The Rainbow Connection: The Role of Color in the Creative Package

By ANDREW MATTHIUS

EVER WONDERED WHY A CERTAIN LITTLE PILL IS PURPLE? OR WHY a marketing campaign is bathed in orange or hues of blue? It may be because the mere sight of each color evokes particular emotions, functions, smells, tastes—an entire personality. “The right color can make or break [a company],” says Mark Woodman, a board of director at Color Marketing Group, which specializes in finding the right color for profitable marketing. Psychologists who have studied color found that 80% of information entering the brain comes in through vision, and 60%-75% is directly related to color. Within 10 seconds, color can silently communicate a brand’s purpose, says Jill Morton, a color expert and CEO of Colorcom, a color-consulting agency.

Color is especially important when marketing something as small as a pill, because it is the substance’s most descriptive property. Color may also be its most important quality; Morton cites studies that show people make preconceived notions about commodities like butter based solely on its shade of yellow. “The golden rule formed from all the consulting I’ve done for pharmaceuticals is that color should represent the intended result,” says Morton. For example, if someone has a bladder infection, they do not want to take a yellow pill, because the color is associated with the disease. Instead, Morton recommends, a green or blue pill should be chosen to represent relief. Colors also have powerful associations with both taste and smell, so the color has to be something appetizing, advises Woodman. For instance, grey would be a poor choice, since it reminds the olfactory senses of smoke.

Choosing a Pill’s Palette
When Tylenol was preparing to release its Extra Strength Rapid Release Gelcaps, the company turned to Jill Morton of Colorcom to find the right colors to express the pill’s personality. The client wanted a combination that would say fast-acting relief while appealing to active women between the ages of 25 and 45. Morton entered the information into her Global Color Database, which contains about a half million entries of color preferences and associations separated by demographics, such as nationality, gender, and age.

The database chose red and blue with a silver accent. The red represented fast-acting, the blue was calming relief, and silver represented high technology. Color combinations can open up a wider vocabulary for colors, Morton explains. Other pills, such as Viagra, become infamous for their single color. Blue was the logical choice for that drug, since it’s a masculine-based color. Yet some people have critiqued the selection of such a pale blue, because it makes them feel sick.

When Steve Michaelson, founder and CEO of Wishbone/ITP, worked on the marketing campaign for Levitra, he made sure to choose colors for the brand that stood out from its competitors. Optimistic orange represented passion, urgency, courage, and energy. Midnight Violet was a severe color that was different from anything else out there. According to Michaelson, the combination of these colors, a futuristic typeface, and the eternal flame logo gave Levitra a fresh and exciting personality.

Compiling information to find the “next color” is an ongoing process. It involves constantly watching the trends in sociology, politics, music, youth and aging cultures, says Woodman. It is a 24/7 research project—all to try to determine which color is new, fresh and—hopefully—permanent.

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