Designing new product packaging? What color will appeal to your customers? Planning a t-shirt giveaway? Great idea, but what color? Developing a corporate identity, logo, and letterhead? Getting just the right company color can really help you stand out from your competition.

Here's some news you can use in making those all-important color choices. Cooper Marketing Group, a market research company in Oak Park, IL, discovered three color personalities:

Color-forward. New, new, new! That's what this group likes. They want to be the first on the block to own the aqua-marine sports car, the tangelo swimsuit, the purple passion patio chairs. How do you know if your customers fall into this group? Well, here are some defining characteristics: women under 30 or over 50; men under 30; city dwellers; impulse buyers; and people who make less than $35,000 a year.

Color-prudent. "I really like that pink dress Sarah's wearing." "That blue jeep of Bob's is really cool!" These are some of thoughts that might go through the minds of your color-prudent customers. They put quality over color, and only try new colors after they've seen friends try them. Other distinguishing features: men or women between 30 and 50; suburban; careful shoppers; make more than $50,000 a year.

Color-loyal. Beware of changing your color scheme with these customers -- they like to replace products with those of the same color, and they play it safe with blue or gray. This group is characterized as: men over 60; suburban or rural; people who dislike shopping; people in any income bracket.

So do your market research ahead of time, and make your colors count!

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Read more about choosing colors.
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