When buying a product, does its aesthetic, smell or even edible appeal influence you? Let’s take a better look at the so-called “Sensory marketing” and understand its impact in real-life cases.
Marketing has its ways of enchanting and attracting people to connect with products and brands. People are attracted by feelings and identification and food has always succeeded in achieving that goal. Considering this, it is inevitable that the beauty industry would take advantage of a very well-known and used strategy in the last few years triggered by TikTok, a platform where thousands of influencers share consumer experience.
Food, or taste, is not the only trigger in “Sensory Marketing”. All five senses – sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste – are protagonists in this strategy. They help brands stand out among competitiveness in the beauty industry and create fidelity with consumers through sensory experiences. Check out these 4 brands that set tongues wagging through “Sensory Marketing”:
Nails Inc.
Froot Loops, a cereal brand, featuring Nails Inc., launched a scented nail polish in August 2023. This example shows that “Sensory Marketing” has taken sensory experience to a whole new level, merging food brands with beauty brands, expanding their audience, and provoking affective memories that trigger people to buy something familiar to them.
And that’s not the only food brand feature that Nails Inc. explored. Mc Donald’s is also color-themed in this collection:
Melissa
Every Melissa customer shares the experience of smelling Tutti-Fruit bubblegum out of their newly bought shoe boxes. This unique brand characteristic was implemented in the “Love Brand” campaign in Rio de Janeiro, in 2023.
“Parada dos Museus” train station went through complete characterization, inside and out of the train. The wagons were stickered and the Tutti-Fruit aroma permeated the surroundings, leading their passengers through affective memories involving Melissa’s shoes.
NYX
Who would’ve thought that Gordon Ramsay would be involved in a collaboration with a beauty brand? Definitely not me. But NYX’s Buttermelt collection is all about “Sensory Marketing”, as it involves a world-renowned chef and his daughter, Holly Ramsay, a beauty influencer, a perfect match between food and beauty, the latest most successful marketing collab .
NYX’s social media combines ASMR, edible elements, and visual aesthetic display of products in its launching. A complete sensory experience that tingles your brain and offers a “mind massage”.
Rhode
Hailey Bieber is always behind a new beauty trend. You certainly have heard about glazed donut nails, glazed skin, cinnamon cookie butter hair color, latte makeup, among other delicious and edible names. It’s not odd that the model used her repertoire of beauty trends when launching Cinnamon Roll peptide lip tint, among other products that are displayed in sensory-themed videos on Rhode’s social media.
“Sensory Marketing” is not a brand-new strategy, but has evolved to attract, mainly, Gen Z customers with its authentic and creative characteristics and take advantage of new social media tools and appeal. The emotional impact is the greatest secret in this strategy, to connect brands with their customers and transform a simple acquisition into a whole personal and immersive experience.
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The article above was edited by Larissa Buzon.
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