Marketing Automation: Professional Logos - Do Similar Brands Adopt same Color Scheme

Colors are the heart and soul of a logo design. They bring out a sense of vigor and effervescence to the design. Every color, even the monochrome ones (black and white) have a definite and compelling impact on the target audience. The color psychology of logos has taught us that there is a proven influence of each color on the human mind. They have the ability to alter the behavior of customers.

What Do Colors Mean in a Logo Design?

Reiterating the above point, each color has a unique and powerful effect on the target audience that it is exposed to. When employed in a logo design, it can help a brand in accurately mesmerizing their intended customers by influencing their behavior to be in favor of the company. Here are some of the basic meanings of major colors in logo design:

• RED – instigates intensity, assertiveness, passion, rage and vitality. • PINK – instigates femininity, virtue, tranquility, delicacy and wellbeing. • ORANGE – instigates energy, keenness, ostentation, attention excitement. • YELLOW – instigates positivity, joy, hunger, optimism and cheerfulness. • GREEN – instigates healthiness, freshness, revitalization and environmental concern. • BLUE – instigates calmness, friendliness, security and hospitability.

Corporate Strategy & Color of Logos:

Based on the above features and effects of color in logo design, famous brands adopt the appropriate shade in their identity in order to obtain the right impact. A few weeks ago, I also illustrated via a color spectrum of famous brands as to how they adopt color pattern. There is a common misconception that brand belonging to the same industry MUST adopt similar logos as their competitors. For instance, many marketers recommend that fast-food and beverage companies should prefer using red and yellow colors as they are influencing and generate hunger. Likewise, logos for social networking sites and social media sites must incorporate blue color because of its friendly nature. But what if the company doesn’t want to be portrayed as its industry-competitor? Should it still adopt a similar color pattern in their logo design?

Do Similar Brands Adopt Similar Colors?? Meet the Exception!

The nature of the company depends upon its corporate mission to be recognized in the market with a distinctive personality. For example, a business that enters the fast-food market doesn’t necessarily want to target itself as an eatery. It wished to portray itself differently as an environment-friendly company for which the typical ‘red and yellow color scheme’ will not be suitable. Hence today, I would like to show that famous brands belonging to similar industry do not necessarily employ the same color scheme in their logo design. In order to prove this, let us analyze some of the industries. I will be discussing the following segments namely; Beverages, Social Media & Networking, Fast-food and Television Channels.

• Beverages:

Beverages are known to normally follow a trend of using red color. It is advised that red color invigorates energy, vitality and passion. Coca Cola logo and Pepsi logo are some examples of soft-drink brands that employ red.

But what about other soft-drinks like 7-UP and Fanta? They don’t use red in their logo design rather they use green which suites the brand personality more accurately.

• Social Media & Networking:

It is believed that Social Media and Social Networking sites like Facebook and Twitter employ blue color. The reason behind this is the friendly and sociable effect of blue on the customers.

But not all social networking sites follow a blue pattern. Orkut that uses pink and Bebo which employs red and black are some of the major exceptions.

• Fast-food:

Fast Food chain brands are known to use yellow and red as they instigate hunger and build the human appetite. McDonald’s logo and Pizza Hut logo are prime examples:

But contrary to this, Dunkin Donuts and Taco Bell utilize dissimilar colors in their logos.

• Television Channels:

The TV channels are also believed to favor red color more. Many sports channels like ESPN, Star Sports and news channels like CNN and BBC use red color as it portrays energy, passion and intensity.