Most brands & products are now interchangeable
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emanates from one of the fathers of marketing, Philip Kotler.
For a brand to be identified, recognized and understood in its values is
the core of every strategy, the nagging issue of every marketing
manager.
However, in a competitive environment exactly where the usage &
functional value of a brand (a product or a service) can be easily
copied or duplicated, what is left to stand out from the crowd? How can
the customer's preference be triggered to ensure their loyalty? How can
the tie that will closely link your brand to the consumer and put you
ahead of the competition be built, retained or strengthened?
These are questions to which sensorial branding answers: use senses (and
their impact on the consumers' perceptions) to enrich the brand
experience and build up its uniqueness and personality, while ultimately
paving the way to the consumers' affection, preference and loyalty.
Sensorial branding (and sensorial marketing) fills the gap left by
traditional marketing theories when it comes to answering today's
consumer mindset. This new kind of thinking finds its origins in the
'90s, with the shift from the rational mindset that formerly prevailed
in the consumer's decision-making process to the emotional and hedonist
quest that now drives their desires and consumption acts.
In reaction to an increasingly virtual and pressurized industrial world,
people have started seeking a way to reconnect to reality in their
private sphere, for a pathway to re-enchant their world. The individual
values of pleasure, well-being and hedonism rose along with a true new
concept of consumption that exposed the limits of traditional marketing
theories.
Consumption today is a form of "being". Just like any leisure activity,
it becomes a place to express a piece of your personality, where you
share common values with a small group of other individuals (a tribe).
And maybe more than anything else, consumption acts must be analyzed as
"felt" acts, as experiences capable of providing emotions, sensations
and pleasure.
Purchasing acts are driven by this desire for sensational experiences
that re-ignite senses and drive emotions. No matter how effective a
product may be, it is its hedonist and emotional added-value, as well as
the distinctive experience it offers, that lead consumers to buy it and
ensure its loyalty.
What does it mean from a branding point of view?
First, it means that price and functionality are now taken for granted
(or, in other words, not sufficiently differentiating). It is now the
intangible, irrational and subjective attributes of the brand offering
that are the new factors of success.
Second, it highlights the fact that sensations, new experiences and
emotions must be part and parcel of the brand experience. It is through
these 3 channels that the brand can create greater differentiation,
influence consumer's preference and secure their affection.
In summary, focusing the brand strategy on rational arguments regarding
its functional value is no longer sufficient to ensure success. What is
clear is that empowered brands are the ones managing to deliver hedonist
and emotional attributes throughout the brand experience. This is
exactly where brands can add meaning and, therefore, value and sense to
products and services, transforming them from interchangeable
commodities into powerful brands.
This is exactly where sensorial branding is competent: exploring and
unveiling how brands can connect with folks in a more sensitive way, at
this true level of senses and emotions. To put it more clearly, it
focuses on exploring, expressing, and empowering the brand's hedonist
and emotional potentials.
In this theory, sensations prevail because they are a direct link to
consumers' affections. Senses are directly affected by the limbic part
of the brain, the area responsible for emotion, pleasure and memory. In a
way, it is no big surprise. This is all about going back to basics, to
what actually appeals to a human being on an everyday basis. Sense is a
vital part of our human experience. Almost our entire understanding and
perception of the world is experienced through our senses. A growing
number of research shows that the more senses your product appeals to,
the greater the brand experience.
While communication & visual identity focus mainly on sight and
sound, an accurate poly-sensorial identity integrating touch, smell (and
taste when applicable), sends a more powerful emotional message to
consumers, multiplying the connections or touch points through which the
consumers can be attracted, convinced and touched by the brand. It
enables and encourages consumers to "feel" and "experience" the brand
(product or service) with their "emotional brain".
As Martin Lindstrom, author of best-selling book Brand Sense states,
success lies in mastering a true sensory synergy between the brand and
its message.
The first brand to intuitively implement the sensorial branding theory
was Singapore Airlines. Like any other airline company, Singapore
Airlines' communication and promotions primarily focused on cabin
comfort, design, food and price. The breakthrough was made when they
decided to incorporate the emotional experience of air travel. The brand
platform they implemented aimed at one simple, but rather
revolutionary, objective: to present Singapore Airlines as an
entertainment company. From that moment onward, every detail of the
Singapore Airlines travel experience was scrutinized and a new set of
branding tools were implemented: from the finest silk and colours chosen
for the staff uniform, to the make up of the flight attendants that had
to match Singapore Airline's brand colour scheme; from the drastic
selection of the flight attendants that had to be representative of the "Asian beauty archetype", to the way they should speak to passengers and serve
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food in the cabin. Everything had to convey smoothness and relaxation
to transform the Singapore Airlines travel experience into a true
sensorial journey. Right after turning the Singapore Airlines flight
attendant into an iconic and emblematic figure of the brand (the famous
"Singapore Girl"), they broke through the barriers of marketing again by
introducing a new dimension to the brand: a signature scent. They
specifically designed a signature scent, called Stefan Floridian Waters.
This olfactory signature was used by the crew, blended into the hot
towels served to passengers, and it soon permeated the entire fleet of
planes. Described as smooth, exotic and feminine, it was the perfect
reflection of the brand and achieved instant recognition of Singapore
Airlines upon stepping into the aircraft. It soon became a unique and
distinctive trademark of Singapore Airlines, capable of conveying a set
of memories all linked to comfort, sophistication and sensuality.
Another example given by Martin Lindstrom is Rolls Royce. To recapture
the feeling of older "rollers" and maintain the luxurious aura
surrounding the brand, Rolls Royce analysed and recreated the unique
smell made by materials like mahogany wood, leather and oil that
permeated the interior of the 1965 Silver Cloud Rolls-Royce. Now every
Rolls Royce leaving the factory is equipped with a diffuser in the
underside of the car's seat to convey this unique identity of the brand.
What we learn here is that only when all the sensory touch points
between the brand and consumer are integrated, evaluated and leveraged
can true enrichment of your brand identity be achieved. In the future,
it can become the most cutting-edge tool to stand out from the crowd,
boosting the brand experience and eventually influencing consumer
loyalty.
Few brands today are truly integrating sensorial branding in their
strategy, while forward thinking companies are already implementing it
with success. Adding a sensorial dimension to the brand experience is
surely about to become the next competitive asset.
In the future, brand building for marketers may lie in one simple question: what does my brand really feel like?
To get more information about Sensorial Branding services, either in
China or internationally you can come have a look at Labbrand website.
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