talk radio europe … interview on how colour psychology is used in branding

Last night I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Kenny Jones from  Talk Radio Europe, based in sunny Spain. Kenny had scheduled me in to speak for 20 minutes but before we realised, it was 40 minutes later…

You can listen to the full interview here or you can read a small exert of the interview ranging from how colour is important to a business brand.

Kenny: I see you first studied in Australia and then in England – what brought you to the UK?
Karen: I came to the UK through my love of travelling. My parents are from Europe so I feel very much at home here.

Kenny: What got you so interested in colour that you made it your speciality?
Karen: I’m fascinated in the psychology of colour, how it makes us feel and how it can affect our behaviour.

Kenny: So what sort of people seek out your skills – I understand you have been commissioned by some very large companies – what exactly are they looking for from you?
Karen: Brands want to connect with their customers on an emotional level because they know people buy on emotion. If you fail to engage with your customers’ emotions, you’ll fail to make the sale. Colour elicits that all important emotional response.  I work with business owners to find the exact tone of colour and combination of colours to trigger the right emotional response to engage their customers to buy from them and to keep them coming back, instead of repelling them.

Probably one of the most unusual requests I’ve had is from a magician who wants me to work with him on how to use colour to the best effect in his routine.

Kenny: When you are brought into a large company I suspect that the main colour scheme they use is already a major part of their image and they would be nervous about altering it too much – do you have a fight on your hands sometimes? or do they usually accept your proposals?
Karen: A large company may bring me in to work with them on a re-brand. Or to carry out a brand personality analysis to see if the tone of colours and the combination are still in alignment with their brand values, to ensure they are attracting the right target market. The process is psychologically and scientifically based. I work form the premise it is all about the personality of the business and not any individual in the company or my own personal opinion.

If a member of staff personally doesn’t like a colour or the tone of colour they can show resistance which is absolutely fine as long as they are able to separate these two distinctions – it’s about the brand’s personality and not theirs.

They always have the opportunity to reject the analysis. What colours and tones they choose to go with I explain what  this means so they are clear on the personality they are projecting.

Kenny:Let’s talk about the art of colour – would you say that the colour of an object /room whatever – is the first opinion or judgment we make?
Karen: Absolutely. Colour is registered by the brain before either images or typography. Colour increases brand recognition by up to 80%. This show just how important it is for a business brand.

You can listen to the full interview here

You can listen to Talk Radio Europe on http://www.talkradioeurope.com/