I was recently interviewed by AllBusiness.com's Chris Bjorklund on NextStage's five year study of the best uses of colors, color imagery and color iconography in marketing. The study includes NextStage original research and research from other sources. This post starts the arc with Chris Bjorklund's first question; "Can you tell me a little about the history of the use of color in marketing? How far back does it go?"
The posts in this arc provide content that didn't make it into the podcast, just as the podcast has content that isn't provided in this arc. You can hear the entire podcast at The Best Way to Use Color and Imagery to Improve Your Marketing. An extensive bibliography will be shared in the last post in this arc.
Wow. We’re starting with the tough ones right off the bat, huh? My opinion is that the use of color in marketing goes back…oh, I’m guessing about 4.5 billion years, and I’m very serious. I think photo-receptor cells first developed about that long ago. Basically once animals could detect mates, predators and prey visually, the use of color in marketing was established.(I’m guessing your listeners are thinking, “Good grief, another NextStage rant” and maybe so, but knowing something’s history can often provide useful clues about better ways to use it)
Anyway, marketing’s evolutionary predecessor is “survival of the fittest”, what’s known as evolutionary biology. The baboon’s inflamed rump, the peacock’s plumage, moths that look like tree bark, walking sticks, spiders that look like flower petals, flowers that use colors to attract pollinators, and octopi and squid that change color to match the sea floor are all examples of marketing. We might think of the marketing messages as “I’m a good mate” or whatever but the real marketing message of the baboon and peacock is “I can help you be successful”. Isn’t that what marketing is all about? Predators that mimic the environment, such as the spider and mollusks, are basically sending out spam, “Hey, trust me. I’m safe”. Flowers that use color to attract pollinators are involved in a word-of-mouth campaign. The viral component is “Hey, this flower has some good eats” and the benefit to the flower is survival and capturing more territory. Show me a company engaged in a word-of-mouth campaign with the ultimate goal is NOT surviving and capturing more territory and I’ll change my opinion on this.
Please contact NextStage for information regarding presentations and trainings on this and other topics.
Upcoming Conferences:
- IMedia Brand Summit on 9-12 Sept 07
- XChange on 20-21 Sept 07
- DC Emetrics Summit on 14-17 Oct '07
- Society for New Communications Research Annual Research Symposium & Awards Gala on 5-6 Dec 07 in Boston.
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