COLOURS IN
FASHION MARKETING
Colours’ impact on brands
Colours have a huge impact on brands both from a marketer and consumer perspective. For the target market, colour helps them recognise a brand and be able to recall it (Singh 2015). For example, there are many online and phone games on the “guess the logo quiz” topic where people have to guess the name of the brand only by seeing the logo (Fennis and Pruyn 2007). That is why organisations take a great amount of time in designing their brand’s logo in order to achieve this “ever lasting impression” on their target market (Miah 2016).
However, when considering “Brand personality”, aspects such as gender, education, culture, experience, symbols and human personality, might change the five dimensions (Aaker 1997; Aaker et al. 2001; Elmansy 2017). For example, Aaker et al. (2001, p. 500) found in her research that, from a Japanese perspective (different cultural view), the Brand personalities’ five dimensions differ (See picture 3).
Another interesting perspective, that impacts on brands and is still related to marketing and colours, is the psychological dimension. There are a lot a lot of psychological studies about colours, emotions and how they are related to brands (see Picture 1) (Ciotti 2016; Miah 2016; DashBurst 2017; Elmansy 2017).
From the marketers perspective, according to Labrecque and Milne (2012), brands use colours to create a long lasting relationship with their key public (the Breast Cancer Foundation), a compelling memorable profile (Victoria’s Secret) and rise or not above its competitors (Pepsi vs. Coca-Cola). However, they add that certain brands offer colour customization such as buying the product based on the consumer’s colour preference (Apple, Dell) (Labrecque and Milne 2012).
Here are some examples of how brands use colours to attract their target market:
Considering these and J.L. Aaker’s research on ‘brand personality’ (also known as the American Brand Personality Dimensions) which is “the set of human characteristics associated with a brand” (Aaker 1997, p.347), a connection between colours-emotion-brands can be drawn. In other words, there are five dimensions of brand personalities (sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, ruggedness), where each represent a certain emotion to which it can be attributed a colour based on the colour-emotion studies (see Picture 2) (Aaker 1997, p.494; Ciotti 2016; Miah 2016; DashBurst 2017; Elmansy 2017).
(Picture 1)
(Picture 2)
(Picture 3)