PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 18, 2005 – HP today released a new study by the Color Association of the United States that features practical tips to increase the effectiveness of daily business communications through the use of color. The report, “Color Trends in the Corporate World,” reveals that leveraging color vibrancy and incorporating multi-color design enhances message retention more than black and white or single-color applications. The report also confirms that color has become a standard marketing and communications tool for businesses to differentiate themselves, rather than a commercial luxury. And according to a recent survey of 500 small and mid-size businesses (SMBs), the adoption of color is growing in business with almost half of SMBs producing color marketing materials in-house. Additionally, the report emphasizes the beneficial effects of color as an organizational and motivational tool for both customers and employees. “Color not only motivates and communicates key messages, but it also denotes a certain level of pride and energy,” said Margaret Walch, director, Color Association of the United States. “Even the more conservative industries have an opportunity to resonate more deeply with their target audiences through the creative use of color.” Key findings from the study included: • A color’s brightness and intensity are key factors in eliciting reactions and motivating employees or customers to act; • While the essence of effective communication is simplicity, color connects a viewer far more directly than words or numbers; • Contemporary color trends – such as pinks, water-based blues and a variety of greens – create a fresh approach to corporate design; • Multi-colored graphic design adds credibility to a business and the use of provocative colors within multi-colored designs signal that a business understands the needs of today’s consumers and is flexible to their desires; • Mixing and matching papers and textures in marketing collateral is an important consideration to achieve maximum impact. The report also states that it is important for businesses to move beyond standard corporate colors and consider colors that will influence specific target audiences based on gender or cultural traditions. While recent studies show that most SMBs use blue and black colors in their documents, businesses are beginning to consider a wider variety of colors, such as green, red and purple. “There is no doubt that there’s more to color than meets the eye,” said Vince Ferraro, vice president of marketing, LaserJet Business global business unit, HP. “There is an abundance of tools and resources available to help businesses build strong marketing capabilities in-house – everything from the design to the production and packaging of marketing pieces. Innovations in color printing systems are enabling them to take color to the next level. Now, brilliant, accurate color output is easy for any business to achieve.” HP offers the industry’s leading portfolio of color printing systems for businesses of all sizes to create color documents easily and affordably. Beyond the printer, HP provides a wide range of free online resources – including marketing templates and how-to guides – to make the transition to color simple. “With technological advancements, such as those in HP printers, every business should evaluate how they can leverage color to create a competitive advantage,” said Walch.