You can't claim colors as brand assets, can you?

Each brand can theoretically choose a particular color, and colors are not infinite. Brands can easily be confused with each other (compare the app icons of HEMA, Picnic and Kruidvat on your phone). It is therefore difficult to 'claim' a color in its entirety, and only in this way evoke recognition among consumers. 

Colors score low on recognizability

Blauw has compiled years of research on the strength of distinctive brand assets into the DBA Benchmark. It shows that colors generally score extremely low compared to other types of brand assets. Namely 30-40% on a scale of 100%. And 100% would mean that when a consumer sees the colors they only think of a specific brand, your brand for example.

Stand out with color

Yet there are brands that score higher than average with their use of color.MediaMarkt, Dirk van den Broek, Picnic and HEMA, for example. But all four brands have chosen a red color, so how can they score higher? They chose a striking color within their own category. In this way, one color, or a combination of colors, can still evoke a lot of recognition among consumers.

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Color combinations

Brands that choose a striking color combination within each category sometimes score higher than average. Just think of IKEA, NS or ABN AMRO. There are even brands that choose color combinations that always appear in a fixed order, such as SNS Bank, the Google logo or a national flag. This is another way for brands to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

Types of fire assets

But beware: the brands that score higher than average with their colors generally also score higher on other types of brand assets. These are a unique combination of Distinctive Brand Assets (DBAs) and the power of repetition to evoke recognition and meaning in consumers.

Exceptions: big brands with high budgets

So all these examples mentioned above may be seen as exceptions. The fact remains that most brands will score low with their use of color, and that being an exception requires a lot of time and money. That energy could probably be better spent on types of brand assets that score higher on average and thus evoke more recognition and meaning among consumers.

Fonts soon look alike

Fonts also score low on average. While you can, of course, have your own fonts designed, they can quickly become similar. One brand that may have taken exception to this is Coca-Cola. Its font is so ornate, and thus very strong and recognizable to many people. Yet Coca-Cola has changed its font regularly over the years, these changes were just so minimal that many consumers hardly noticed. So why did the brand make changes? As a brand, you want to continue to grow and connect with your target audience with your strategy. If a brand positioning changes and moves with modern times, then as a brand you have to let the brand assets grow with it - or "refresh," as marketing philosopher Byron Sharp calls it.

Pay-offs also score low

Pay-offs, taglines and slogans. These are also common topics of discussion within brand marketing departments. Good examples are "Just Do It" and "What else?" and "I'm lovin it. But even this subcategory generally scores very low.

Do you want to make the difference with your brand assets? Then focus on brand assets that score higher on average on the DBA Benchmark, which can give your brand an immediate boost.