Have you ever caught a whiff of something that instantly transported you back to your grandmother’s kitchen? Or heard a song that made you feel like you were 16 again? Our senses are powerful memory machines, and it’s never been more important to find ways to tap into them. To create experiences your audiences can see, hear, touch, and even feel emotionally.
This is the goal of sensory marketing. To go beyond the screen and create deeper, more memorable connections by appealing more directly to one or more of our senses.
For the last several years, we’ve teamed up with Owens Corning to launch their Shingle Color of the Year (including the recently announced Evergreen Mist!). Successful brands understand color is about much more than how their product looks. It helps elicit an emotional response from their consumers. Colors can make us feel calm, excited, hungry, or nostalgic. Ever notice how many fast-food brands feature red and yellow? It’s not a coincidence. Our brains are simply wired to respond in certain ways to certain colors.
As much as we like to think of ourselves as highly rational, fact-based decision-makers, our emotions play a big part in the choices we make. To break through in today’s incredibly crowded, noisy marketplace, your audience needs to feel something. And our senses are what give us “all the feels.”
Like Owens Corning, brands that prominently market color are leaning into the sense of sight, our most dominant sense, to evoke an emotional response. When KitchenAid releases a mixer in a new, vibrant hue, they’re selling the pop of personality on your countertop and spark of joy you feel every time you look at it. The Pantone Color Institute™ selects an annual color that sets a mood for the entire year, influencing everything from fashion to home decor.
While color is a fantastic starting point, real magic can happen when brands begin layering other senses into the experience. Scent is an incredibly powerful tool because it's directly linked to the parts of our brain that control memory and emotion. Have you ever noticed that distinct, pleasant smell when walking into a Westin hotel? That’s their signature "White Tea" scent. It’s designed to make you feel calm and luxurious, creating a positive memory you’ll associate with the brand long after you’ve checked out.
Sound works in a similar way. The drumbeats of the Netflix welcome screen, the roar of a Harley-Davidson engine, or the iconic chime of a Mac starting up. These unique auditory cues, “sound branding,” trigger instant brand recognition.
Some brands have taken this concept to the next level by creating full-blown, multi-sensory events. The Sphere in Las Vegas is more than a concert venue. Their “Postcard from Earth” and “Wizard of Oz” experiences combine stunning visuals on its massive wraparound screen with haptic seats that vibrate, wind effects, and even location-specific scents. You’re no longer a passive viewer, but a fully engaged participant.
An experience that engages our sight, sound, and/or smell creates a richer, “stickier” memory than a simple ad. (There’s a big difference between reading a description of a strawberry and actually tasting one!)
By looking for opportunities to create multi-sensory moments, brands can forge a bond that gives us a story to remember, an emotion to hold onto, and a reason to choose them again. In a world where we’re all drowning in content, sensory marketing can be a powerful way to create the deeper emotional connections that make a brand unforgettable.
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