Most of us have a favorite color, all of us know what color our mother thinks looks best on us (and which colors look horrid) and consciously or not we all associate certain feelings with certain colors:

Orange – energetic, excited and hungry (wonder why Weight Watchers used the Orange Monster as a brand character? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49WjrRJ_DLw)

Blue – calm and serene

Red – intense emotions either of love or anger

Yellow – cheerful and happy

Green – free, fresh and natural

Our eyes absorb light, convert it into a form of energy and allow us to see color. The way that people feel or react to certain colors, or why they choose to favor one color over the next, alludes to how it makes them feel. Scientists have studied this energy for years to understand how certain colors affect our moods, health, and thought-process. And it’s a good thing they have because color has the ability to condition an action, for example (and for effect), consumer buying habits. In layman’s terms, the color of a product or a brand can encourage or dissuade a sale.

Let’s do a quick mind test. Think of a brand for each of these colors:

1. Red
2. Yellow
3. Blue
4. Green

Now, think of a color for each of these brands:

1. Pepsi
2. Campbell’s soup
3. McDonalds
4. Gap

I bet that when you pictured each brand you immediately knew how you felt about that brand, if you liked it or not. In some cases, you may have remembered the last time you enjoyed a warm bowl of tomato soup or how you could really go for a cool refreshing soda right about now.

The color of a logo, website, package, etc. is the first impression that is remembered and registered by consumers. It will be the color associated to the brand. If the color sends the right message and invokes the right feeling to a consumer, the company may encourage a sale and a brand ambassador. There’s good reason why brand management is occasionally referred to as the study of science and art. To have a successful, lasting brand, it takes more than listening to the customer, it takes understanding their emotions and how those emotions trigger their purchasing decisions.

So the next time someone asks you what your favorite color is, know that they may actually be reading a little farther into your personality.

Everything from the architecture of the building (which literally rises out of the ground) to the labels on the bottle describe their unique and “upper-class” creation. The winery is meant to mirror the wine – “a meeting of new and old world aesthetics”. In 1984 when the 1979 and 1981 vintages were unveiled, Opus One became known as America’s first ultra-premium white wine. This milestone set the tone for an expensive winery to make its mark in the industry.

The association of aristocracy and exclusivity that the winery has created around their product draws people to simply drive around the property so they can brag they’ve been there (guilty as charged). But even more amazing are people visiting the winery to taste one measly glass of the Bordeaux blend for a hefty penny and an even bigger lump of change to purchase a bottle or case. While many of the mid range wines in Napa Valley have struggled to fill shelves in a tough economy, Opus One continues to thrive as an exclusive winery, as well a popular tourist destination.

During the rest of my week long trip there I noticed many other ways wineries tried to differentiate themselves from the competition. They utilized their labels, décor of tasting rooms, cheese and chocolate pairings with wine, unique wine glasses and most importantly their names. One of my other favorite places was Fleury, a small winery that only sells their product in house and bottles only a few thousand cases a year total. Their distinctiveness and brand differentiation could be found in the name of their most popular wine “F-in Red”. You have to love a little humor in the midst of so many literal wine names like Maple Vineyard Zinfandel or Late Harvest Riesling.

-Kaitlyn Anderson, Brand Manager

According to Business Week (September 19, 2008), McDonalds ranks #8 on the Best 100 Global Brands lists. (Note: the only other restaurant brand that cracked the Top 100 was KFC at #64.)

With $37 billion in brand revenue – the big question is “Why would they deviate from their dominate brand?”
My only guess to why they would not use the brand they have spent decades and billions creating, is that they want to generate internet buzz around their new product offering. (Hey, it’s working right?)  I imagine this campaign will not rollout worldwide – but the new “no frills bundling” of this McDonald’s classic will be coming to a normally-branded McDonalds near you.

After the buzz has reached nearly every web-savy, fast-food consumer / pop culture junkie, I think they will ditch the black and red “no brand” and you will soon be able to walk into a McDonalds and order the no frills “Quarter Pounder” meal. No choices. No questions. No sizes to choose from. Actually, there is just one choice: single or double:

I think there are some things every business can learn from this.
• Creating buzz takes time, money and a great idea
• You can touch a lot of people thru the web
• Interesting and unique news travels fast
• Doing something controversial creates buzz

McDonalds has created a pseudo-brand and an entire network of stores in Toyko to drive web excitement around their new product. Most of us develop product sheets and an email blast to inform our customers and to drive excitement. Clearly, when you want BIG results, you need BIG ideas.

If you want to get to the next level, you need a unique idea that will set you apart from the competition and the gall to do it. Nice job McDonalds.

At Brand Iron, we’ll help you get outside the box when you want to create excitement around your brand. We’ll develop plans, creative ideas and tactics that will get noticed and will get your audience talking.

- Josh Barker, Brand Wrangler

Grow LLC - Is a new consulting firm that helps emerging companies transform into
profitable, visionary businesses. Brand Iron helped them to clearly identify
their key messaging points that include:

• Access to capital
• Acquisition and exits
• Outsourced business services

We also helped them to package their message with a logo, tagline and corporate identity package.

EPI – Brand Iron helped in the strategic planning and transformation from Education Partners, an organizational and development firm, to EPI, a custom solutions provider helping companies leverage the power of people. We established a logo, tagline and corporate identity based on their message, benefits and positioning.

A snazzy logo is only as good as the strategy behind it. Brand Iron starts at the beginning – by developing a with a financially-focused brand strategy with you. To see these examples and to view others, click on the “Our Work” quick link below.