The Importance of Colour In Business Print
Imagine living in a world without colour – not very easy, is it? Colour is a powerful tool in any business – it can attract, influence and even increase retention making it vital in marketing and branding in particular. In fact, the use of colour in all customer-facing collateral, including transactional documents where it was once considered a novelty is now expected and considered standard. It is said that the average person makes a subconscious judgement about anything within 90 seconds — and between 62 percent to 90 percent of this judgement is based on colour alone.
So why is colour printing so important in our documents?
1. Outstanding Coloured Prints Make an Impact
According to a study by the Secretariat of the Seoul International Colour Expo, 92 percent of people surveyed believed in the importance of visuals when purchasing products; while 84 percent said that colour accounts for more than half of the various factors important to consumers when choosing which products they purchase . In fact, colour is the first thing people instinctively register when they are assessing any object whether it is a document, signage, a flyer or merchandise — and it has a powerful effect on their decision to buy or to move on.
This goes to show that colour is a subliminally persuasive force — it captures attention, sends a powerful message and can even convince people to buy products and services. If a picture paints a thousand words, then colour adds vivacity and life to it.
2. Strengthens Brand Perception
Studies show that leveraging the colours in your brand’s logo and imagery can increase brand recognition by up to 80 percent . One of the biggest benefits of colour printing is that colour conveys a sense of accomplishment, stability and professionalism. Printing in colour reinforces a professional image. Even just incorporating colour into the logo on your documents can increase your brand recognition. When combined with full colour marketing, it takes your print documents to another level.
3. Makes it Easier to Locate Information
The human mind uses colour to segment and demarcate things. This is one of the reasons colour is often a key weapon of marketers. For example, placing call to actions in a standout colour like red helps to push your readers to take the necessary action.
In addition, using colour in print, especially utilising colour schemes throughout, helps make print information and new concepts and ideas easier to segment, demarcate and easier to understand.
4. Enabling Greater Retention and Recall
Studies show that adding colour to marketing messages can increase engagement rates by up to 42 percent. In addition, it helps in improving customers’ memory and comprehension with some studies saying that eye-catching colour increases comprehension by as much as 73 percent. This is because colour helps us process and store images more efficiently than when in black and white. When you add colour to your marketing collateral, your customers are far more likely to not only read but also to retain your message — key when the ultimate goal is to create awareness and conversion.
Tips When Using Colour in Your Documents
- The stronger the colour contrast, the more powerful your message
- Your choice of colours should always reflect your brand mission with strength and clarity
- Using three key colours in your printouts will help ensure that your message is retained more easily — and for longer — in the minds of your audience
- Learn the meaning of the various colours (for example, the colour red signifies good fortune and is also a strong colour for creating action) and how it affects people’s moods
The Canon Solution
Canon’s new imageRUNNER ADVANCE (iR-ADV) C7500i series employs the “Vivid and Vibrant” profile with technologies that render crisp and striking image quality prints with 2400 x 2400 dpi print resolution. In addition, the series’ Consistently Vivid (CV) toner helps ensure colour stability, consistency and brilliantly-hued images that are sure to catch the eye, without sacrificing speed — even in a high-volume print environment. All this is in line with Canon’s philosophy of always creating technology breakthroughs while finding the best solutions for businesses.
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