Generally speaking, the death care profession hasn’t changed drastically over the past 50 years. Though vibrant life celebrations are becoming a popular alternative to somber, traditional services, the common perception of funeral homes remain unchanged.
But while consumer attitudes about death and their preference toward these services change, funeral home brands look more or less the same. It is possible to create a look that resonates with modern families without completely abandoning your identity. Setting your brand apart, achieving a modern look and connecting with today’s consumers can be as simple as adding an accent color. Moving into the future, sensory marketing is an innovative method of creating the emotional characteristics of a brand and to secure strong relationships with a consumer (Hultén, 2011; Funk & Ndubisi, 2006; Kosslyn & Thompson, 2003).
3 Reasons to Add an Accent Color
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Ensure your brand stands out from competitors.
Most funeral homes shy away from brighter, “happier” colors as to not offend families who may be considering their services. Instead, they opt for soft, plain shades for brand logos. These neutral colors are perceived as “the safe choice”—but they can ultimately lead to your business going unnoticed. Flat grays, blues and many other muted colors simply do not jump off the page or catch the eye of the consumer. So, while you won’t provoke anyone with a “safe” color palette, you probably won’t pique their interest either.
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Achieve more online conversions with a modern look.
Black, grey and white are heavily known, expected and typical in the death care profession. Although these colors represent professionalism, prestige and sophistication, they are also dull and dated. Having accent colors helps your brand feel more contemporary—and provides greater flexibility to increase your online conversions.
Utilizing a light background, strong base and accent colors creates a hierarchy on your site that guides your customers toward action. Whether you are looking to increase pre-planning leads or broaden your demographic appeal, a simple change of a call-to-action button color can increase conversions by as much as 21%.
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Use color to connect with consumers.
It takes about 90 seconds for a potential consumer to form an opinion about a business or product. And, according to the widely cited “The Impact of Color on Marketing” study, color increases brand awareness by 80%. So, what is your current palette saying about your business? Black is known for being the color of loss and death. White, by contrast, represents purity and nobility. Both can be perceived as being quite intimidating due to their starkness.
Adding an accent color to either of these shades softens and lightens your look, helping consumers perceive your business as friendlier and more approachable. Yellow inspires a feeling of warmth and optimism. Orange incites a feeling of confidence and cheerfulness. Red is exciting, youthful and bold. Purple conveys a message of royalty, imagination and wisdom. Blue is strength, soothing, trustworthy and strong. Green encourages clarity, wellness and growth. (Black, 2018)
In summary, the death care profession presents many opportunities for the use of an accent color as a tool for building brand uniqueness. Adding an accent color is an inexpensive yet efficient method to increase brand recognition, drive conversions and create emotional connections with consumers you haven’t even met yet (Sliburytea & Skeryte, 2014).
For more information about accent colors, or for help finding the best hue for your funeral home, crematory or cemetery, reach out to the branding experts at Leap Tie today.
Resources
Black, J. (2018) Select The Meaning Of Color in Graphic Design From Black Bear Design. BlackBearDesign – https://www.blackbeardesign.com/blog/graphic-designers/understanding-color-the-meaning-of-color/
Hultén, B. (2011). Sensory marketing: the multi-sensory brand-experience concept. European Business Review, 23, 256-273.
Funk, D., & Ndubisi, N. O. (2006). Color and product choice: a study of gender roles. Management research news, 29, 41-52.
Kosslyn, S. M., & Thompson, W. L. (2003). When is early visual cortex activated during visual–mental imagery? Theory and meta-analysis.
Psychological Bulletin, 129, 723–746.
Sliburytea, L. and Skeryte, I. (2014) What we know about consumers’ color perception. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 19th International Scientific Conference; Economics and Management 2014, ICEM 2014, 23-25.
