Let’s take a look at some of them. Red stands for lots of things: passion, fire, action, danger, love, hatred, anger, strength, aggression. It is never middle of the road. You want to get noticed? Wear red. You want to draw attention to something? Make it red. We see something red – we look, whether it’s a warning sign or a Ferrari. It has been proven that the human eye recognises the colour red three times faster than the colour blue.

Most people like blue and that goes for males and females alike. It is the colour of loyalty, respectability, depth, reliability and security which might explain why insurance companies and building societies are quite keen on blue. Blue makes us think of the sky, the sea, of endless horizons. It is a fresh and cool colour. Ice and snow have a blue tinge as does the skin when it gets cold. To package a product such as, let’s say, Deep Heat in blue could confuse the consumer as the product wouldn’t match the emotions triggered by this colour.

Yellow is the colour that people seem to feel quite ambivalent about. Associations made with yellow can either be very positive or very negative, depending on the tone of yellow. A warm, golden yellow is associated with the sun, richness, optimism, fun, energy, health, life itself. Just imagine a glass filled with golden-yellow juice. You just know it is full of goodness and will taste delicious.
A pale, more acidy yellow, however, symbolises something entirely different: envy, deviousness, jealousy, hatred, greed, shrillness.

Green, unlike red, is a passive colour. It is the symbolic colour of life. It is the holy colour of Islam. Wherever we see the colour green, be it on packaging, on a logo, in a room, we think of nature. To mind springs Greenpeace, the green spot on environmentally friendly products, which the Germans thought up, green fingers or the Green Party. With green we associate peace, calmness, steadiness, growth, but also beginning, immaturity and the opposite – things that have gone off. Just visualise mould for a second… Using green packaging for perishable products could trigger some undesirable associations.
Mix green with yellow and you get the best of both these colours. Lime green combines calmness and growth with excitement and fun. It is one of the most positive and vibrant colours. It is lively, fresh and zesty. You want to inspire? Motivate? Create change? Lime green is your colour.

It’s worth thinking about – paying attention to colour might just pay off.

Always worth a read, the Tom Peters blog is 4 today so Happy Birthday to one of my favourite marketing gurus.
You can read more of his marketing wisdom here.