Sensory Marketing and ASMR: How Brands Create Lasting Impressions Through the Senses

Have you ever walked into a coffee shop and instantly found yourself in a trance just by the aroma of espresso and baked goods? Then when you come back to, you're overwhelmed by the inviting ambience, comforting hum of conversation, and the ever so subtle melody playing in the background?

Or maybe you've strolled through a theme park and feel continualy drawn in by every detail of the park, the aroma of cotton candy, sounds of laughter and upbeat music, all transporting you to a world of enchantment?

These moments aren't just coincidences, they're carefully orchestrated masterpieces of sensory marketing, where every element is designed to create an immersive experience that goes beyond the transactional, creating lasting memories.

In this blog post, I explore the captivating world of sensory marketing and ASMR, looking into how brands master the art of engaging your sense in order to build lasting connections.

The 5 Senses in Marketing

Sensory marketing goes beyond traditional marketing techniques by engagin multiple senses, creating the ultimate experience. It taps into the power of touch, taste, smell, sight, and sound, to influence consumer perceptions and behaviours. This multisensroy experience fostering brand loyalty and recognition.

Sight

Logos, packaging, and overall design play a crucial role in creating a memorable and recognizable brand identity. How consumers perceive a brand can be shaped by the use of colour psychology, visually appealing displays, and aesthetically pleasing graphics, all evoking specific emotions.

Barbie is great at branding and have always stuck to their pink brand colour, representing compassion, love, innocence, kindness, and femininity.

Sound

Sound can evoke so many emotions and create unique atmospheres, think about jingles or ambient music in retail stores. These become synonymous with the brand, creating instant recognition and emotional responses. The five dollar foot long Subway commercial is a classic.

Touch

The texture of packaging, or the feel of a product can enhance the overall consumer experience. Tactile engagement creates a connection that makes brands more memorable and relatable and is often underestimated in marketing.

Lush, the cosmetics retailer, is known for their hands-on product testing experience.

Taste

Unique and appealing flavours set a brand apart from its competitors. Consumers are transported to different times, places, and emotions through the taste of different foods and beverages; think about holiday drinks at coffee shops.

Starbucks is known for their seasonal holiday drinks.

Smell

Many emotions and memories can be triggered through smell. Brands often have a signature scent that draw consumers in, like Hollister. This creates brand loyalty, as well as an emotional connection that keeps consumers coming back.

Multisensory Experience

When all or most of these are combined, immersive environments are created. Things like lighting, music, scents, and interactive elements, all create a memorable brand encounter. The Apple store does a great job at this.

The success of sensory marketing lies in the ability of a brand to tap into the psychology of a consumer and their behaviour. by engaging multiple senses, brands create a more memorable impact on the human brain.

Neurological studies show that multisensory experiences enhance emotional connection and information retention, making consumers more likely to remmeber, and favor a brand that engages multiple of their senses. This unique and personal relationship that's built between the brand and each consumer is so important to continue to foster.

ASMR as a Form of Sensory Marketing

ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) has become very popular in the digital world in recent years. Because of this, many brands have started to integrate it into their marketing strategies. ASMR is often associated with tingling sensations, that bring relaxation, or even pleasure to viewers, in response to auitory or visual stimuli. This emotional and physical response is like gold for marketers and is becoming more regularly used in marketing.

This Nestle Coffee commercial is a great example of ASMR used in marketing. It invokes so many emotions, sensations, and memories within just 30 seconds.

This video highlights some clips from some of the best ASMR marketing campaigns.

Within modern marketing, the importance of sensory engagement cannot be overstated. Sensory marketing goes beyond the transactional aspects of buying and selling, it creates a meaningful and emotional connection between brands and consumers.

Businesses can craft immersive experiences that resonate with their target audience by harnessing the power of sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. The potential for innovative sensory marketing strategies is limitless as technology continues to advance.

Comment below your favourite marketing campaign using sensory marketing, or how ASMR makes you feel.