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RUNNING THE BUSINESS Color's Impact in Marketing Choose wisely to send the right message to the right people ing materials and its influence on shoppers' buying decisions are wrought with hunches, anecdotal evi- dence and ad agency executives blowing smoke about "colors effects on the mind." Then, why does color psychology invoke so much controversy, yet is not backed with adequate and mean- ingful data and research? It's probably because factors such as gender and generation, personal preference, life experiences and upbringing, cultural differences, context, etc., often muddy the effect individual colors have on us. So, the suggestion that specific colors, such as yellow or purple, are able to evoke some sort of uber-specific emotion is about as accurate as fortune cookie predictions or your daily horoscope reading. But, don't abandon ship just yet. It may be worth the time to take a look at some research-backed insights on how colors do play a role in marketing. The impact of our color choices on our websites, on our signage, stationery and packaging, in our retail store or shop, in our marketing, or even our business clothing says something about who we are and what we are about. So, put on your curiosity cap, but feel free to "color" outside of the lines, if some of the research doesn't quite match up with your beliefs. Why is Facebook Blue? According to The New Yorker magazine, the reason is simple. It's because Mark Zuckerberg is red-green color blind; blue is the color he can see the best. Not very scientific, right? That may be the case for Facebook, but there are some interesting examples of how colors actually affect our purchasing decisions. After all, sight is the strongest developed sense in most human beings. It's only natural that a large number— nearly 90 percent (according to one study)—of people who make snap judgments to try out a product choose to do so by color alone. A single image delivers a lot of information in a very short time because we perceive an image all at once, whereas reading or hearing often takes sig- nificantly longer to process the same information. Brands and logos communicate meanings with the language of color and shape. As the overused cliché says, "A picture is worth a thousand words." In fact, color increases brand recognition by up to 80 per- T he popular TV show "Orange is the New Black" got me thinking. What other magazine readership could better appreciate the topic of the impact colors have on a sign shop owner's marketing efforts than Sign and Digital Graphics'? So then, why did it take this columnist so long to tackle the subject? The psychology of color as it relates to persuasion is one of the most interesting—and most controver- sial—aspects of marketing. Why? Because most of the debate about the choice of colors in collateral market- Vince DiCecco is a business training and development consultant and owner of the Acworth, Georgia-based business, Your Personal Business Trainer, Inc. He has been sculpting his sales, marketing and training techniques since 1979, and he has shared innovative and practical ideas on business management excellence for two Fortune 200 companies, the U.S. Coast Guard, and in seminars at past NBM Shows. He is available to small- to mid-sized compa- nies striving for sustained growth and market dominance. Contact him via email at vince@ypbt.com or visit his com- pany website, www.ypbt.com. 30 • August 2016 • S I G N & D I G I T A L G R A P H I C S B Y V I N C E D I C E C C O Make it Your Business RUNNING THE BUSINESS