The Importance of Colors in Advertising

Color psychology is the study of how certain colors impact human behavior. Otherwise known as color theory, colors impact each individual differently based on preference and cultural background. Today, color psychology is used mostly in advertising. Some brands have even gone as far as trademarking a specific color that is associated with their business. Colors are chosen very carefully in advertising because of the associations that our brains make with them. Let’s look at the basic colors and see how they invoke certain associations.

1.     Red: this color is associated with energy, confidence, passion and love. It’s vibrant and grabs the attention of the viewer. It can also invoke anger and danger. You will often see them blended with softer colors to pop. Red has been known to actually increase the viewers heart rate and blood pressure.

2.     Orange. This color is a ‘friendly” one. It has been shown to invoke a cheerful, playful atmosphere and it carries with it a sense of youthfulness and vitality. We painted our home gym a peach color to elicit feelings of energy for example. Positive emotions and enthusiasm are charged in the presence of this color.

3.     Green. This is my personal favorite color. Give me all the shades! I love it. It’s associated with health, serenity, money and eco-friendly brands nowadays. It’s a soothing and welcoming color.

4.     Blue. This color can be easily associated with water and thus, signify tranquility and relaxation. One must be careful as certain shades of blue resemble sadness but light blue is typically known as one to show dependability, trustworthiness and security.

5.     Purple. Think about something in nature that is purple. How long did it take you? Purple is typically a color not as common as the others that occurs naturally in the world. Flowers are about the only thing that came to my mind first when I asked myself that same question when writing this. It has strong overtones of mystery, luxury, creativity, and imagination.

6.     Yellow. This bright color is attention grabbing. It carries with it, optimistic feelings but one must be wary of overuse as it can become abrasive. It a cheery color and has been known to increase metabolism. 

Colors can impact how your audience sees your brand. That’s why many companies go to great lengths to test their advertising campaigns. It is most important when choosing your brand’s overall logo. This is what people will associate with your brand. Choose your colors wisely so that it invokes positive feelings from your audience.

Psychology of Advertising

An average person can be exposed to over 6,000 advertisements per day! This number is staggering but not surprising it today’s digital world. There are psychological principles that advertisers can use to improve sales.

1.     Reciprocity. This psychological phenomenon is held fast in the fact that we are instinctively hard-wired to automatically feel indebted to someone when we receive a gift from them. in business, this can be giving your audience something for free and in return they may sign up or purchase more. For example, maybe you get a first-class trial for free. You love the class so you end up buying the membership.

2.     Consensus. This is where others put their trust in a brand because others have demonstrated proof of trust in them already. This is where customer reviews come in handy.

3.     Liking. This can be ingrained with physical traits, similarity, association or contact with the brand in a positive experience. You will need to know your audience. What are their wants and their likes? Once you know this you can reflect it back to them in advertising messages. 

4.     Scarcity. This is an effective tool that makes something seem like it won’t be around for long at all. Say a promotion with a deadline, such as, “for limited time only.” This creates a sense of urgency and leads to irrational, emotional decision making.

5.     FOMO. Or fear of missing out. This is a two-part process. First, the user feels like they’re missing out. Two, they follow up with compulsive behavior to maintain the connection.

6.     Authority. Establish authority as an expert in your field. People tend to trust those in charge, such as credible source, thought leaders and experts.

This list is far from extensive and the psychological principles that can be utilized in advertising are vast. The two fields go together like peanut butter and jelly. To read more on what types of techniques your brand can use to benefit from psychology in your advertising and marketing campaigns visit:

·      Crobox (techniques)

·      Relevance (examples)

·      USC (overall information)

Don’t Sweat the Technique: Common Visual Advertising Techniques

Chances are that if you’re in the ad industry, you went to college for it. However, some people landed in this industry who didn’t perhaps major in that field of study, say communications for example. For those of you who are familiar with advertising techniques and have studied this area of expertise or been the industry for as long as you can remember, then this article really isn’t for you. It will cover basic, common visual advertising techniques that are used. Some you may know and some may be new to you. We’ve talked about emotional advertising in one of our past articles but there are so many, many more. This list is in no particular order and does not include the entirety of ad techniques.

1.     Color Psychology. Creative advertising relies on certain colors to invoke particular emotions. It is found in every single ad you’ve ever seen. Expect to see a detailed article in the future from us on this one.

2.     Composition. This refers to how all of the elements are placed in the visual space of the ad. It can pull the viewer’s attention in one direction to another that creates a flow from top to bottom. It is crucial that the composition is balanced. The Gestalt Principles can contain basic rules for balancing visual compositions. More to come on this from us later.

3.     Rule of 3rds & Golden Mean. This also contributes to balanced composition. The rule of 3rds separates a canvas into six equal rectangles: two rows and three columns. In placing important elements at the cross-point of the rectangles, they are given visual importance all the while, maintaining compositional balance. Golden Mean used the Fibonacci sequence to direct the placement of elements harmoniously. This one is really cool since it uses mathematics to balance the visual composition.

4.     Focal Point. The ad must have a clear place for the viewer’s attention. There are a few different ways to create a focal point.

a.     Selective focus: focal point is in focus and background blurry

b.     Exposure: manipulation of light and dark areas to make focal point stand out

c.     Light source: illuminate the focal point

5.     Visual Paths. There are two types of visual paths you can create. One is the Z shape and the other is the F shape. It takes the viewer through a journey of the ad through taking their gaze to specific places on the ad.

6.     Body Language. Body language is important in advertisements. This is why casting directors go to great lengths to find the perfect actor for their commercials. Body language transmits a message by how they stand, smile, sit and move.

7.     Gazes. There are two types of gazes in ads. The first is direct gaze where the person in the image or video is looking directly at the viewer without looking away. This is to invoke an emotion and it’s actually adopted from hypnosis techniques. The second is the three-quarter gaze where the person in the ad is looking into a situation and not at the viewer. The viewer isn’t part of the situation.

This list includes the more intricate types of visual techniques. Others that you have probably heard of were omitted, such as point of view, BTS, FOMO and symbolism, just  to name a few. Psychology plays a very important role in the creation of advertisements as you can see. It’s important to understand how these techniques are used to help your brand create an effective advertisement.