Monday, April 16, 2007

When did you last smell your brand? by Martin Lindstrom

Martin Lindstrom is a world leading expert on branding. Since defining ten revolutionary branding rules he has provided brand-building advice to a host of international organizations.
His clients include Mars, Pepsi, American Express, Mercedes-Benz, Ericsson and Yellow Pages.

He is also a member of several international boards including Wotch, Hitwise and eKit.com.
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Nearly all the brand communication we experience encompasses just two senses - sight and hearing. Yet the way in which we engage with the world around us uses all five senses. And we use these senses in different ways to garner experiences - some give us clear factual information, others link more closely with our emotions.

Lindstrom, drawing on wide international research, points out that "... 99 per cent of all brand communication today is focused on two senses: what we hear and see. In sharp contrast, 75 per cent of our emotions are generated by what we in fact smell". Brand managers, by overlooking the sense of smell, are missing a great opportunity to develop new and strong emotional associations with the brand.

Others are doing it - why not brand managers?

Think about your last shopping trip - the smell of leather, the coffee aroma, the pungent smell from the department store perfume counters - a host of experiences guided by our sense of smell. The makers of products know smell matters - Lindstrom reports on how car makers and leather goods producers exploit aromas to give buyers the complete experience. Yet we do not make the link in our brand communications, we do not use or talk about smell to the extent that we could.

Ah, I hear you say that it's a bit tricky to incorporate smell into a television advertisement! But what about the other brand communications? What about magazine advertising, direct mail and sampling? Have we thought about how these can play a bigger role by incorporating a wider sensory experience? And have we thought about how we link this experience of smell into the visual and auditory communication we produce?

The answer to this question, as Lindstrom describes, is that some brand managers are incorporating more sensory impact into their brand communications. These marketers - at Singapore Airlines, Kellogg's and Ford - show that we must see (or is it hear, smell, taste, touch and see) the brand as a complete sensory experience. The visual image must not jar with the sound, nor should the physical appreciation of the product differ from the impression given before that experience.

So where should we start in creating the total sensory brand?

As with every piece of marketing planning we must begin with an understanding of what our product means to the people who use it or experience it. This is not just about the actual product but the situation where it is used and the emotional associations that are struck. The brand is not something we simply create for consumption, but is a joint project between us and our customers.

It is easy to see how some products can benefit from using a wider range of senses in communicating the brand - food products start with a taste and smell, for example, and Lindstrom describes how motor manufacturers are learning to use smell in their products. But what about more prosaic, everyday products and services? How do we widen the sensory experience here - what does a telephone call taste like? What smell goes with the supply of electricity? What does a bank feel like?

There are answers to these questions that relate closely to the chosen brand positioning, what we choose to promote our product or service and the emotions that these things elicit in the consumer. Finding smells that elicit feelings of attentiveness, comfort and security might work well for a bank. And adding the right feel to furnishings and fittings would also assist.

For the telephone company, we should think about what the telephone itself feels like, about the comfort we need when we settle into a long call and the things we want for that call like a mug of tea or a box of chocolates. All these ideas can be incorporated into our brand positioning and we can build the brand communication around a range of sensory experiences.

Brand communications are not just advertisements

One of the biggest lessons for us in Lindstrom's work is that our brand communication is not just about advertising. Yet, because advertisements take up the lion's share of the budget we tend to focus most of our attention of them. We spend more time worrying about the end frame of a 60-second television advertisement than we do about the entire direct marketing campaign. And the result is sensory deprivation - campaigns that lack real emotion and do not elicit the response we really want from the consumer.

Lindstrom's work takes us firmly back to the original idea of brand marketing - the reason why the best marketed products play on senses other than sight and hearing. We need to worry about the product and what the consumer experiences. Ford and Rolls Royce did not arrive at the new car smell by accident, but invested time and money into making sure the customer experience was complete.

We also need to think about the place where the consumer buys and what the experience there is like. Does our product stand out - do possible buyers sniff it or feel it? Take a minute or two the next time you do your weekly shop and watch how people sniff products, pick them up and feel their heft and touch them to test their smoothness. Visit the market or the delis - see how many offer a taste of cheese or salami.

This is what we have to capture in our brand communications. Not in some half-hearted way, but fully embracing the total experience of the consumer. Lindstrom's description of Singapore Airlines' total branding sums it up - visual, olfactory, auditory and tactile considerations are brought together in a comprehensive and rigorous brand. The result - a consistent position among the world's favourite airlines and a profitable, growing business.

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