Sensory marketing appeals to feelings to create experiences that achieve a positive memory in the consumer’s mind. In this article you will discover some tips for the creation of a sensory marketing strategy and examples of success stories.
What are the aspects to consider before developing a sensory strategy?
As we explained in the article on sensory marketing, consumers are not only influenced by external factors, such as price or product quality. They are also influenced by all the touchpoints they experience throughout the Customer Journey. Therefore, the final purchase decision depends on the entire experience they have had with the brand at each of the touchpoints.
Before including sensory actions in the Marketing Plan, it is advisable to take into account some aspects that can influence the result.
- It is important to have a team that is fully and constantly in charge of the campaign to be carried out. This is the only way to achieve the desired effect in the long term.
- Analyze consumers before and during the campaign to discover what their needs and desires are.
- Ensure consistency between the brand’s vision, objectives and values in all sensory communications.
- Stimulating as many senses as possible will increase the chances of attracting customers.
- Opt for sustainable materials: it is preferable to avoid materials that have a negative impact on the environment, achieving a positive effect on the brand’s image.
- Avoid being invasive with sounds: Experiencing negative experiences with the brand will have the opposite effect to the one you are looking for. For example, an establishment with too loud music can have an undesired impact on the consumer.
- A clearly defined corporate identity makes it easier for consumers to identify the brand and strengthens its presence in their minds. A recommendation? Avoid making excessive changes in the business image.
- To take care of the presentation of products, it is essential to pay close attention to the choice of material used in catalogs, magazines or brochures in order to achieve an adequate quality. An example is magazines that include perfume samples on some of their pages, which can be smelled by rubbing the wrist on the paper impregnated with the fragrance.
- Nurture all channels where the brand has a presence: although the sensory marketing strategy is focused on points of sale, it is important to pay attention to the user experience of all active contact channels. This is because consumers can experience positive or negative feelings in any channel in which they interact with the brand.
Brands that knew how to create sensory experiences
If there are so many possibilities to generate positive links with the consumer, why not take advantage of it? Many brands have been able to implement sensory marketing to capture attention and reinforce brand identity in the consumer’s mind. Here are a few success stories.
Rituals and tactile marketing
Despite the increasing use of online commerce in recent years, consumers still value the experience of touching a product and seeing what it really looks like in person.
Rituals is a cosmetics brand that stands out for its focus on the sensory experience, using all five senses to deliver a unique experience to its customers. The sense of touch is especially important to the brand. Visitors can try the products at all its points of sale, allowing them to experience the texture, density and temperature of each product. In short, this brand uses a marketing strategy based on the complete sensory experience to create a unique and exceptional customer experience.
HBO Max and visual marketing
Sight is one of the most widely used senses at the point of sale in a variety of industries, as it provides numerous opportunities to connect with the public. In most cases, it is the first sense the customer uses when interacting with a brand in-store.
Brands often use special actions to promote their products in crowded places and generate interest from the public. Earlier this year, HBO Max stood out by launching the series “The Last of Us” with a presentation in Callao (Madrid, Spain), which consisted of a visually stunning campaign that transformed the square into a zombie apocalypse scenario.
LlaoLlao and taste marketing
Implementing taste actions can be complicated in some sectors, but in the food and hospitality industry it is a widespread practice. It is a strategy that aims to get consumers to taste and experience a brand’s products, creating an emotional connection with them.
In October 2021, LlaoLlao carried out a marketing campaign in Spain to promote the opening of one of its stores on Madrid’s Gran Vía. The strategy was based on a fake news story that was spread both in the media and on social networks, about an alleged flood of frozen yogurt on Gran Vía. At the same time, the brand offered free yogurt samples to passersby approaching the new store, in order to generate interest in the public and give visibility to the opening through the sense of taste.
Mercadona and audio marketing
Audio is a powerful tool to generate emotions and feelings and influence consumers’ relationship with brands. With the use of jingles and other sound techniques, companies seek to capture the consumer’s attention unconsciously and create positive associations with their products or services.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Mercadona? Probably the song that plays in the stores, right? That’s because the company has been using the same jingle in its points of sale for the past 30 years. Despite the fact that Mercadona does not have a distinctive slogan, this tune has become a symbol of the brand and has contributed to its recognition in the market.
You may wonder how they have been able to get so many people to remember the song. This phenomenon is called earworms and is defined as the inability to dislodge a song in one’s head. This may be caused by the positive feelings it conveys, as it is easy to remember, cheerful and they repeat it on loop in all their stores.
“muy mucho” and scent marketing
Smells that evoke positive feelings are an important factor influencing the decision to visit an establishment. To achieve greater brand identification with a particular scent, many businesses choose to make their own perfume. The raw materials used in the creation of perfumes can be associated with colors, moods or the decoration of the space. This contributes to the coherence and harmony of the customer’s sensory experience with the brand.
Muy Mucho is a home décor and home accessories store that uses a sensory marketing strategy to increase brand equity. Among the sensory elements used, the distinctive scent that can be perceived several meters away from its stores stands out. This helps to convey the values and experience that customers can expect when purchasing their home products.
Sensory marketing is a very powerful strategy that aims to make an emotional connection with consumers. Through the senses, retailers seek to convey sensations that trigger a need. Through sensory actions like the ones we have reviewed in the previous cases, brands manage to create memorable experiences and differentiate themselves from the competition.
Discover our next webinar
It is essential that the brand implements all the necessary actions to ensure an optimal customer experience. To do this, it is crucial to have a well-developed plan that takes into consideration their needs and desires.
Our experts Elena Llamas and Andrea Carillo will present a webinar on April 20 on the keys to understanding our customers and maximizing their end-to-end experience. Don’t miss it!