Color is about more than interior design and fashion; it is used for marketing products from diapers to diet soda, from office supplies to electronics, from bargain buys to luxury investments, color sells. The key is to learn how to use color to your advantage as it is often a subliminal influence. Once you know the psychology and the cultural differences you can layer hues from light to dark, subtle to bold, to achieve the desired response.
Grey is considered a color that promotes indecision and often we reach for it when going through a time of life or career change. Have you noticed a friend or colleague wearing a lot of gray lately? Perhaps they are going through a divorce or break up, could be a job change, or they are just feeling uncertain. If you need to make a big decision or will be negotiating with clients skip the grey for a quicker close.
Grey also promotes a feeling of the blahs, for example, if you are feeling gray or it is a gray day out, you often sense a sort of gloom descending. Fight the gray moments with red, yellow or orange!
In advertising, grey is most often used for electronics and security. Think of the color of cables and stainless steel lock boxes and dead bolts. Security trucks are always steel grey. Circuit City, before they went under, used grey coupled with red (drives sales) and was one of the original consumer big box chains.
In clothing, grey is often most effectively and handsomely paired with pewter, nickel, platinum or silver. These are warm metals, whereas chrome is decidedly cooler. Note that a platinum card has more clout than a mere gold card. And platinum is considered the metal of choice most often for wedding bands.
Grey can be warm or cool depending on if it is blue based or yellow based. Mouse grey is usually warmer than steel gray and there is any number of gradations in between.
Once you have mastered the mystery of color, you can put the psychology to work for your success and even your profit!
For more great maverick marketing tips be sure to check out todaybydesign.com. Get your free ebook at changeyourrewards.com where Melissa will share with you just a dozen word changes you can make to drive your profits and success to the top. Melissa Galt is a successful entrepreneur specializing in showing small business owners the keys to business growth in any economy. You can find her on Twitter as @prosperbydesign.