www.palgrave-journals.com/bm © 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 16, 8, 545–555 Niki Hynes Department of Marketing, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0RQ, UK Tel: + 1 0141 548 3193 E-mail: niki.hynes@strath.ac.uk Colour is sometimes referred to as the ‘silent salesperson’ as it exerts persuasive power at a subliminal level. 3 This idea can be easily illustrated: an image shown in vivid reds and oranges gives a completely different feel and meaning from the same image shown in pale blues and greens. This study therefore addresses the need to examine how people perceive the colour, design and meaning of logos to examine how these interlink to and affect the iden- tity of the organisation, 4–6 a topic which to date has received little attention. 7 This study uses a two-stage experimental design to capture if consumers are able to match logo shapes to particular meanings (words) and secondly to determine whether respondents when presented with a logo and mission statement can identify a colour which best conveys this meaning. BACKGROUND The logo acts as a badge of identification, 8 as a mark of quality 9 and as a way to INTRODUCTION The corporate identity of a firm is strate- gically important in differentiating com- panies and helps to establish customer loyalty. Of the elements which help to establish this, corporate visual identity (CVI) includes all visual aspects of the firm including buildings, products, uniforms of staff, paperwork and the corporate logo. 1,2 The corporate logo has various elements of design which are important including the shape, image, style and size, as well as the colour(s) used. Logos add value by stakeholders seeing and remembering the logo (recognition) but to be effective, the logo must serve as a signature of the company, by clearly linking the shape, design or colour to the organisation it represents. The most easily recalled logos usually have a unique shape (Nike, Apple, Chanel, Microsoft, etc). Some go further to associate strongly with a par- ticular colour as well—Coca Cola (red), Chanel (black), McDonalds (golden yellow on red). Colour and meaning in corporate logos: An empirical study Received (in revised form): 15th February, 2008 NIKI HYNES is Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. She has received degrees from the University of London, The University of Edinburgh and Lincoln University in New Zealand. Her present research interests include marketing in high technology firms, market and technological orientation, strategic alliances and corporate identity, and she has published in International Journal of Technology Marketing and International Journal of Technology Management. Abstract Corporate visual identity helps establish and maintain a company’s corporate image, of which the colour and design of a company’s logo is central. This study examines the triadic relationship between colour, design and the evoked meanings of logos to understand how these contribute to building a consistent corporate image. Results strongly indicate that consumers make clear judgements about the image of a firm from the logo design and have strong opinions about which colours are appropriate for different corporate images. Journal of Brand Management (2009) 16, 545–555. doi:10.1057/bm.2008.5; published online 18 July 2008 Keywords corporate visual identity; logos; colour; design Keywords corporate visual identity; logos; colour; design