Sensory Branding: Creating Memorable Experiences
Sensory Brand Experience: Key Concepts
Sensory Brand Experience (SBE) is how brands engage the five senses to create memorable experiences that stick in customers’ minds. This happens through different sensory inputs, from sight to sound, and even how a brand feels physically.
Key Elements:
- Brand Setting: The environment, objects, and details (like scents, lighting, or decor) that shape how people view the brand. Brand characteristics can be intentional or unintentional.
- Example: A coffee shop that uses earthy colors, cozy furniture, and coffee aromas to create a warm atmosphere.
- Brand Sensation: How our extrospective (external senses), like sight or smell, and our introspective (internal) body’s responses, like a relaxed heart rate, pick up on brand details.
- Example: The calming music and scent in a spa.
- Brand Affects: Emotional reactions to the brand, like how enjoyable or intense it feels (approaching motivation or avoidance if disliked).
- Example: Feeling relaxed and happy in a calm café.
- Subjective Feeling States: These emotional responses create a lasting impression or “brand memory” in our minds. Easier to recognize.
- Example: Remembering a hotel’s refreshing scent that gives a lasting sense of luxury.
Components of Subjective Feeling States:
- Disrupt: Surprising brand experiences can change how people feel about a brand, making emotional memory more powerful than logical factors (like price).
- Example: Concert and buy a shirt (high price). VIP seats at a sports game create an intense experience that stands out from regular seating.
- Bias: Strong sensory elements, like a signature smell or color, can dominate our perception, making some brand features seem more important than others, affecting judgment.
- Example: The smell of fresh bread in a bakery can make it seem more appealing even if the prices are higher.
- Characteristics: Sensory triggers, like a sound or smell, can bring up memories or emotions related to the brand. Positive memories encourage engagement, while negative memories lead to avoidance.
- Example: The scent of lavender in a store reminding someone of calmness, making them more likely to shop there.
Brand meaning: is the output
Neuromarketing Measures: Body and Brain
Neuromarketing measures are categorized into Body Measures and Brain Measures:
Body Measures
A) Somatic Nervous System (SNS) Measures:
- Facial expressions: Observing emotional responses, manually or automatically.
- Facial muscle movements (Electromyography (EMG)): Detects smiles or frowns.
- Eye movements and fixations: Tracks where and how long eyes focus, revealing patterns.
- Eye blinks: Measures engagement and surprise. More blinks indicate less attention.
- Behavioral response times: Tracks speed of reactions to assess mental associations.
B) Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) Measures:
- Electrodermal Activity (EDA): Measures electric current through the skin to gauge arousal or stimulation.
- Heart rate: Indicates focus and emotional intensity.
- Blood pressure: Monitors changes tied to arousal (though not always reliable).
- Respiration: Assesses breathing patterns related to relaxation or stress.
- Pupil dilation: Tracks emotional arousal and cognitive load.
Brain Measures
A) Blood Flow Measures:
- fMRI (Blood oxygenation): Tracks oxygen in brain areas, showing active regions.
- PET (Positron emissions): Uses a tracer to visualize brain activity, though it is highly involved.
B) Electrical Measures:
- EEG (Electrical fields): Records brain waves to capture real-time cognitive activity.
- MEG (Magnetic fields): Measures magnetic fields from brain activity, giving precise time-based data.
Understanding both body responses and brain activity provides insight into emotional and cognitive reactions.