Red: Often symbolising strength, excitement, passion, urgency and endurance, Red is eye-catching and pulls instant focus, making it perfect for clearance sales. The colour red is physically stimulating and can raise a person’s blood pressure and heart rate. It is often used by fast-food chains as it encourages appetite. Think of brands like Coca-Cola, Lego, CNN and KFC.

Blue: Regularly paired with emotions like Trust, Dependability, Strength, Loyalty and Serenity. Blue is a welcoming and safe colour that also promotes feelings of calmness. Brands utilise this colour to promote trust, while this colour is believed to stimulate creativity. Think brands like Facebook, American Express, WordPress and Ford.

Purple: Associated with Wisdom, Luxury, Creativity, Imagination and Spirituality. Purple has a wide range of uses in marketing, from commanding respect to stimulating the problem-solving area of the brain, to inspiring creativity. If used correctly, you can promote decadence (for example, Cadbury chocolates). Other examples of great branding with purple include Hallmark and Yahoo.

Green: Green symbolizes health, peacefulness, nature, health and growth. For messages encouraging environmental consciousness and inspiring physical wellness, green is often effective. This colour also gives a sense of stability and wealth, while also promoting business growth through creativity. Think brands like Old Mutual, Wellness Warehouse, Spotify and Mint Monkey Digital Lab.

Pink: A colour that represents light-heartedness, optimism, femininity, playfulness and youth. Pink is a diverse colour for marketing use, from lighter shades for softness and innocence to hot pink for love and playfulness. Some good examples of branding in pink include Barbie, Cosmopolitan, Avon and Victoria’s Secret.

Yellow & Orange: Symbolizing optimism, energy, happiness, warmth and clarity. These bright, friendly and warm colours stimulate the logical centre of the brain and can also work well in branding for affordable products and vacations, as well as evoking seasonal feelings of adventure. Examples of branding with orange include Fanta, Nickelodeon and Amazon.

Make sure that you consider the emotional connections that consumers may feel when you choose the colours of your brand and your marketing materials. Let your choices be intentional and fitting, and spend time predicting what your audience’s reaction might be before making the final choice of your colour or colour combinations. Psychological cues in brand colour selection can lead you to make the best impression through your marketing efforts.

At Mint Monkey Digital Lab , we encourage our clients to choose colours that match the personality they aim to portray, rather than what is stereotypically expected. At the same time, we assess your brand’s core personality and the key audience you’re trying to attract. When it comes to colours and brand personality, knowing your brand and consumers will make your marketing decisions all the easier.