The color of your brand is an essential part of your story.
What brand comes to mind when you hear yellow arches? What soda comes in a red can? You can identify McDonalds and Coca-Cola quickly, because of the reference to color. Color is a leading indicator that helps you identify and relate to brands.
Your brand’s colors are far more than aesthetic choices used in the design of your logo and website. Your color engages your customers at a deep emotional level, and helps them recall your firm and make it sticky.
Orange is the new black
DECO Windshield Repair selected their brand colors purposefully. Their tents are bright orange, and their staff uniforms are orange and black.
DECO is an auto glass repair company. They make repairing a windshield insanely easy by going where their customers are. DECO sets up mobile repair centers under bright orange tents in parking lots of major grocery stores and shopping centers. While their customers are doing their errands the DECO technicians will repair a windshield crack or chip.
Orange is an important aspect of DECO’s brand experience, because it makes their repair kiosks highly visible in busy parking lots. Matt Horne, CEO of DECO explains, “Orange is the first color you pick up in peripheral vision. You’ll catch it out of the corner of your eye.”
Orange is a very robust color. It draws people in, because it catches their peripheral vision. But it’s also engaging. Matt continues, “Orange is a comforting color up close.” The color orange radiates warmth and happiness, because it combines the physical energy and stimulation of red with the cheerfulness of yellow.
DECO’s orange tents act as a beacon signaling potential customers to “fix my windshield”, and secures the relationship with a warm, energetic experience.
Color shapes expectations
A core differentiator of DECO is in their staffing and service model. The staff create compelling customer experiences, and that brings clients back again-and-again.
DECO has a similar model to College Pro. The site operators are primarily students, and they are bright, energetic and highly trained. And the company invests in the talent and culture. Matt and his team have a clear goal for their employees, “We want DECO to be an asset on a resume.”
Customers have a unique and pleasant experience when they visit a DECO kiosk. They’ll get their windshield repaired quickly and painlessly, and they’ll interact with a technician who knows his stuff and is fun and engaging.
The more customers interact with DECO the more meaning is packed into orange. A competitor could setup a similar model and try to compete with DECO toe-to-toe, but orange acts as a shorthand for the type of experience you’ll get by seeking out DECO.
Use color with purpose
Orange and black work well for DECO, because they have a clear function. The kiosks stand out and attract the intended audience.
Color is dynamic and serves many functions. It can help you differentiate from the competition. The “rainbow apple” logo created by Rob Janoff was designed to distinguish Apple from the robotic, impersonal computer brands of the time.
Color can also help a company convey meaning and purpose. Whole Foods uses green and earth tones to convey organic, natural and green products.
When considering your brand colors evaluate four aspects:
- Target market: Who are they, and what do they expect?
- Desired outcome: How do you want your customers to react to the color?
- Tone: What kind of emotional connection are you trying to develop?
- Competition: What colors do they use?
Choose your brand colors wisely. They can evolve into a key component of your business, customer experience and brand. And if used purposefully, color can become a beacon like DECO’s orange tents. People correlate the orange tents with “that’s where I get my car windows fixed.”
