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Melina Palmer
Hey there, Melina here. If you've been feeling like things are changing faster than you can keep up, you're not alone. I hear it all the time. Smart people doing good work but feeling unsure of where to focus next, it tends to show up in places like your pricing, sales, conversations, messaging, competing priorities, even the experience you're creating for your team and customers. Your brain wants clarity, but when it doesn't have it, everything feels heavier than it should. And that kind of uncertainty keeps businesses stuck and you don't want to be left behind. So if you've been craving a bit
of a reset, a way to step
back, get clear, and feel confident in what you should be doing next, I'd love to help. I work with two to three clients each month, from solopreneurs to global teams, to translate behavioral science into practical, usable strategies you can apply right away. So customers buy and employees buy in. If that sounds like what you need, head to the brainy business.com contact and book a discovery call to start the conversation. Again, that's the brainy business.com contact. I can't wait to hear from you and hopefully work together. And when you're ready, let's start the show.
Welcome to episode 578 of the Brainy Business. Understanding the Psychology of why People Buy. Today's episode is all about color theory. Ready? Let's get started.
Podcast Narrator
You are listening to the Brainy Business podcast where we dig into the psychology of why people buy and help you incorporate behavioral economics into your business, making it more brain friendly. Now, here's your host, Melina Palmer.
Melina Palmer
Hello.
Hello everyone. My name is Melina Palmer and I want to welcome you to the Brainy Business podcast. Color is a beautiful thing. Some of them are found in natures. Others are created by brands. Why do we like some and hate others? Why is my favorite color one that you would prefer to never see or wear and vice versa? And when it comes to your own branding and business, should you just pick something you like? I mean, after all is said and done, you're going to be looking at this thing more than anyone else. So you might as well like it, right? Or like so many things in life and communication, is it not about you and your taste, but rather about what that color conveys about the business to your potential customers and team members? And if that's the case, how do you choose what color is best and what would happen if you get it wrong? That's just some of what we discuss in this refreshed episode. One of my favorites, which originally aired way back in the summer of 2019 on color theory. As you might guess, it's still as relevant now as it was when it aired, and I'm so excited to share it with you today. Really quickly, before we get into the episode, I want to be sure you know that there are links in the show notes for my top related past episodes and books, ways to get in touch, and more. It's all within the app you're listening to and at the brainy business.com578
now
let's jump right in and learn about Color Theory.
You've probably heard the basics of Color Theory before that certain colors link to certain feelings or emotions in people and so some colors are better than others for brands. There are tons of color charts out there. I've linked to a few for you in the show notes, and I'm not going to go too deep into the specific associations because a quick Google search will turn up tons and tons of charts and explanations for you. I've actually linked to the Google search. I did one of them in the show notes. While I am going to give the general associations in this episode, I'm also going to explain what really matters when it comes to using colors in your branding and your marketing, the common mistakes and the most important things to keep in mind. Here are some of those general associations made about colors and their meanings. Red is full of excitement and said to be youthful and bold. It's also said to make people hungry and or angry and is associated with stopping due to traffic lights and stop signs. Other words used to describe various shades of red are passionate, adventurous, magnetic, violent, danger, courageous or assertive. Some notable brands that use the color red are Coca Cola, Nintendo, Kellogg Cereal, Lego, Target, Heinz, Ketchup, Netflix, Toyota, and YouTube. Orange is said to be cheerful and have confidence. It's also fun, whimsical, childlike, friendly, spontaneous, glowing, hot and persuasive. On a negative side, it can be seen as loud or frivolous. Notable brands using orange are Nickelodeon, Amazon, Fanta, Shutterfly, Harley Davidson, Firefox, Payless, and Bit Ly. Yellow has optimism, clarity and warmth. It's also joyful, illuminating, nourishing, sunny, sweet, stimulating, innovative, energetic, hot, surprising or used to bring awareness. On a negative, it's associated with being cowardly, betraying others and hazard signs. Some notable brands using yellow are UPS, National Geographic, Best Buy, Subway, McDonald's, Ferrari and IKEA. Green is said to be peaceful and associated with growth and health. It can also be calm, quiet, fresh, lush, soothing, renewal, balance and life as well as fertility, but it's also associated with the military or camouflage, being a neutral, citrusy or with a forest depending on the shade. And as you get closer to chartreuse, it could be seen as slimy or related to mold. It can also be associated with money, prosperity and moving forward. Like to go green brands include John Deere, Whole Foods, Starbucks, bp, Monster, Holiday Inn, Spotify, Android, Heineken, Girl Scouts and Animal Planet. Blue is associated with trust, dependability and strength. Some other words again, depending on the shade can be calm, quiet, water, clean, peaceful, reassuring, serene, transcendent, open, sophisticated, confident, tasteful, cool, credible, authoritative, classic, traditional, nautical or professional. Negative terms would be aloof, distant, sad or melancholy. Notable brands using the color Blue are Facebook, WordPress, Walmart, Pfizer, Twitter, LinkedIn, AT&T Chase, American Express, General Electric, Oreo, Ford, IBM, Oral B, Vimeo, NASA and Volkswagen. Purple is associated with creativity, imagination and wisdom. It can also be romantic, thoughtful, nostalgic, thrilling, dramatic, regal, intuitive, mysterious or visionary. Brands using purple include Sci Fi, Monster, Yahoo, Cadbury, Taco Bell, Welches, and of course the brainy business. And with words like creativity, imagination, wisdom, thoughtful and visionary. Hopefully it's not too surprising that I chose purple as a main color in my branding. Pink is a color that can really change a lot in its meaning from various shades. It ranges from vibrant, flirtatious, attention getting and high energy to soft, subtle, romantic, compassionate, delicate, innocent, fragile or youthful. Again, those shades matter, but I'll get to more of that later. As a negative, pink can be gender polarizing and so can purple can be seen as gaudy or as too sweet or sentimental. Brands that use pink are T Mobile, Barbie, Cosmopolitan, Susan G. Komen, Instagram, Victoria's Secret, Lyft, Taco Bell, and also some from the brainy business as well. Gray and other neutrals are bringing balance and calm. It's also seen as classic, corporate, timeless, quiet, logical, reserved, basic, modest, efficient, accountable, staunch, professional, sleek, classy, mature, sophisticated and methodical. They could also be called dull, detached, bland, tasteless or conformist. Some brands using gray and other neutrals are Apple, Honda, Mercedes and lots of other car brands and Wikipedia. Brown is earthy, rugged, outdoor, classic and woodsy. But as you change the shade to chocolate, it could be delicious, rich, robust or appetizing. Those earthy colors can make someone feel grounded, warm, solid, rooted, secure, reliable, natural, traditional and supportive. Brands using brown are ups, Snickers, Hershey's and lots of other chocolate brands, Cotton, Cracker Barrel and Louis Vuitton. Black is powerful, empowering, elegant, sophisticated, mysterious, bold Classic, strong, expensive, nighttime, stylish, or prestigious in the negative. And depending on culture, it can be associated with depression, death, mourning, evil, oppression, heaviness, or be seen as menacing. Brands using black are the New York Times, Nike, Uber, Adidas, Chanel, Prada, and the World Wildlife Fund. And really every brand has a black and white version of their logo. So it's a little bit less polarizing of a color I would think. In logos specifically, white is positive, pure, clean, innocent, simple, airy, bright, pristine or bridal. But it can also be seen as sterile, cold and clinical. And in non western cultures, white is actually a color of mourning and bereavement. Because backgrounds are white, there aren't really any brands associated directly with the color. But white does play some role for most brands, and the term white space is used a lot in design. You may also have heard of white label brands, which is when a company can adopt the benefits and use their own branding, which are interesting terms to keep in mind with the concept of what the color white might mean for a brand. As I went through that list, hopefully you noticed what the biggest mistake would be when applying color theory at your company. Colors have tons of associations and meanings and often opposite associations depending on the shade or or context. So assuming the rules are written in stone is a mistake. For example, people may say that pink is feminine and that all men will hate it, but then you have companies like T Mobile, Lyft and Taco Bell proving that wrong. And I've linked to an article from the Smithsonian about how blue and pink were only presented as gender specific colors around World War I. And at that time pink was presented as the best color for boys and blue the best color for girls. This didn't shift to be pink for girls and blue for boys until the 1940s, which is pretty amazing when you think about it. So it doesn't have to be quite so polarizing, but it is sort of the world we live in. And while it doesn't have to be all encompassing, gender does have different impacts on preference for colors, which can be important for brands to be aware of. Studies have found that men's favorite colors were predominantly blue at 57%. The next most common was green at 14%. Really big gap and difference there. Then black at 9%, red at 7%, orange at 5%, and brown, gray, white and yellow each having 3% or less. Women on the other hand, had their favorite colors as blue being 35%, also the most, but a lower percentage than what you had for men, which was followed by Purple at 23%. And do note that no men or at least less than 1% chose purple as their favorite color. This was followed by Green at 14%, which is the same number as men, then red at 9%, black at 6%, orange at 5%, and yellow, white, brown and gray all coming in with 3% or less. When it came to least favorite colors, men's were 27% brown, followed by 22% each for both purple and orange, yellow at 13%, white and gray at 5%, and blue, green, red and black all coming in at 3% or less for four least favorite colors for men. For women, their least favorite color was orange at 33%, then brown at 20%. These were also two of the top three least favorite colors for men, but in reverse order, then gray at 17%, yellow at 13%, purple at 8%, green at 6%, and white at 3%. This should let you know that blue and green are universally predominant favorite colors, brown and orange are predominantly disliked or least favorite colors, and purple is pretty polarizing by gender. I'm assuming pink is too. And I don't know if they just didn't include pink or if they considered it a shade of red or whatever happened there. But that is something that I think was notably missing in the article that I grabbed this from and which I linked for you in the show Notes There are of course considerations to be made beyond gender when it comes to colors in your branding. For example, in some cultures, as I said, white is bridal, pure and innocent, but it's a funeral color. For others, black could be sophisticated or menacing. Red can be aggressive or mean luck. It can make you hungry or make you hit the brakes in your car. But yellow seems to be associated with cheerfulness across cultures. So that's interesting to note. While some association with color comes to us as a species. For example, red being the color of blood can either trigger aggression and war or make you hungry because meat is often red. But not all color association has been around for all that long. If I was to tell you there is a color that scientists have have said humans have not been able to see or interpret until modern times, and that people in some native tribes still have a hard time seeing, what color would you guess it is? I'll give you a second to think about it. It's probably going to surprise you, and you may not believe me, but scholars have found evidence that humans did not see blue until modern times. I know you think I'm crazy, and there is a link to an article that explains explains this. But most ancient civilizations have no word for blue, and it isn't really naturally occurring in much other than the sky. And there's a report of someone who tested with their child never using the word blue to describe the sky. And then one day when finally asked what color the sky was, the child said white. In the Odyssey, Homer never describes the ocean as blue. Instead it is wine dark. And the Egyptians, who were the first to use blue dyes, were actually the first society to have a word for blue. While the color exists, it's seen in many areas as a shade of green. That article I linked to for you has pictures of native tribes being shown a series of squares that are in a circle, all are green, and one is very obviously blue to our eyes.
But.
But the individuals had a really hard time picking out the different color, which is just fascinating. But they also had a version where they were all the same color green, except one that was just a slightly different color, green. And everyone in the tribe was able to pick out the different color, the different shade of green almost immediately. But more in a western culture or whatnot, when those of us were to look at it, most people had a really difficult time picking out the subtlety, the different shade of green, which is again fascinating. So I don't want you to think that this all means that color doesn't matter at all. The associations absolutely do matter, and studies have found that appropriateness of the color to the brand Persona can matter quite a bit. And I'll get into this in more detail later on in the episode. If you remember what I told you before about how the brain makes associations, you can see why the context is so important to the implication on the brain. I've said before that you can't tell your brain that the color red will no longer be associated with apples. It just doesn't work that way. When you hear Apple, your brain sifts through everything that's even remotely associated with the concept. Or red, green, sweet tart fiber, computer phone, technology, teachers, doctors, worms, orange, the fruit trees, Johnny Appleseed, fall cocktails, all sorts of stuff. Think about this with your brand and how all the context triggers come together to support or contradict the color used in your logo or other aspects of your marketing. I've linked to a study in the show Notes called Exciting Red and Competent Blue the Importance of Color in Marketing, which found that when people were not already familiar with a brand, the common emotions tied with the color of the logo made a big difference in the way they interpreted the brand. So Coca Cola would not be used here because people already know what it is and generally don't see the brand as aggressive, even though an unknown red logo could be seen as aggressive. So if you're starting a new brand and choosing your colors, it's important to be aware of the associations with color so you can be consistent with the emotions and associations people have, because that will support your efforts. Or perhaps you want to buck the system and have a brand that's intentionally against color theory. That's okay. And you can create a new brand association, but you should still be aware of the common associations with that color so you can build your marketing and brand efforts around that. And as one important note, try not to be swayed by your own favorite colors and assume that everyone else has those. If you remember back to the episode on your own personal biases and the way you think, others will think. And it's not always like you. So understanding going through studies and seeing what's associated with colors is really important as well. In the study, they used a generic logo in a bunch of different colors to see how each modified the interpretation of the brand. In general, they found the concept of sincerity tied to the colors white and pink, but there wasn't enough to support for yellow, which they also thought would bring sincerity. Red was tied with excitement, but orange and yellow were not. Blue was closely tied to competence, but brown was not. Black, pink, and purple were all positively tied to sophistication, and orange had a negative association with the concept of sophistication. Ruggedness was associated with brown, but not green, as was predicted. And they found a negative association with ruggedness and the color pink, which is not surprising. Before I get to the next part of that study, I want to make sure you know a few more terms that matter as you get deeper into colors. You've likely heard the word shade, as in shades of blue ranging from robin's egg to midnight blue. And this term is being used really broadly for common usage, but it's not technically correct when you go to the way a designer or someone working with colors would explain the type of color. There are three important items and terms to be familiar with here, which are hue, value, and chroma. The hue is the color itself. Purple, red, and green are all hues, and it is not enough to focus just on this level. Hopefully you know this already while I was talking about all the associations and how they can change with different shades or levels of red. Uh, but unfortunately, too many people and businesses do this in their branding, where they say, oh, red is Red or purple's purple, but it doesn't really work that way. Value shows us how light or dark a color is. It's the level of brightness. Low value colors are darker and called shades. High value colors are lighter and called tints. Lastly is the chroma. This is the saturation of color or its vividness. Something with low chroma is washed out and pale, while those with high chroma are vivid and deeply saturated. I have of course linked to a great website which, which shows this off for you so you can actually see what I'm talking about. It definitely helps to relate the concept and if you have not yet listened to the podcast episode on our sense of sight, how our vision actually works that really is closely tied with colors. And so I've linked that for you in the show notes as well. So as I said, it isn't enough to just say we want blue for a brand new. You really need to know what the different hues, chromas and values of the particular blue are saying to the subconscious brain of your customers. That same paper on exciting red and competent blue looked at saturation and value and its associations with the various attributes. They found saturation levels to be tied with excitement. So the higher saturation or chroma in the color, the more excitement people felt. This was also found for ruggedness, being associated positively with both value and saturation. To show the importance a difference in value and chroma can make, I've linked to an article about the many, many shades of blue Google tested to find the perfect one for its links. Did you think that blue color was chosen at random? No, no, no. They ran a bunch of tests where 1% saw one shade of blue and another 1% saw this slightly different shade of blue, testing, as they say in the article, every shade you could possibly imagine. In their case, they found people were more likely to click on a slightly purpler blue than the greener blue. So they used that to choose which color to use in their links. You might be thinking, who cares? Or maybe wonder if this is a waste of time. I mean, how much difference could the tint on the blue make, right? In Google's case, they reportedly said it means an extra $200 million a year in advertising revenue. So it matters a lot. And remember, that isn't just the difference of switching from red to blue or to orange or green. It's in testing variations of blue, very subtle tweaks that most people don't even realize are different from one to the next. But their subconscious is Picking it up. And that example from Google leads us into ways you can use color in your business beyond brand associations and logo choice. You may be inclined to think that because Google did all that testing, blue must be the ultimate link color. And so you should only have purplish blue links and buttons in everything you do. But it's not that simple. Other tests have said that red buttons are best, and one study claims yellow buttons are best and another says blue or green or orange. There are a few things to note here. Many of the so called tests out there claiming that one color or button or whatnot is the ultimate or best to use are not scientifically done. And if you look at the things they tested against each other, much more changed than simply the color being used. In one case they said orange was the ultimate button color and it drastically improved conversions. But in the first version there was no button at all. It was just a link in the text. And in the other there was a big giant button which happened to be orange. So really the presence of a button was likely as important or even more important than the color of the button. The thing that's most important when it comes to calls to action is to have a lot of contrast. This is known as the isolation effect or the von Restorff effect, because of a 1933 study which found that when asking people to remember as much as they could on A list of 10 items, of which nine were written in black ink and one was in blue, which do you think they remembered the best? The one in the different color, because it stood out and the brain thought it was important. So if your brand's main color is blue and it dominates your website background in text color, a blue button or link isn't going to do much. But a bright orange button that will stand out and be more likely to get clicks. If you've ever worked with designers or chosen colors yourself, you may have heard the suggestion that opposite colors on a color wheel are are complementary. So orange and blue go well together. Red and green or purple and yellow. Again, it depends on shades and what wheel you're looking at. And if you need a third color, you should instead go with triads instead of just using opposites. This has to do with contrast and it's more important in getting people to take action than the symbolism behind the color. So if you have a lesser known or a new brand, you want to pick your colors based on congruency to your message and the personality as well as the market you're targeting, then when you pick a secondary and tertiary colors that will be used in buttons, links or other times. When you want to call attention to something, go with contrast so that item will stand out and draw the eye. The symbolism behind the color of that button or link or call out is typically less important than the overall brand. In this way, it's also important to know what your competitors use and how that can help you stand out. For instance, a lot of tech companies and financial institutions use the color blue. It means strength and competence, so that makes sense, but it also means they can all kind of blend together. So Instagram using their pink and orange colors helps them stand out from other brands or ing choosing to use orange. I use this strategy when choosing the colors for my logo and give this advice to people all the time, especially when they're looking to design cover art for a podcast. If you search for the terms you want to be recognized for, look and see what comes up in the top. If there's a lot of red, you should use green or blue or yellow. If everyone has their headshots, maybe it would be better to go with a strong solid color. If everything is pale, subdued tones, you should pick something vibrant and vice versa. This goes against your hurting brain which says well if everyone else is using blue there must be a reason, so I should too fight this urge. Contrast and standing out against the competition is more important and will lead to you getting clicked on more. This is also why Coke and Pepsi are opposite colors. However, sometimes it is best to go with what everyone is talking about and that is when colors are on trend. But do note this wouldn't be that you want to brand your business with a super super trendy color because it will likely go out of style. But if you're having special editions of things or working on your social feeds, it can be important to know what what's on trend, say the pantone color of the year when that comes out or when everyone is loving a particular shade like rose gold. I've talked about this one on the podcast before, but rose gold has gone in and out of fashion and in the land of social media hashtag rose gold has made it so we can clearly see how this color trends and what other colors may be trending depending on your industry. Color trends can be really important in aligning your products or or messaging. Say you're in the wedding or event planning industry. Knowing what colors people are searching for and aligning your brand with them can be really important in the way you're perceived and being aligned with an old color can be A huge mistake. What about physical products? Location in a store matters as well when you want to stand out and catch the eye of a consumer walking through the store with tons of items on shelves, you may only have a split second. So it's important to know what your competitors use. Again, that's that Coke and Pepsi piece. And also if there's fluorescent lighting because fluorescent lights can enhance blue and green, but they make red, orange and yellow appear dull for an outside the box, but actually on the box. I guess example of shaking things up and knowing what your competition is doing. Colgate was actually able to see a large boost in sales by using holograms and metallic packaging, which made their boxes more attractive and stand out against their competitors. So consumers chose it more. Have you ever wondered why so many fast food chains use red? You may have heard this before and wondered if it was true, but studies have shown the color red has an impact on metabolism and stimulates appetite. In addition, yellow is helpful in gaining attention, increases appetite and encourages eating, which is why it's often paired with red for fast food. And they are contrasting colors so they stand out. But red is not a great color for a sit down restaurant. Blue has been proven to be better in that case because it encourages calmness and relaxing and makes people people tend to savor, linger and order more. But you don't want to use too much because too much blue is actually an appetite suppressant. I need to keep that in mind for myself. However, if you have a buffet or something and you want to decrease the amount people will eat. When they pay a flat amount, lots of blue could be useful. Interestingly, I have some friends who change the color on a wine tasting menu from a bright red to a more burgundy red and it increased the percentage of people who ordered red wine. Again, association matters. Have you ever stood in a line and felt like it took forever? Well, somewhere else it wasn't quite as agonizing. Color can actually impact this as well. Time seems to pass quicker and the objects around people seem smaller and lighter under blue light. In contrast, red light makes time seem to pass slower and surrounding objects seem larger and heavier. Color is incredibly important for brands to understand and consider when creating their materials. And while associations with colors don't have universal meanings that always hold true with a little bit of thought and consideration, you can absolutely, absolutely use color to your business's advantage. And that can be really freeing in knowing that you aren't required to use red just because everyone else is or you don't have to use the color blue. Or if you really want to test something that's different and use this really cool color that you love, just do it. You can, but understand how those associations might work and know about contrast and how to help things stand out. That really matters more what the competition is doing and how you can stand out against them. And then within your website or brochures and materials and on anything where you have a call to action, knowing that those contrasting colors are often more important than what's actually on buttons and things like that.
So what got your brain buzzing as you learned about color theory today? For me, I've always been fascinated by all the little things that can impact perception and decision making, whether it's color, word choice, metaphor, tone, imagery, or anything else. It's amazing how one small tweak can change everything.
It's also really cool to see how
color can be universal in some ways and it's uniquely tied to individuals and others. Like knowing that purple is about creativity and innovation, or that red and yellow can drive hunger and blue or green tend to be calming and orange is energizing. Isn't it amazing how that just works and it impacts how we feel and act since this episode originally aired, I've written three books and each has a very distinctive, colorful cover, and we've used
that to sort of sort all our
content here at the Brainy Business so that when you see green content, let's say you know it's going to be about pricing and sales. Because my book the Truth About Pricing has a green cover. What we internally refer to as blue content is anything to do with brand experience, customer experience, and marketing. To go with my first book, what your customer wants and can't tell you. Orange content is leadership, internal communication, and change management. To go along with my book, what your employees need and can't tell you, Productivity, mindset, and habit stuff. Didn't have a book yet, so we made it red. Since I have a TedX on that topic. It's called There's Nothing Magical About Monday. Highly recommend checking it out if you haven't yet, or even if you have and want a little productivity boost. And finally, foundations and core content, which is purple as a nod to the original branding of the Brainy business, which is all about curiosity and innovative thinking and asking good questions. It seems obvious and clear now, but we invested so much time in narrowing down the content in this way and considering the choice architecture and deciding on the right categories and then to align them with color and going back through the entire back catalog and creating this really great searchable database for you, the audience. So if you haven't yet gone to the Brainy Business.com podcast or the BrainyBusiness.com books to look around, I highly recommend you do so. And if you're subscribed to my newsletter, you follow me on social media, you'll see this color coding come up a lot as well. So when you go to the website you can sort by these color coded content categories. Nice alliteration there to find books and episodes that are going to be most interesting and useful for you in that moment. And with nearly 580 episodes now and a couple hundred books, you know, we felt it was time that it would be valuable for you, our faithful listeners. So it was worth investing that time in. Speaking of which, can I just say thank you for a moment. I recently learned via a site called Listen Notes that the Brainy Business Podcast is ranked in the top.05% of all podcasts in the world. And they make a point to share that there are more than 3.7 million podcasts out there. So that's amazing. We absolutely would not have that stat without you. So thank you for listening, sharing, subscribing, leaving ratings and reviews. It all helps to make that number possible. I appreciate you and let's keep climbing the ranks as we close out the show. Let's bring it back to Color Theory. What's the most amazing thing you've learned about color either from this episode or something else you've heard or seen over the years?
I'd love to hear about it.
So please do come share it with me on social media. You're going to find me as the Brainy Biz pretty much everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. There are links in the show notes to make it easy as well as links for my top related past episodes and books, ways to get in touch, and more. It's all waiting for you in the app you're listening to and@the brainybusiness.com 578. And just like that, episode 578 on color theory is done. Join me next time for another brainy episode of the Brainy Business Podcast. It's going to be a lot of fun. You don't want to miss it. Until then, thanks again for listening and learning with me and remember to be be thoughtful.
Podcast Narrator
Thank you for listening to the Brainy Business Podcast. Molina offers virtual strategy sessions, workshops and other services to help businesses be more brain friendly. For more free resources, visit thebrainybusiness.com.
Melina Palmer
Hey, before you go. Quick reminder that we do have a couple spots open right now for that brainy reset. If you've been feeling stuck or just want to move forward with more clarity and confidence, I'd love to talk. Head to the brainy business.com contact to get started even if you're on the fence. No pressure. It's just a conversation with me. Thanks so much for listening. I appreciate you. What do you think? Another episode.
Host: Melina Palmer
Date: May 21, 2026
In this engaging episode, Melina Palmer dives into the fascinating world of color theory and examines the critical role that color plays in branding, marketing, and consumer psychology. She demystifies common color associations, highlights cultural and personal variables, busts myths about universal meanings, and offers actionable advice for choosing and applying colors in your business to stand out and drive customer action. The focus is always on practical, brain-friendly approaches grounded in behavioral science, dispelling the idea that branding is only about personal preference.
Red: Excitement, boldness, hunger, danger (Coca-Cola, Netflix, Target)
Orange: Cheerful, childlike, spontaneous, loud (Nickelodeon, Amazon, Harley Davidson)
Yellow: Optimism, warmth, energy, caution (McDonald's, Best Buy, Ferrari)
Green: Peaceful, growth, health, prosperity (Whole Foods, Starbucks, Spotify)
Blue: Trust, dependability, calm, professionalism (Facebook, AT&T, IBM)
Purple: Creativity, imagination, luxury, mystery (Cadbury, Taco Bell, Brainy Business)
Pink: Flirtatious, romantic, polarizing, youthful (T-Mobile, Barbie, Instagram)
Gray/Neutrals: Balance, professionalism, dullness (Apple, Mercedes, Wikipedia)
Brown: Earthy, rugged, grounded (UPS, Hershey’s, Louis Vuitton)
Black: Power, elegance, prestige, mourning (Nike, Chanel, World Wildlife Fund)
White: Purity, simplicity, sterility, mourning (as a background or in symbolism)
Memorable Moment:
“In logos specifically, white is positive, pure, clean, innocent, simple, airy, bright, pristine or bridal. But it can also be seen as sterile, cold and clinical. And in non western cultures, white is actually a color of mourning and bereavement.”
—Melina Palmer (13:55)
Don’t assume colors always mean the same thing; context and shade matter enormously.
Gender differences in favorite and least favorite colors are real but not universal, and can be challenged by bold brands.
Notable Quote:
“As you went through that list, hopefully you noticed... the biggest mistake would be when applying color theory at your company. Colors have tons of associations and meanings and often opposite associations depending on the shade or context.”
—Melina Palmer (14:10)
Cultural factors strongly shape color meanings (e.g., white for mourning in some places, bridal in others).
Some color associations are biological; others are cultural or even newly invented (e.g., “Pink for girls, blue for boys” only became the norm in the 1940s).
Fascinating Insight:
Humans couldn’t perceive or define "blue" until recent centuries. Ancient texts, even “The Odyssey,” never describe the sea as blue.
Notable Quote:
“Scholars have found evidence that humans did not see blue until modern times... most ancient civilizations have no word for blue, and it isn’t really naturally occurring in much other than the sky.”
—Melina Palmer (17:48)
Color’s effect is strongest for unknown brands — the perception built from color cues can shape a brand’s entire personality in the consumer’s mind.
Appropriateness to brand persona is critical: for startups, color choice can “make or break” first impressions.
Established brands like Coca-Cola can subvert color theory due to deep existing associations.
Notable Study:
“When people were not already familiar with a brand, the common emotions tied with the color of the logo made a big difference in the way they interpreted the brand.”
—Melina Palmer (24:00)
Hue: Actual color (e.g., red, blue, green)
Value: Lightness or darkness (low value = dark, high value = light/tint)
Chroma: Saturation/intensity (washed out to vivid)
Why this Matters:
The Isolation Effect/Von Restorff Effect: Items that stand out by color are better remembered and spark more action.
Use high-contrast colors for calls to action, not just “favorite” colors or the colors everyone else uses.
Complementary and triadic color strategies (using a color wheel) help design elements “pop”.
Notable Quote:
“If your brand’s main color is blue... a blue button or link isn’t going to do much. But a bright orange button will stand out and be more likely to get clicks.”
—Melina Palmer (30:00)
Looking at competitors is crucial—if everyone uses blue, consider using a contrasting color for differentiation (e.g., Instagram’s pink/orange vs. Facebook/Twitter’s blues).
Trends are useful for temporary content or limited-edition products, not as core branding, because they fade.
Practical Advice:
“If there’s a lot of red, you should use green or blue or yellow. If everything is pale, subdued tones, you should pick something vibrant and vice versa. This goes against your herding brain which says, well, if everyone else is using blue, there must be a reason.”
—Melina Palmer (33:26)
Fast food chains use red/yellow to stimulate hunger and attention.
Blue is calming—better for sit-down restaurants; too much suppresses appetite.
Colors influence perception of time—red slows time and makes surroundings seem larger; blue light speeds time and “shrinks” objects.
Memorable Moment:
“If you have a buffet... and you want to decrease the amount people will eat... lots of blue could be useful.”
—Melina Palmer (36:53)
“Scholars have found evidence that humans did not see blue until modern times… most ancient civilizations have no word for blue.”
—Melina Palmer (17:48)
“The biggest mistake would be... assuming the rules are written in stone… Colors have tons of associations and meanings and often opposite associations depending on the shade or context.”
—Melina Palmer (14:10)
“Google ran a bunch of tests where 1% saw one shade of blue and another 1% saw this slightly different shade… In Google’s case, they said it means an extra $200 million a year in advertising revenue.”
—Melina Palmer (28:23)
“Contrast and standing out against the competition is more important and will lead to you getting clicked on more.”
—Melina Palmer (33:46)
“Color is incredibly important for brands to understand and consider when creating their materials… with a little bit of thought and consideration, you can absolutely use color to your business’s advantage.”
—Melina Palmer (38:16)
| Timestamp | Segment | |-------------|------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:47–03:12 | Introduction & Episode Purpose | | 03:16–06:00 | Why Color Matters in Branding | | 06:00–14:00 | Traditional Meanings of Colors + Brand Examples | | 14:00–18:30 | Perils of Rigid Thinking, Gender Differences | | 18:30–22:00 | Cultural/Biological Dimensions, “The Color Blue” Anecdote | | 22:00–25:00 | Importance of Brand Persona and First Impressions | | 25:00–27:30 | Defining Hue, Value, and Chroma | | 27:30–28:40 | Google’s “Shades of Blue” Test | | 28:40–32:30 | Isolation Effect, Contrast, Calls to Action | | 32:30–34:30 | Standing Out, Competitive Analysis, Trends in Branding | | 34:30–36:00 | Packaging & Physical Product Insights | | 36:00–38:30 | Color and Appetite/Time Perception | | 36:32–38:30 | The Brainy Business: Internal Color Coding Example |
Melina wraps up by sharing how color has been central to categorizing content within The Brainy Business, creating an easy visual language for listeners and visitors. She encourages listeners to share color experiences and always to “be thoughtful” in approach—reminding us that the science of color is powerful when leveraged intentionally, but deserves critical thinking and careful observation.
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