THE BRAND AND THE BRAIN
Although we often take our senses for granted, they are an interconnected powerhouse that not only helps us exist, but also has strong links to our emotions and memory. Dialling up the senses is how brands can dial up the emotional response they crave in order to make genuine connections with their target audience.
How do we know this? To answer that, we have to first start with the brain. While your brain only makes up approximately 2% of your body weight, it uses up around 30% of your body’s energy. Most of that goes just to keeping you alive. This is where the importance of emotion comes in. Being so energy-hungry, your brain is designed to feel, not to think. Thinking is just too hard; it depletes the brain too much. As a result, the brain elects to use subconscious processes that tie directly into emotion.
And this is exactly where our senses operate. Almost all processing of sensory stimuli takes place beneath the surface, at a subconscious level. Right in that sweet spot where most human decision-making occurs. The key takeaway? Knowing how to tap into the sensory response of your audience can create a big difference to the appeal, engagement, and immediacy around any call to action.
CAN MULTISENSORY MARKETING IMPACT ON THE BOTTOM LINE?
Taking things one step further into the commercial world that every brand must play and survive in, multisensory marketing also drives sales. You might be wondering where this certainty comes from. Well, we ran a study to prove it.
The team over at UNLIMITED’s research, insight, and analytics agency Walnut conducted a global study with Mood Media surveying over 10,000 consumers across 10 countries. The results were telling to say the least:
- 8 in 10 consumers said they would recommend a store if they enjoyed the sight, sound, and scent elements.
- 85% of global consumers said that music lifts the mood of a shopping experience.
Next, it was time to put these findings to the test. Walnut and Mood Media got their hypothetical lab coats on and ran an experiment. They manipulated the store environment using different sensory activations. The findings indicated that triggering a sensory response, in the right way, not only improved the experience, but also made the customers more likely to complete a purchase.
- Sales increased by 10% during the sensory marketing trial.
- Customers spent almost 6 minutes longer in store when all the senses were activated.
- Shoppers were 17% more emotionally sensitive – in a negative way – when in a silent environment.
Despite the above example, it’s vital to remember that multisensory marketing isn’t just about retail experiences, and it’s certainly not only limited to a physical store environment. All manner of brands from a wide range of sectors can apply the senses in lots of different ways.
Herein also lies the challenge. With thousands of biases at play and multiple ways to activate the senses, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. So, where do you start?
THE HUMAN UNDERSTANDING APPROACH
UNLIMITED’s Human Understanding Lab considers brand experiences from the human perspective – using scientifically-driven techniques to shine a light on what really makes humans tick, how they react to different sensory experiences, which brand associations they respond to most strongly.
Our recent report, “Making sense of the senses: the power of multisensory marketing”, offers tips and tricks for how brands can elevate each of the senses in their marketing and activations. From maximising the use of sonic branding to capitalising on the missed opportunity within smell (by far our most powerful sense), our experts give you some real food for thought.
Ready to build a winning multisensory experience? Download our report HERE.