How Does Adding Color to Advertising Displays Make Them Pop?

The best salesperson for your products or services can be advertising, but to be effective and provide the highest rate of return for your investment, it must make your message a real attention-getter to both current and potential customers.

One of the most valuable ways to transform any marketing message from ho-hum and boring to eye-catching and dramatic is to add color. Color enhances your message and makes it more powerful. However, it's important to choose the right colors as studies show colors can have a positive or negative psychological effect on individuals depending what emotions or memories are evoked by a particular color.

For example, what do you think of when you spot a pink car driving down the highway? Odds are, you think of Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Inc., who awarded her independent sales consultants with the opportunity to earn free pink cars.

The Attraction of Colors

What colors work best for advertising purposes? Here's a quick run-down of some of the pros and cons of the primary colors:

Red

Red is associated with bravery, strength, power, passion, and energy, just to mention a few of the emotions it can stimulate, but its use can backfire in advertising if you aren't careful. After all, if your product or service involves financial products or financial transactions, you might want to limit any use of red. Most individuals want to be "in the black, and not in the red" when it comes to finances.

Blue

Blues can denote authority (think navy blue power suits) or clarity (picture clear blue skies or mountain streams) as well as masculinity and calmness. On the other hand, blues can also make some individuals feel cold or depressed, which means you must carefully considered how you position your products if you want to use blue in your advertising mix.

Green

Greens tend to make people feel serene or evoke nature thoughts, but they can also incite thoughts of jealousy or greed (for example, "green with envy).  Do you remember collecting Green Stamps as a premium at grocery stores and then redeeming them later for products? That is a classic example of using a color to brand a promotional campaign that was wildly successful.

Yellow

Yellows inspire thoughts of sunshine and happiness, but certain shades of yellow, especially neon-bright shades, can be downright annoying or obnoxious. As an example of a successful use of yellow, consider the advertising campaign for the Yellow Pages, which made those yellow walking fingers synonymous with the brand.

Putting Colors to Work

Are you wondering how you can put colors to work in your advertising mix? Here are two simple tips for getting started:

Business printing: Instead of ordering black and white business cards, brochures and flyers, add some color into the mix. Work with our customer service representatives for advice on colors, designs and layouts to give you the best results.

Signage: Many of our signage products can be custom printed to your specifications, and strong design elements such as color are easy to include. Custom-printed flutter flags, banners, and A-frame sign inserts are just a few of the display advertising products that can be customized. Our full color printed inserts for our Windmaster signs are another way to add a touch of color to your advertising lineup.

Putting It All Together

In advertising, less is more, so the simpler the design and the clearer the message, the better your success rate. While adding color adds impact to your marketing message, it's important not to go overboard and add too many colors. Keep designs simple with lots of white space for contrast. If you have colors associated with your brand, incorporate those colors into your advertising so you do not send conflicting messages about your product or services. If you are just starting out, choose your branding colors carefully and consider their potential psychological effect before making your final decision.

Metropolitan Display carries all the retail product displays you need to make your displays—and the color—pop! We hope you'll bookmark our blog to stay on top of new products and display tips.

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