tiffany blue is one of the world’s most recognised brand colours. But its logo is an understated and refined serif type expression of the Tiffany name in black.

Similarly, the store exterior is not painted robin’s egg blue. Tiffany understands the ritual associated with its uniquely coloured box and that when it comes to any brand element, less is often more. The New Yorker masthead is black. But it sits comfortably in a world of colour brought to life through words, pictures and my favourite, cartoons.

03. Colour for the consumer

Put aside personal preferences and explore what you want your customers to feel. Many colour decisions are based on the hidden or overt bias of a management team (favourite sports team), or research panel. Colour is a complex and emotional decision that is best explored with ethnography and through a range of experiences, not behind the looking glass of a 12×12 windowless room.

04. Colouring what matters

Don’t confuse a company for a packaged good. People expect their can of Coke to be red and Cadbury’s bar to be purple. Colour in this instance becomes a wayfinding device on the store shelf.

But today’s companies are not so easily packaged, and the ingredients on the inside— namely, their people, ideas, products and services—are constantly innovating and changing. IBM’s kaleidoscope colour approach helps it look and feel more innovative and creative, more like a ‘Human Era’ B2C company talking to me and less like a corporate B2B company talking at me.

05. Challenge colour connotations

Many red brands worry about the negativity associated with their colour, including cultural concepts like being “in the red”. And while it’s smart not to wave a red cape at bullish consumers in a negative moment, brands should be careful not to let all that could go wrong drive the experience of all that should go right.

Consumers are tuned in to the functional, emotional and brand use of colour. Yes, red can mean stop, but it’s also the colour of the world’s favorite sports team (Manchester United). Red is a dynamic colour, symbolic of energy and joy, and should be expressed as such.

06. Giving colour a supporting cast

In building your brand, it’s important to understand the role that each of the tools in the brand toolbox plays. Colour can be a very effective tool, but name, symbol, imagery and graphic elements give you a broad range of ways to establish and maintain your brand’s relevance.

For instance, Coca-Cola is recognised globally for its signature red colour. But in addition to this, Coke also has a distinctive logotype, uniquely shaped bottle, iconic wave, and polar bear character to express various dimensions of the brand and help you enjoy the experience.

07. Think physical and digital

Consider how colour will transition from the physical to digital worlds and vice versa. As someone who has had to repaint a room in his house multiple times after thinking that the one-inch square paint chip would look wonderful on a 12x20ft room will attest, colours change with context, volume and light. Equally, colours in the physical world don’t always translate to the digital world, where issues including colour contrast, scale and accessibility come into play.

08. Use colour to challenge

Many challengers have adopted colours that challenge the category colour convention to mark out their territory. T-Mobile defies expectations in the telecommunications space with its bright pink. Colour can serve as a catalyst to put the industry incumbents on notice that red and blue are not the only games in town.

Choosing a brand colour can be an emotionally charged, if not a psychology revealing, exercise. Whether pragmatic or inspired, colour is often a critical piece of an integrated and holistic brand program. Colour is visceral. Colour is meaningful. Colour can’t replace customer experience – but it can paint it in the best light possible.