Sensorial Marketing: a strategic brand management through the 5 senses

What is “Sensorial Marketing”?

Sensorial Marketing is a new marketing strategy which is likely to have an effect on one or several senses of consumers, in order to attract them by increasing their well-being. Even if the sight, touch, and taste belonged to traditional marketing for long time, “sensorial marketing” has appeared when companies decided to manipulate the two other senses: smell and sound.

Sensorial Marketing is especially developed in shops in order to create a comfort atmosphere where customers can feel good. Indeed, a consumer is likely to spend more time and much money in cozy places, where he can listen to relax music, smell a good fragrance, touch comfortable materials, see pleasant packaging, and taste some goodies.

Sensorial Marketing acts on Mix through the improvement of the perceived quality of product, an original communication and a comfort atmosphere in shops. Thanks to Sensorial Marketing, customers don’t buy anymore a product or a brand, but they look for a feeling in their purchase. Buying a product or service must be similar to living an incredible experience.

Nowadays, it is the poly sensorial marketing that companies try to develop. They have to use several senses, especially the least used like touch, taste and smell, to launch their products. Now, each sound, taste, or smell has to connote a feeling or an idea for consumers. For instance, when you drive a luxury car, you know you have bought a luxury car because it is a BMW, with leather seats,… Henceforth consumers want to feel they leave a singular experience with that car. Brand and logo           are not enough to symbolize high quality of product, the luxury side has to be smelt, touched, sounded, seen and tasted.

Why do companies use sensorial Marketing?

There are 3 main reasons which have encouraged companies to develop sensorial Marketing.

Through the globalization, the competitiveness has more and more increase in the market, among brands and distribution channels. Face to competitors, several companies decided to innovate in their product or service to attract the senses. Firstly, they have innovated in order to improve the satisfaction of needs or to create new wants. Then, innovation could be a means of being different and distinguish its brand from the others. In that case, sensorial Marketing is a kind of innovation in marketing strategy, because it uses Mix leverages to influence consumer’s emotions. Indeed, Sensorial Marketing acts on product, promotion, and place to attract the 5 senses.

More and more customers seek original experience of purchase. Whereas we live in a virtual world, dominated by internet and NTIC, consumers aspire to find again human contacts and reality which reassure them. Besides, urbanization has been moved away nature from people, so consumers seek to be closer to the environment through their senses. Thus, brands did not hesitate to stimulate the senses, in shops or thanks to products, to allow consumers to live a pleasant adventure.

Companies can build up its brand image from an atmosphere in their shops. The place where the customer buys products can refer to the brand identity. “Nature & Découverte” brand has created an atmosphere where we protect and love the nature. Lights, music, and perfumes are made to feel we are in jungle or forest, as an adventurer. Then the atmosphere of shops represents the targets. Brands create a place where their target can feel comfortable

5 kinds of sensorial Marketing

ü  Sight Marketing: Companies attract sight through special colors, forms, textures, and materials.

ü  Smell Marketing: More and more brands introduce perfumes into their products in order to bring an added value. For instance, pens or post it which smell fruits when you use it.

ü  Touch Marketing: Companies do not hesitate to make their products free to handle. For instance, “Abercrombie & Fitch” puts top-model on display to sell its clothes. Firstly, customers visit A&F shops to take pictures of them with top-models, and then they buy. The atmosphere where you can touch and talk with a top model encourages people to buy because they live an usual and very pleasant experience.

ü  Sound Marketing: Music helps brands to create atmosphere more smart, cozy, or natural. It sounds more realism in shops with music.

ü  Taste Marketing: Especially in organic industry, brands develop original taste to surprise consumers. For instance, in macaron industry, companies innovate by creating salty macaron, from “foie gras-figue” or “chèvre-tomate”.

Some examples…

Coca-Cola slogan tries to express a message of feeling: “open happiness”. It means Coca-Cola is more than a product with a pleasant taste; it brings you a comfort emotion, a moment when you can enjoy life and have fun time with your friends. With Coca-Cola, consumers share a pleasant moment. Characteristics of the product are not the most important message that brand wants to communicate.

IKEA tries to evoke the reality when they create a bedroom, or a kitchen. They stimulate our imagination buy sight and touch. You can move in the IKEA productions as you can do at home. It is a way of living a real experience through your senses.

Apple has well understood sensorial Marketing. It starts with computers line product, thanks to an original design, clear and smart, which creates a well-being feeling through the sight. By launching I-pads, Apple wanted to stimulate touch sense through tactile and move innovation. Now you do not buy I-pad only for its software, but also because it is sensory attractive.

Sensorial Marketing, creativity from companies

Finally, sensorial marketing shows us that the success in business is not only in well-quality products, but also through the uniqueness which expresses through the creativity.

What about you?

I would be happy that you share your sensorial marketing experience with us…

XoXo

                                                                                                          C.G