We recently came across a great article by Kurt Frenier, regarding experience branding. You can read the full article here
Experience branding is the art (and science) of personalising your brand promise by creating emotionally satisfying brand experiences, at all customer touch points.
Research has shown that having a unique experience with a brand is important in determining purchase and that many consumers would pay more for unique brand experiences (Jack Morton Worldwide, Sept 2011).
Frenier lists six reasons why experience branding is so important.
Interestingly, these six reasons are easily interchangeable with grounds for incorporating the sense of smell, and scent marketing, into your experience branding!
1. Bring the brand promise to life: A highly important task – creating touch points that allow your target market to understand the brand values in both a rational and emotional way. If a unique selling point (USP) of your brand is its aroma or its flavour, make sure you are utilising this at every possible touch point.
2. Create a personal experience: Personal experiences are more emotional, and more often than not, win out over rational reasoning for purchase decisions.
“Consumers use all of their senses to experience a brand. The sense of smell emotionally effects humans up to 75% more than any other sense” – Martin Lindstrom; Brand Sense
3. Differentiate against competitors – The more frequently and consistently a brand can connect with a consumer on an emotional level, the strong and deeper the brand engagement, verses competitor brands. Our own European study showed 72% of consumers said the ability to smell the product was a real advantage when making a decision to purchase. Using the sense of smell is really powerful – especially if your competitors are not utilising this power.
4. People remember experiences - Emotional engagement develops with a brand over time. Smell is captured in the oldest part of the brain, the limbic system, which is responsible for memories, and triggers an emotional rather than rational response (memories of aromas, over time, gain an emotional attachment).
5. Consumer experiences influence consumer choice. Memorable experiences allow easier decision making, in favour of your brand.
“People recall aromas with a 65% accuracy after a year, while the visual recall of photos sinks to about 50% after only three months” – The Sense of Smell Institute.
6. It is a way to set premium prices . People want to pay more for something special, and for something that totally fits their life(style). Aromas create very personal experiences and help to reflect who a person is, or wants to portray. If you don’t offer (the right) experiences, consumers may get disappointed in your brand and switch to a competitor.
So in summary, every brand can be an experience brand by understanding the drivers that influence customers and optimising these drivers to have the greatest impact.
The sense of smell is incredibly powerful at creating memorable experiences. Therefore, ensure you incorporate the sense of smell into your marketing mix.
To ensure the best utilisation of aromas, involve us from your planning stage. We can offer advice for the best possible aromatic solutions, within your given time-frames.
We offer a wide range of solutions for creating memorable touch points. For an example, please view our great video on our YouTube page (Bold 2in1-Scented Experiential Marketing).
Bold2in1 Infusions roadshow
We have a library of aromas to draw upon, we can work with your own fragrances/flavours or we can create a bespoke aroma using our aroma sourcing service.
Don’t hesitate to just pick up the phone and talk to us. We’re here to be your aromatic partners!
