Attire Accessories - Mar/Apr 2018 (Issue 69)

ATTIRE 87 COLOUR THEORY As the fashion accessory industry is a creative, design-led market, do you think colour in branding is important to consumers, and why? The fashion accessory industry is all about appearance. A company that is well-branded, or has a brand that tells a story, will give the impression that its products are worth buying. The care and attention that goes into your branding is assumed by the consumer to be put into products too. Being in a design- led market means that creativity should be imbued in all areas of your brand. Logos, websites and branding palettes are often the first interactions a potential client has with your business, so it’s important to get them right. Are there any particular branding colours that you think relate best in the fashion accessory industry? The fashion industry as a whole is dominated by the colour black – think of the logos from the likes of Chanel, Burberry or Dior. Following this clear trend will certainly associate your brand with ideas of luxury, if that’s what you want. But you shouldn’t be afraid of breaking the mould. A brand that has done this particularly well is Tiffany & Co. Its iconic blue shade is not only trademarked, but recognised by almost one in five consumers when questioned. It is important that businesses have a sense of their brand’s style and voice before choosing their palette. Why do you think colour resonates so strongly with consumers when it comes to making an emotional connection with a brand? Colour has the special ability to portray a feeling immediately. Unlike slogans or brand names, a colour can make you feel a certain emotion. Whether that is femininity, as with the colour pink, or a feeling of authority and seriousness with the colour black. Colour and emotional associations can be nostalgic for consumers too. For example, combining orange and brown brings back the ‘70s almost immediately. Eliciting an emotion, particularly a positive one, helps make your brand memorable and impactful. Do you think that retailers would let company branding affect their buying decisions? Whether knowingly or not, consumers are affected by branding. Essentially, a company’s brand acts as a sort of signal to consumers. They can quickly recognise a brand as one they are familiar with, one that they have liked using in the past. Without a stand-out brand, potential clients and consumers may not be able to retrieve this information from memory and are unlikely to remember the positive interactions they have had with your brand. Would the colour of a retail shop sign reflect a difference in how/why consumers enter the store? Absolutely.These first impressions set the expectations of consumers before they enter a store.They can get an impression of the price-range of products, the quality of goods on sale, or even a feel for your brand. For example, French beauty retailer L’Occitane’s mustard yellow retail shops signs immediately transport you to the sunny skies of Provence. It gives the brand an earthy feel that perfectly matches its branding and tells its story. Consumers hunting for skincare ranges that are based on nature may be more tempted to buy the L’Occitane beauty products, rather than more clinical alternatives that use white heavily in their branding. How can the colour of branding help boost a business’ profitability and sales? As mentioned before, a brand that creates familiarity, and by extension trust, between themselves and the consumer can help boost sales. Studies have shown that 71 percent of consumers are more likely to buy from a brand they recognise.The use of a bright colour palette, when in keeping with the feel of your business, can also help you stand out against your competition, giving you an edge and, eventually, sales. Are there any other points you can give about colour branding within the fashion accessories industry specifically? Make sure you pick a colour that conveys the voice of your brand.The colour orange works really well for dynamic sports companies or perhaps energy drink brands, but would not be in-keeping with the traditional, chic feel a jewellery company, for example, may want to portray. It is also important to consider the age group you are marketing to; younger generations may be more open to a more eccentric colour palette. A Reboot Online rebootonline.com Seeing green Abby Chinery, Marketing and PR Executive at market research firm Reboot Online, talks us through why colour is so important in creating a successful brand