Applying Sensory Marketing

Sensory marketing is the use of marketing techniques to appeal to the consumer's five senses (sound, sight, smell, taste, and touch). The ultimate goal is to encourage a certain attitude or emotion or action when consumers are exposed to the brand or product or marketing message. In other words, to influence consumer behaviour.

Sound. Marketing experts at the grocery chain Morrisons realised that holiday shopping is stressful and therefore they wanted to send customers out with a smile by having 'cheerier' voices saying prerecorded messages like: 'Have yourself a very merry Christmas, from Morrisons' and 'Don't get your tinsel in a tangle, someone's coming to help'. Clearly, the objective is for customers to feel good about shopping at Morrisons.

British Airways is using sound to enhance the taste of its inflight meals, another example of sensory marketing. Based on research that shows how taste is influenced by sound, among other senses, the airline offers 14 musical tracks chosen to complement the foods that passengers eat during flights. 

Smell. The frozen food marketer McCains used aroma to advertise a new frozen potato product, pumping the fragrance of freshly baked potatoes into the air in front of selected transit ads (see photo). Thanks to this sensory marketing, the new product attracted a significant percentage of buyers who were new to the category. Every time a perfume marketer offers a free spritz or scents the air in a store, that's sensory marketing.

Sight. Think of those holiday displays in store windows--the use of sensory marketing is a vital element in retailing. Major retailers like Liberty widely publicise the 'unveiling' of their special holiday windows, drawing crowds for weeks. Every rack, every display, every website, every print ad and TV advert employs sight to enhance, influence and reinforce brand awareness, preference, purchase.

Taste. Free food samples are a common example of sensory marketing. When the Saucy Fish Co. began distributing its seafood products through US grocery retailers, it offered in-store sampling so shoppers could taste before making a purchase. Most supermarkets offer food samples during busy shopping periods, letting consumers try risk-free before they pay for something they've never tried before.

Touch. Samples are also important for new products that depend on consumers being able to touch the product, turn it over, examine it carefully from all angles and test its weight or size. Nuby is one of several companies that provide product samples (in this case, of baby products) to subscription sample companies so that customers get a fresh freebie in a box every month. Grocery items are sometimes launched by including a small-size package with a regular-size package.

Next time you see an ad, walk through a store or scroll through a retailer's website, think about how sensory marketing is being used to appeal to your senses and your heart and mind.

Holiday season marketing

With the biggest shopping season of all just weeks away, product marketers and retailers throughout the UK are readying their holiday campaigns to capture attention, differentiate themselves and enhance brand image.

From kittens to the man in the moon, singers to jazz, these 2015 Christmas campaigns are aiming for the heart.

Above, Cadbury's advent calendar created by the configuration of delivery trucks in the brand's signature purple. See it on YouTube.

The Telegraph has compiled its list of favourite Christmas adverts from years past. How many do you remember?

To build excitement and encourage browsing and buying, the major retailers are planning to unveil their holiday windows with publicity and, of course, coordinated messages in multiple media. Stay tuned.

Strategic CSR in India

Strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR) allows marketers to align their plans for sustainability, community involvement and charitable activities with their business goals and activities. The idea is to allocate resources towards efforts that are important to stakeholders and to the business's success. 

Government-set rules in India, for example, now include a goal for businesses to spend 2% of after-tax profit on CSR in the country. Deciding how, when and where to invest money, time and management resources is a matter of strategy.

At Toyota Kirloskar Motor, for example, the CSR mission statement is: Be a socially committed corporate through building vibrant communities in harmony with nature, aiming to become the most admired company in India and meet customer expectation and be rewarded with a smile.

The automaker's CSR focus is on health/hygiene, civic amenities, stakeholder engagement, art and culture, skill development, road safety, education and environment (see graphic above). The firm recently distributed notebooks and book bags to school children in Ramanagara as part of its $50 million CSR strategy.

Hindustan Unilever, which makes personal care products (under brands such as Lifebuoy and Lever), manages its CSR strategy in India according to this vision: To grow our business whilst reducing the environmental impact of our operations and increasing our positive social impact.

The company's managing director said in a recent interview: 'We as a company do not believe in donations or cheque-signing philanthropy. Something that can make a meaningful impact on the environment, the community, and the society at large is something that our sustainable living plan endeavours'.

Two of Hindustan Lever's CSR goals (also CSR goals of its parent, Unilever)are to further sustainability and empower entrepreneurship. Its Shakti program accomplished this by recruiting women from small villagers as distributors of the company's products. The long-term value of this ongoing program not only improves local economies, it benefits the company's market reach.

Alibaba Makes Singles Day into a Global Phenomenon

From Alibaba Group, a screen shot of its video about Singles Day shopping

Singles Day is, like Black Friday, a retailer-promoted shopping day of discounts in which consumers in China (mainly single people but in reality, anyone looking for a bargain) are encouraged to buy for themselves.

Also known as 11-11 or Double 11 in China, Singles Day has become a shopping phenomenon because of the incredible marketing muscle of Alibaba Group, China's powerhouse e-commerce retailing group.

Alibaba began promoting Singles Day in 2009, when millions of Chinese consumers were becoming accustomed to shopping online. The first year, 27 merchants participated.

Today, nearly 700 million consumers in China shop online--a gigantic audience that warrants the serious attention of retailers in China and beyond.

In 2015, Alibaba targeted shoppers worldwide with 11-11 super-bargains, and it saw purchases surge 60% beyond last year's total. During the 24 hours of Singles Day, the company's retail sites processed purchases worth an estimated £9.4 billion, with well more than half of the purchases being made via mobile devices.

Black Friday originated in the US but is increasingly spreading to other countries. UK shoppers are already changing their buying patterns, analysts say, in anticipation of big discounts being offered on 27 November, the day after the US Thanksgiving Day.

King Digital Entertainment and the mobile game saga

If you've played Candy Crush Saga or Bubble Witch on your mobile, then you've used products marketed by King Digital Entertainment. Days ago, the company agreed to be acquired by Activision Blizzard, which makes popular console games like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.

The combined company will have a customer base of 500 million users worldwide, making it a formidable marketing force in the world of digital games. The combination also allows the company to serve customers on multiple platforms (game consoles, computers, tablets and mobiles).

King's freemium marketing strategy (meaning fees for special features or powers) drove the company through a period of aggressive growth, including significant expansion into Asian markets. Its megahit game Candy Crush was released in 2012 and is still responsible for much of the firm's profitability.

However, mobile games are becoming an increasingly competitive space. Nintendo is finally going to release its first mobile game in 2016, called Mii Friends. As with competing games, Mii Friends will be freemium-priced. Meanwhile, Zynga (known for its once-ubiquitous FarmVille game and Words with Friends) is looking for its next megahit game and facing product launch delays.

King and Activision combined should have more marketing power in mobile games, where much of the growth in game-playing takes place. In-app payments for special powers or widgets are growing, and the firms see a lot of revenue potential from users eager to advance to higher levels and new challenges. Although freemium pricing has its critics, the strategy does allow users flexibility and choices about what they want to spend and when--if they choose to spend on mobile games at all.

Top Global Brands in 2015

Interbrand recently announced its Top 100 Global Brands ranked by brand value. The 10 most valuable brands on the planet are:

1. Apple (computers, digital devices)
2. Google (search, operating systems, more)
3. Coca-Cola (beverages)
4. Microsoft (computers, software, game systems)
5. IBM (computers and tech services)
6. Toyota (vehicles)
7. Samsung (electronics)
8. General Electric (equipment and services)
9. McDonald's (fast food)
10. Amazon (retailing and tech services)

The leading UK brand on this list is HSBC, which is ranked as #37 in value. Which brands will top the list in 2016?