Friday, July 3, 2020

259 Manipulated by color


I am fascinated by advertising and marketing--you may have noticed a few other blogs on the topic! In this time of home hibernation, I find myself watching a lot of television.

I have started watching the color in ads. One commercial that grabbed my attention used the colors in the products logo on many different items in the commercial--even the model's hair matched. Not sure that the ad was effective because I couldn't remember the name of the product but thought it was for psoriasis. 

You realize that for this blog topic, I am now going to see ads for psoriasis products all over FaceBook and everything else for who knows how long. Anyway is was for 

Notice the colors in the ad. I especially see this kind of repetition in drug ads. Are the colors there to help you remember the product. Although about 90+ percent of people buy products based upon their appearance, individuals are not pulling these prescription-only items off the shelf. They must ask their doctor to prescribe. So these colors must be an attempt to evoke positive emotions--enough to drive you to your physician?
There are lots of handy-dandy do-it-yourself guides to color marketing as well as a lot of scholarly research. Some graphics seem to repeat frequently. One site that has most and much useful information is https://coschedule.com/blog/color-psychology-marketing/

It seems that blue is the favorite color of both men and women. It suggests trust and reliability. This ad uses lighter blues because dark blues can signify stodginess. The yellow/orange hues suggest vibrancy and fun. Perhaps you get rid of psoriasis and have a fun and vibrant life! This particular commercial certainly suggests that.

Here is a color association chart from the above site:

Red is associated with action and excitement. All the experts suggested Action Buttons on webpages should have some red. Here how some famous logos use color emotions (from the same site):

As I was contemplating this blog, I noticed eharmony's logo. I also went to their page (more FaceBook ads for me!) and pulled some other graphics. How would you interpret their color message?





Hey, I'm just an amateur (this like interpreting dreams!), but I think their multi-color heart-shaped logo implies inclusiveness but also relies on warm colors, which most people prefer. And there is another blue background for trust and reliability. [An aside, did you know that Mark Zuckerman is red-green colorblind--perhaps why FaceBook has a blue background.] So not only is blue the color most preferred by men and women but is also friendly for the color-blind.

Another interesting fact about blue. Although men prefer it in higher numbers than women, they don't do much differentiation between shades of blue--think royal, cobalt, and all the other crayon box hues. My husband has three names for blue: Carolina blue (N.C. Tar Hills), Duke blue, and navy. No matter what blue it is--he labels it one of those three!

Green implies natural and organic, which may help a website seem less alien and therefore better? 

The action buttons go from red to yellow--Excitement to Fun! The buttons are on different sections of the page, and one has the blue background, which may be reassuring to one contemplating a free trial.  

So if you are in the TV doldrums, here is a great new game to play with commercials!

Color-Savvy Trish            





No comments:

Post a Comment