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Color â?? A brand differentiator

Colors are expressing human emotions for years. From pink for romantic moments in Shakespearâ??s love story to white for peace negotiation between the armies on the battlefield, different color got its place as a symbol for communication. The relationship of color with religion is so strong that it embedded in the beliefs of the people. Color as a symbol of religion is quite common in every country. Generally Green is a color that symbolizes nature and the

natural world but the same color in Arabian countries symbolizes Allah. On the other hand orange represents Bhagavan in Hindu religion and in Roman countries the color of god is red. Apart from religion, emotions like love, pride, sadness and anger got its association with different colors. The use of colors in medication is quite common in China. About 90 percent of information reaches our mind through visuals. Color are the basic differentiators or in real sense information filters for information intake. Color increases brand recognition by up to 80 percent according to a study by University of Loyola, Maryland study The greatest example in the history of brand management happens with the phenomenal success of Heinz EZ Squirt Blastin\' Green ketchup. More than 10 million bottles were sold in

the first seven months following its introduction, with Heinz factories working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to keep up with demand. The result: $23 million in sales attributable to Heinz green ketchup [the highest sales increase in the brand\'s history]. All because of a simple color change. Nokia is a good example in durables. All its products are positioned on the bases of combination of colors. On the other hand, Motorola is positioning its products on the bases

of high memory capability. Relationship of brand management with color is not a new concept now. Many companies are opting color combination for their brand logo and background but the logic is limited to the natural behaviour of colors. Pink is essentially a light red and is usually associated with love and romance. The best example I can quote of its use is of Hutch in its brand logo. But the only thing Hutch should make sure that its mass consumers are of similar psychographics. Tata indicom portrait its brand image with blue color, the color that described as a favorite

color by many people and is the color most preferred by men. The hidden side of strategy can be seen in its advertisement where the targeted consumers are males. The yellow color used by Tata indicom describes the optimistic behaviour. On the bases of the above examples one can see color as the brand differentiators.

Future group, with orange color that calls to mind feelings of excitement, enthusiasm, and warmth fits with the target consumers as youngsters. I recall about one company (name canâ??t be disclosed) that opted green color for packaging of its sport shoes in Arabian countries. Guess what has happened?

Syllogist  believes that color plays an important role as a part of brand communication. A brand is psychological concept and for its long life it should behave as a part of culture and must be on the belief on people. Looking further for behaviour of color, perceptions of color are somewhat subjective; there are some color effects that have universal meaning. Colors in the red area of the color spectrum are known as warm colors and include red, orange, and

yellow. These warm colors evoke emotions ranging from feelings of warmth and comfort to feelings of anger and hostility. ------------------------- --------------------------------------------

Colors on the blue side of the spectrum are known as cool colors and include blue, purple, and green. These colors are often described as calm, but can also call to mind feelings of sadness or indifference. It is hard to trace the origin of keywords attached with colors. A transparent blue color liquid relates to kerosene oil in India and the same color in the opaque form has different meanings. Pepsi Blue never gained the market share due to mal-position of its color.

During world cup time, PepsiCo has launched Pepsi Gold. Why Gold??

Brand color reposition, the latest example is of Bisleri mineral water which has changed its label from blue to green. The reason is quite obvious as green is the symbol of nature, health and tranquility. One more effect is that green color improves reading ability. You might have seen a tag of green color on most of the product that has positioned as natural products For instance: Dabur, Himalaya drugs and now Bisleri. Decoding the color position of Dabur logo which is a combination of orange and green color portraits that it is natural and full of excitement and enthusiasm and Dabur strategically follow this way for its brands.

Sylloge corporation takes the color management as a brand building exercise. Digging the concept further, we found the contrast and brightness are also important constituents of color management. The different brands in the soap category like Haman in green color, Lux in light pink color, Liril in Green convey their brand position. The green of Haman is different from green of Liril. The color of Haman is dark green that portraits nature but the bight  yellowishgreen of Liril portraits freshness. How many people will buy Lux of dark brown or black color?

It is not hard to guess.

Geographical extensions of the brands across the border can face the problems as different countries have different meaning for colors. It can be a competitive advantage or a disadvantage depends upon the color opted for a brand and the belief of people for that color. Imagine Bisleri extends in Arabian market. Letâ??s do an exercise â?? I am comparing two brands on the bases of their color position.

Most offen you gets consumer feed back in rare terms,I gave  to my maid a toilet soap  named  RPG. Instead of using it on cloths she washed utenciles with that when I asked  reason then she told me that she understood it  for that as its packing and gree color resembles Vim bar. I explained you before even that we set some parameters and cues ( assumptions) to things as link nodes as mine love categorization. In case of my maid, she categorised it into VIM bar segment. Some times some big brands set the image which defines that other products. Think  why bisleri changed from blue to green. Hutch used pink for love and romance , remember  male and female sketches over each advertisment . Vodafone uses red why?

Biologically, each person has within his or her brain a special organ called as â??Reticular Corter , a finger like part of brain. It recives and transmit information to all relevant parts of brain. It s a kind of central switch in an office. All information  to respective sesnse or AWARENESS from outside  passes through this organ.

For those who commented color,image and font do not matter to market or sell then I suggest them -reality is not reality enough , perception is reality and perception is what you see,hear and feel, ,, do remember some illusions?

 Some one commented on my blog that color has no importance to win consumers. Its my little effort to get his favour...