Wine Intelligence just surveyed 900 regular, wine-drinking Americans to find out if label color influences their purchasing decisions. The result?

“Our research suggests that simply changing a packaging colour can explain a 22% increase in “intent to purchase” and an increase of $0.50 of expected price (comparing Red vs. Grey).”

Voila! You can read the short report to get all the details. But it appears to be a well-planned and executed survey—not “garbage in, garbage out” data results.

Should wineries seeking a bump in sales redesign their packaging?

Hold on! They only examined one factor—color preference—in making a purchase decision. As red came out on top in the results, any winery already using red in their artwork and branding materials is already on track.

What about a winery branded with other colors? Black? Orange? Green?

Brand perception trumps a single design element

Imagine that Chanel decides to get into the wine business, extending their couture and perfume product lines into alcoholic beverages. Now imagine their iconic, intertwined C’s logo on the front of a wine label. Lots of white space…with red ink. …Doesn’t quite work, does it?

Just imagine the same label: the mirrored C’s of the Chanel logo in their well-known black ink on a white background. The label is bordered in the same design seen on their perfume bottles with a heavy black solid line. Instead of “Parfum No. 5” text centered below the logo, it says, “C H A R D O N N A Y.”

Now that you’ve got the image in your head, what do you think? Does that design represent that elegant, luxury brand?

Here’s another: A wine bottle with a solid, baby-blue label with the words “Tiffany & Co.” centered along the bottom edge of the label. Another iconic brand, instantly recognizable to the masses…not in red.

While I’m not recommending either company launch wine brands, you get the point: Recognizable branding goes a long way towards affecting buying decisions — much more so that a simple color choice.

Color decisions should be made when crafting the brand

The bottom line: If you have a well-established brand and reputation, don’t fix it if it ain’t broke! If you’re launching a new brand or a new company, consider consumer perceptions in your branding artwork decisions. A good graphic designer will understand how best to incorporate color, texture, shapes and so on to create the desired impression upon consumers.

And let’s hope Tiffany decides to stick to jewelry!