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Going Global with Color
By xaby | October 10, 2007
When dealing with international markets, colors may not be as true as you think.
From apples to zebras, colors tell us a great deal about what a thing is and whether or not it will appeal to us. When it comes to what a color means, however, things are not simply black and white (or brown, or blue or …).
Up to 60 percent of a consumer’s first impression of a product comes from its color, so selecting your shade may be the most important decision you make—more important, even, than deciding what the product itself actually does. Color is such an important part of branding and brand identity, in fact, that in the 1995 case of Qualitex v. Jacobson Products, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a particular shade could serve as a legal trademark.
Since many cultures and countries have different traditional perspectives when it comes to certain colors and combinations, the color conundrum is compounded when a given product or campaign is taken to other countries. From IBM to UPS, international corporations spend a great deal of time and money choosing and licensing the colors for which they are known. Before companies do so, however, they not only have to examine how their color of choice will be perceived in their home country, but elsewhere as well.
WHY COLOR MATTERS
“Color is extremely important,” says James Smith, principal of Smith Design in Carmel, Calif. “It’s a powerful communications tool and can be used to create compelling messages.” According to Smith, the right balance of color, typography and other graphic elements makes the difference between “good design” and unsuccessful efforts. “People have strong feelings about color,” he says. “Color has the power to differentiate a brand from its competitive set, plus send nonverbal cues to consumers.”
Smith warns what works in one area may not work in another. “Color/meaning connections do not always transfer across cultures,” he says. “That’s why it is important to do your homework when embarking on international brands and in global markets.” The same color in one culture and country may carry different connotations than in another culture and country. In fact, some colors can be seen in what may appear to be diametrically opposed ways. “White can be a symbol of purity in Western culture, but symbolizes death and mourning in others,” says Smith. “Bright yellow, playful and fun to us, can be highly offensive in other cultures.”
Even within some individual cultures, colors can be seen in very different lights. To take yellow again, for Europeans it can mean either hope and joy or cowardice and weakness. While these may not be opposites, they are certainly connotatively divergent. “Historically in Western culture,” Smith adds, “black has been associated with death, while at the same time [it] communicates … sophisticated [and] affluent.” In the realm of Feng Shui, blue represents both calm and adventure, and black symbolizes both success and evil (and are traditionally related to money). Smith’s vice president Martah Seidner notes that, with so much concern for the environment, green has also become a more popular and prevalent color, as evidenced by its use in their packaging for Breyer’s organic ice cream.
Source: dynamicgraphics.com
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