You have to DIG DEEP into the mind of your potential client, how does he feel? What's his attitude?

11 replies
Here's a little story..
About ten years ago me and my parents were sitting in their neat little garden, having some drinks.
I have to mention that i grew up in a middle-class working family, my father is a pensioner (he was a metalworker). He's the type of guy who wants to get things done, when he sees a problem he tackles it immediately.

Well, that evening my father realized a part of the garden fence was damaged due to a heavy storm - so he went to the shed and came back with a humongous amount of tools, ready to fix the fence.
I looked at all them tools and i noticed that ALL of them had an orange painted grip.
Different brands but all had the color orange somewhere. Now, if you've ever been to a hardware store, you'd know there isn't really a huge variety when it comes to the colors of the tools you can purchase.
Usually there's like green, chrome, brown.. and green+orange (or black+orange or blah+orange).

I asked my dad why he always seem to buy those orange ones.. Especially since they were from different brands. His answer was this:

"Dunno, son. Never even noticed - I guess that orange looks pretty energetic and.. well yeah, i feel like i can get things done with those tools pretty fast. Y'know me, i'm no slacker."

Then, jokingly, he added "Peter probably wouldn't buy tools in those energizing colors."
(Peter is the dude who owns the garden next to that of my parents, and what can i say - he's a really lazy type of hippie guy, i tell you).

I had to check that out, so i yelled over to Peter who was relaxing in the evening sun: "YO! P! Can you please give me a hedgetrimmer and a hammer?"

-"Sure thing", he replied, and gave me two very boring-looking tools, both of brown color with a beige grip.

Moral of the story?!
Dunno, but better not create a beige/brown squeeze page when you want to market something to young, energetic IM people.
#attitude #client #deep #dig #feel #mind #potential
  • Profile picture of the author Corwinnx
    That's a really cute story.

    Please allow me to add my two cents of what I remember about 'color psychology.'

    Orange- implies SAVINGS
    Blue - Friendliest color
    Blue and White- Friendliest color combination
    Red- Stop, Warning, Aggravation. Pink does this too. Never paint a room pink or red.
    Green- an UNTRUSTWORTHY color.
    Yellow- HAPPY!

    Ok, that's all I remember. Hope that helps out someone.



    Warmest Regards,
    Marcus
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  • Profile picture of the author ChrisByrns
    Thanks for that, Marcus!

    Personally, i really need to make more use of color psychology - it's something i always tend to forget about.
    Just went through my bookmarks and here's a little something that might also be of interest (i especially like the statement "orange can make an expensive product seem more affordable"):

    The Best Colors for Branding and Marketing

    Cheers,
    Chris.
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  • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
    Let me save you some time.

    People Egos and sense of their own intellect often make them do things which they 'think' should work.

    The easiest way to find out is to test.

    Often the things you 'think' would improve sales hurt them, and the things you should would reduce results improves them.

    Don't bother wasting your time trying to analyze peoples psychology - just test and tweek until you get best conversions.

    Andy
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    nothing to see here.

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    • Profile picture of the author ChrisByrns
      Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

      Let me save you some time.

      People Egos and sense of their own intellect often make them do things which they 'think' should work.

      The easiest way to find out is to test.

      Often the things you 'think' would improve sales hurt them, and the things you should would reduce results improves them.

      Don't bother wasting your time trying to analyze peoples psychology - just test and tweek until you get best conversions.

      Andy
      I don't fully agree - i mean, of course you have to tweak and test and then use what works best.. but i think (correct me if i'm wrong) there's a reason why big companies have color- and even sound-designers on their payroll..? IMO, it won't hurt to have at least a short look at this topic.
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      • Profile picture of the author Corwinnx
        Chris,
        I absolutely agree with you. All marketing and copywriting research is founded in the psychological make up and triggers of the masses. I'll be having a look at that link. I love color psychology, and I am the least artistic person on the planet.

        -Marcus
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Originally Posted by ChrisByrns View Post

        I don't fully agree - i mean, of course you have to tweak and test and then use what works best.. but i think (correct me if i'm wrong) there's a reason why big companies have color- and even sound-designers on their payroll..? IMO, it won't hurt to have at least a short look at this topic.
        Many of these large companies sink so much cash into any new promotion that they want the best possible shot at a lead-off home run. Couple that with a large dose of CYA, and you have a staffer for everything.

        Giving color some consideration without obsessing over it will at least give you a baseline from which to start your testing...

        Marcus, I remember seeing a story on TV about a local law enforcement agency that had a problem with fighting in the jail due to overcrowding. The county sheriff painted the jail a soft pink and dressed the inmates in day-glo pink jumpsuits.

        Maybe it was the color, maybe it was just embarrassment, but the fighting went way down. It went right back up when he was forced to go back to institutional gray jail and orange jumpsuits.

        In a related story, a college painted the visitor's locker room pink because the head coach thought it gave him an advantage...
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        • Profile picture of the author ChrisByrns
          Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

          (...)
          Giving color some consideration without obsessing over it will at least give you a baseline from which to start your testing...
          (...)
          That's basically all i wanted to say in a nutshell =)
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          • Profile picture of the author Corwinnx
            John,
            Based on the second experiment involving the 'locker room' I'll put my money on the embarassment factor. Pink is far from a 'soothing' color. Come to think of it... I can't remember what the 'soothing' color is... now I HAVE TO follow the link...

            OK.. apparently green.

            Both the reds, greens and pinks, have both POSITIVE and NEGATIVE connotations, so I guess it depends on what shade of any,and what effect you want your message to have.

            Just for an example.. I have seen a lot of sales letters where the copywriter uses Big Bold Bright RED in the price... Personally, I feel that RED, implies WARNING, so I use BLUE for my prices... it's friendly. I would try orange if it didn't look so 'blech' on the computer screen.

            Marcus
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  • Profile picture of the author artwebster
    Well, I waited but nobody else raised the issue, so I will.

    The OP subject line had me rejoicing that there was someone else here who is aware of the importance of fact finding.

    Not a bit of it.

    Here we have a great example of jumping to conclusions with insufficient evidence to support them.

    I accept all that is claimed for the value of colours although I have enough experience to doubt the universality - BUT - the fact that all the tools had orange on them somewhere could have another very simple reason - your father only bought tools at one shop and that shop stocked tools from suppliers who had orange as one of their identifying colours. (This is an unusual occurrence, by the way, most manufacturers like to be seen as uniquely identifiable). The next door neighbour shopped where different supplier's tools were stocked.
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    You might not like what I say - but I believe it.
    Build it, make money, then build some more
    Some old school smarts would help - and here's to Rob Toth for his help. Bloody good stuff, even the freebies!

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