Color in the Marketplace: Brand Image and Identity

An Excerpt from Color: Messages and Meanings, A Pantone® Color Resource
by Leatrice Eiseman

While it is a given that a successful brand logo is a happy marriage of shapes, symbols and colors, it is truly the colors that evoke the emotional message. Many leading brands are so linked to specific hues that they are primarily recognized by their color or colors. Think Coke red, American Express blue, Kodak yellow and red, British Petroleum (BP) yellow and green, DeWalt black and yellow.

Color is a powerful means of instant communication, capable of evoking strong emotions and spurring desired actions or reactions. Color: Messages and Meanings, A PANTONE Color Resource teaches you how to effectively use color in your marketing, advertising and design.

Learn about color in the marketplace, creating moods with color combinations and future color trends. Order your copy today.


When a color and design "signature" is established, it becomes the brand identifier that reinforces the image in the marketplace across many levels of communication. This should include print and collateral materials, websites, packaging, point of purchase displays, signage, as well as the product itself, creating what is termed a "total brand experience."

Consumers need to have that brand experience wherever they shop or seek information about the brand, as it also helps establish that they will receive the same quality and service across many platforms. So it's not just about image.

There are five essential steps in making a color choice for brand image/identity. They are:

"Shop" the competition.
You don't want to spend precious time and effort creating the perfect image only to find that somebody got there before you did. If your color ID is too similar, your product can be confused with a competitor's offering and this would defeat the brand image intention. In a crowded marketplace, differentiating your brand is vital to the success of the product/message.

Do you homework.
Study the brand's background. What are the product or service goals? What are the company's intrinsic values? This helps create a pathway to the colors that will best identify and communicate their goals. For example, because of the inevitable connection to blue as being steadfast, constant and dependable (see Chapter 1 of Color: Messages and Meanings, A Pantone Color Resource), the blue family is a popular choice for the financial world. The real challenge is to utilize a blue that has not been overused. Another solution would be to arrange the hues in unique new combinations that will help to reinforce the dominant blue presence.

Know the target audience.
Explore market research regarding consumers' perception of the product and color preferences. Many companies are now using mall intercepts and/or lifestyle research where consumers are literally accompanied in the course of a normal day so that their lifestyle and buying habits can be observed. On the other hand, some companies do not believe in market research and will rely solely on the designers' or colorists' choices. No matter what research exists (or does not), in the end, it is your intuitive and educated input that should always be included and presented.

Always keep the psychology of color a major priority when choosing appropriate brand image hues.
A key element in color choice is its emotional meaning. Be certain that the information is current, credible and reliable, as this will form the basis of your rationale for your selections. When refreshing any component of a brand image, color trends are important but it is best to combine the "new" or skewed colors with more familiar brand image colors.

It's important to note that as much as 95% of consumers' decision-making is dictated by the subconscious.
As far as color is concerned, most decision-making is intuitive and emotional, so the appropriateness and first impression of color is critical. Approximately 5% of decision-making is rational. As a result, most consumers do not make purchasing decisions based solely on logic, but on perception. Color plays a major role in creating those perceptions.

Read more about color and its powerful role in marketing, advertising and design in Color: Messages and Meanings, A PANTONE® Color Resource.

Excerpt from Color: Messages and Meanings, A PANTONE ® Color Resource reprinted with permission from the publisher, Hand Books Press, and the author, Leatrice Eiseman.


About the author: Leatrice Eiseman, author of Color: Messages and Meanings, A PANTONE ® Color Resource, is an internationally renowned color expert, color trend forecaster, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute ® and founder of the Eiseman Center for Color Information and Training. Her educational background in psychology, business and design gives her a unique perspective in guiding numerous companies to meaningful and successful color choices. The author of seven books on color, she is a frequent guest on TV. She makes presentations to a variety of industries and schools on the emotional impact of color, consumer response research and color trends. Lee has received numerous awards, among them: Fortune magazine named her one of the top 10 decision-makers in business and Home Furnishings Now honored her as #13 in the top 100 style arbiters internationally.

My First SAHBA Function!

Well on Wednesday I attended my first Springfield Area Home Builders Association function since joining. Dara Drew, my good friend with Capitol Radio Group, recruited me and I really had a good time. I met several memebers, but I was able to especially get to know Doug Sutton of Sutton Siding & Remodeling, Inc. He was such a nice guy and very knowledgeable! I know that there are so many more wonderful new friends with SAHBA I have yet to meet, but all in good time!

I also got to meet Tracy Butler, the Executive Officer, who is as fun to be around as Dara and does a GREAT job. I had my first Website Community meeting on Friday and even with the Home Show this week, she had it all put together! I look forward to more great times with Tracy in the future.

Now on to the future!
Terri Miller

BEWARE of searching for domain names!

Register Searched Domains!

When you run a search on a domain name to see if it's registered, be prepared to buy it on the spot if it's available.

You see, if you check a domain's availability with Network Solutions, the registrar will put it on "reserve" (which effectively means that it registers the domain).

Then, the only place you can register the domain name is with Network Solutions -- at its chosen price.

This practice has been called Domain Tasting, and there have been rumours of it going on for a number of years. I have had many customers experience this first hand, and now Network Solutions happily admits to it!

Ramona Wink - A client/friend who is on FIRE!!!

Here is a press release from one of my wonderful customers Ramona Wink. It is great to see here taking off and gaining momentum. Of course she does have the most powerful force in the world on her side, so that can't hurt! But she is passionate about what she does and that passion is translating into action. Way to go Ramona!!!


Press Release For Immediate Publication

Pastor and Christian Speaker, Ramona Wink, is the featured guest in a radio interview with KAYP, an American Family Radio station in Burlington, 89.9 FM. Wink, the Iowa and Illinois Ambassador for the JESUS Name Project, will provide the latest update on the JESUS billboards. Currently, there are 3 JESUS billboards in Iowa: Highway 61 at Grandview, Highway 218 north of Mt. Pleasant, Highway 151 near Monticello/Anamosa. Wink is raising funds to support those 3 billboards plus hopes to add a 4th JESUS billboard that will be displayed in Ottumwa. There are 4 JESUS billboards up in southern Illinois. You can hear this radio interview on KAYP, 89.9 FM on Wednesday, Jan. 23rd at 4 a.m. and noon and also on Sunday, Jan. 27th at 5 p.m. You can also listen on-line during those times by going to the home page of KAYP and clicking on Listen Live On Air.

During this interview, Mike Buster, a pro-life advocate, also speaks on his pro-life road-side signs in southeast Iowa.

To donate to the JESUS Name Project (a non-profit ministry), mail checks to 211 Flatiron Dr., Columbus Junction, Iowa 52738.

KAYP will also feature Ramona Wink on Wednesday, January 23 at 5:00 p.m. This is a LIVE interview and Ramona will be discussing the ministry God has called her to. She will her JOY of pastoring the First United Presbyterian Church in Morning Sun, Iowa, serving as a Stonecroft Ministries speaker, speaking at Christian conferences, retreats, seminars, writing a weekly faith based newspaper column, the JESUS Name Project, ect.

For more information, email Ramona Wink at wink123@lisco.net or call 319-212-0366. Ramona Wink's website is www.winkforjesus.com

My thoughts on the future of the Historic Courthouse

Since I look out my office window just about every day to a view of the historic courthouse I feel compelled to speak on the matter of its future. Whenever someone from out of the area pictures Montgomery County they instantly think of our “Old Brick Lady”. You can see it high on the hill as you come east into town on Rt 16 and many a newbie to the area has had their breath taken away by it. I see it all the time, people passing through town whipping out their cameras. I never see them ohhing and ahhing over then new courthouse, as it looks very much like any modern office complex.

I am not putting down the new courthouse. It is very nice and we should be proud of it as well and I am sure if it is around in a hundred years it will garner more attention. All I am saying is that we have a treasure that many of us take for granted. To turn it into storage would be a terrible mistake. Warehouses don’t get attention and this would effectively shut it off to the public thereby shutting down the soul of downtown.

Other “forward” thinking communities have had the foresight to see the value in preserving their architectural history. Progressive communities aren’t just made up of new steel, veneer brick and tented glass. They celebrate their splendid past and uniqueness while still offering modern amenities.

Other communities have preserved and modernized historic structures, while making them functional in our modern era. Let’s start looking around and getting valuable information on how we can do the same. How many pieces of our history are already gone? Is the moment all that matters? Is it worth it to preserve what makes us special? I think we cannot let the ball drop on our watch. It is our responsibility to future generations.