Colour increases brand recognition by 80%, but how many brands can you name from colour alone?
• 1 in 3 top global brands use the colour red in their logo
• Black is the most popular colour used by luxury brands
• 80% of consumers recognise Starbucks just from its green colour
• 91% of consumers recognised at least one brand from colour alone
Colour has the unique ability to communicate a feeling immediately. Whether that feeling is passion for red, serenity for green, or festivity when combining the two; it is not difficult to see why it is so important to choose the right colours when it comes to creating a brand.
Hues of blue are most commonly seen in corporate businesses, and black is incorporated most often in the luxury market. That’s not to say that you can never stray from conventionality. Indeed, Ikea’s surprising contrast of blue and yellow makes the brand extremely memorable. In a survey of 2,648 consumers conducted by Reboot, 67% could recognise the Swedish furniture retailer from a depiction of the iconic colours alone.
So, can you recognise the following brands just from their branding palette?
See how your brand-recognition skills match up to other consumers, answers for the graphic are revealed below:
ANSWER (followed by % of consumers who correctly identified the brand)
- 1. Ikea 67%
- 2. Starbucks 80%
- 3. McDonalds 84%
- 4. Tiffany & Co 17%
- 5. Cadbury 31%
- 6. Harrods 12%
- 7. Facebook 73%
- 8. Subway 68%
- 9. BP 33%
- 10. Google 91%
The importance of colour in branding Research has revealed that a signature colour can increase brand recognition by 80%. Even without seeing their logo, most people could recognise a Starbucks’ drink by its characteristic green straw. According to Reboot’s study, when shown a selection of five made-up company logos 78% could recall the primary colour of the logo, compared to only 43% who were able to remember the name.
So how can you go about choosing the right palette for your business?
Why not look at what the most successful brands have done with their logos? Reboot analysed the top 100 global brands to see what the most popular branding colours were:
34% used the colour black in their logo
30% used the colour blue in their logo
30% used the colour red in their logo
9% used the colour yellow in their logo
7% used the colour green in their logo
6% used the colour grey/silver in their logo
5% used the colour orange in their logo
2% used the colour brown in their logo
The study also showed that blue was most commonly used within the tech industry, red was preferred by automotive companies and black was by far the most popular choice for luxury brands.
Please find the quiz and full study here:
