SENSEual Branding

Do you like the aroma of coffee or u can't simply resist swaying yourself after hearing any tune?....If YES, then beware...you are falling prey to 'sensory branding' strategy being widely adopted by marketers, to compel you to buy their products.
It all started in 1918 with coke. Coke wanted to design such a bottle for itself that a blind folded person could also recognise it simply by the touch of it. And guess what??????....It actually worked....Though with time Coke lost the unique shape of its bottle but taught other marketers a very important concept "Sensory Branding".
Sensory Branding, says Minda Lindstorm, is the most happening thing in the marketing world today.
Today when we are bombarded with hundreds of ads, day in and day out, the recall of ads is becoming lesser and lesser. By 2007, it is predicted that 20% of the consumers will be eliminating ads from their TV screens with devices like TiVo. Almost 83% of marketing and brand building concentrate on just two senses and just 17% make use of the other 3 senses. Marketers have realised the deterioarting impact of visual branding and hence are moving to multi-sensory branding of their products.
Our olfactory sense is probably the most impressionable and responsive of the five senses. Other senses invoke memories which are filtered by the brain but smell invokes memory that directly appeals to the feelings without getting filtered through the brain. And probably this is the reason why marketers are adopting olfactory sense as their way of marketing. For example, take Pepsi, it launched aroma centres in some cities; these aroma centres emanate the odour of coffee which attracts the attention of passer-bys to its newly launched cafechino coldrink. Some super markets in North America are connected to bakeries by hundreds of meters of pipeline. The pipelines carry the aroma of fresh bread to the stores entrances......The strategy works. Automobile manufacturers are investing heavily in developing an aroma which can be sprayed onto the car along with paint. And the reason for this being done: Gratify the 'new car' smell that accompanies the purchase of a car. Sensory Branding is also being applied to service industry. Singapore Airlines has patented a distinct aroma that permeates itsentire fleet and is included in the flight attendants perfume and also blended into the towels served before take-off.......and its customers are distinctly able to relate to this scent.
Ever started swaying after hearing the Airtel tune ????????....YES.....This is a classic example of sound branding. Mercedes-Benz has 12 engineers dedicated to the sound of opening and closing of doors. Nokia tune has created awareness similar to that of Intel Pentium tune with the only difference being that Intel paid millions and Nokis nothing at all in composing these tunes.
Ever brooded on the fact that why selling clothes through internet never took-off????.....it was because it lacked the 'feel' of 'touch'. The consumers were not able to touch the clothes and get a feel of its texture and quality and hence the sales of clothes through Internet never took off.
The potential for connecting with consumers via other senses is huge and unused. The more senses a brand appeals, the more customer loyalty it gains.