Branding, as we’ve said a thousand times before, is all about consistency and cohesion. The goal is to develop a distinct presence or personality that your audience recognizes even before they see your name or logo. And to do that, you have to do more than just project an image. You need to immerse all of their senses as part of your brand experience.

For a lot of new business owners, the idea of leveraging all five senses may seem like an impossible task. But this is precisely how you dazzle your audience and make an unforgettable impression. And it doesn’t require fireworks and marching bands. You can also dazzle them gently. Just be mindful of all their senses when you go about creating a brand experience.

A sensory experience

A huge part of branding is about managing expectations (something else we’ve said a thousand times before.) With consistent imagery and messaging, your clients know what to expect from you.

You want them to step into your place of business and feel like they’ve been there before because it’s so in line with the feeling they got from reading your newsletter or visiting your website. And after they’ve left, you want them to remember you every time they come across some small element of your brand, whether it’s while they’re watching a movie or enjoying a meal, or anywhere they go.

They walk into your establishment and have that comforting sense of familiarity. It’s like coming home and finding everything in its right place. The lighting is just right, and the fish are happy in their tank. The staff is dressed a certain way, and they greet you with that familiar phrase or tone of voice that you’ve come to count on.

And then, as the flip side of satisfying their expectations, you want to make an impression. When your clients or customers leave your business, they should leave with a distinct feeling. It may be hard to pinpoint, but it lives on like a memory in their subconscious.

Let’s consider some examples.

Visual branding: Sense of sight

This is the first thing most people associate with branding. And for many, unfortunately, it’s the only sense they connect with branding. Image, after all, is everything.

Before someone gets up close, they are likely to judge you from a distance, by your appearance. So it’s important to look and dress a certain way to convey a certain attitude or lifestyle.

In terms of branding, colors and fonts are the primary tools for engaging the eyes. Again, consistency is key. If you use blue in your logo, you need to always use that same exact shade of blue. Consistency is what’s makes it stick.

Imagine your customer walking through a department store and an elegant dress catches her eye. Then her young daughter speaks up and says, “Hey, that’s the same color as the wall in Mrs. Whitney’s office!”

Wow, she’s right. That IS the same color. That only happens with consistency. When the picture frames in the bathroom are that same color, and the pillows in the lobby, and the bowl of mints at the reception, and so on.

That’s consistency. And color is just the tip of the iceberg. Fonts and typefaces are crucial. Lighting is essential. And what other visual elements can you use? Stars and moons? Nautical symbols? Botanical illustrations? Just make sure they fit with your brand and appeal to your ideal customer.

Auditory branding: Sense of sound

Auditory branding is everywhere, but most of us never even think about it. And that’s the beauty of it.

You might think of those catchy jingles you used to hear on the radio. Confession: I still find myself singing the theme for the Oscar Meyer Wiener once in a while for no good reason.

Nowadays, every telecommunications company has its own branded chirp or ringtone. You heard it on TV. And then you hear it on the subway, or in a restaurant, and who knows where. But it lurks in your mind.

The power of sound cannot be overstated. Remember Pavlov’s dog? The ring of the bell was enough to make him salivate. And humans are no different. We hear the sound of bells jingling and instantly think, “ice cream man?!”

What sounds does your brand use? Most businesses play a certain type of music in the waiting room. Play Bob Marley all day, and the next time your customer hears “Buffalo Soldier” they’ll think of you. You can’t pay for better advertising than that, so long as your target audience appreciates reggae. (Do your research!)

Do you want your clients to associate your brand with the sound of bells ringing, or the soft murmur of a trickling zen fountain? It depends on your business.

What else do people hear in your office? The sound of your fish tank murmuring? Maybe a pet bird that likes to talk? What sort of sounds are your neighbors making?

Keep in mind, sounds and scents can be triggers for people with migraines or sensory processing disorders. If they’re coming to you to relieve those issues, then you want to be careful to avoid any excessive, unnecessary stimuli.

Tactile branding: Sense of touch

After sight and sound, branding with the senses gets a little trickier. Just keep in mind, those things that people never think about are often the most powerful psychologically.

How can you use touch and texture to make your brand more distinctive and memorable? Everything has texture, and whether your customers touch it or not, they’ll be aware of it on some level.

The walls and counters have texture. It could be wood and brass like the Irish pub on the corner. Perhaps stainless steel makes more sense if you’re trying to look clean and modern.

When we ask our clients who their favorite brands are, everyone says Apple. Yes, the Mac Stores are a thing of genius. And their use of texture is spectacular. The exteriors are granite, changing color when it rains. The doors are glass, not only thick and bulletproof but also obsessively spotless. And of course, every device they produce has a sleek smoothness that every potential customer and competitor envies.

Think about your audience and the feeling they want from your product or service. Does your office need to be warm and fuzzy, or sharp and modern, lush and woodsy? How can you employ texture with your furniture, your carpet or rugs, your house plants, your wallpaper, your business cards?

Make it memorable. You could have the only office in town where everything is corduroy. Truly own it, but only if it suits your brand and your audience.

Olfactory branding: Sense of smell

Marketing strategists rarely build brands based on smell, but the olfactory organs have the closest connection to our memory. Undervalued and overlooked, smell can play a subtle but powerful part in your overall brand experience.

Deciding how you want your office to smell won’t be easy. There’s a lot of personal preferences involved here. And you have to be mindful of allergies and other sensitivities like we mentioned before.

I owned and operated a couple of eco-boutiques in the past, selling a wide range of natural fiber clothing and other organic products. One of the first things people would do when they walked in the shop was to comment on the aroma. “Oh my god, what is that smell?”

In fact, it was a mix of incense, beeswax candles, and handmade soaps. The scent they created was all natural, sumptuous and impossible to reproduce. But once in a while someone tell me a story like, “My girlfriend gave me this super cool t-shirt for my birthday, and when I held it up and smelled it, I said, ‘Hey, this is from Fred’s store!'”

Building memories that connect our senses with positive experiences, that’s effective branding.

Smells are controversial though, so you have to be careful. Beware of overpowering potpourri and artificial aromas. Essential oils are safer, if you can find a signature scent that fits your brand and isn’t too strong. I’m a big fan of fresh flowers, but people can be sensitive or allergic. A better choice might be live plants, like an herb garden in the window with things like mint, lemon balm, sage, marigold.

Savory branding: Sense of taste

Last but not least, there’s the sense of taste. Unless you run a restaurant of some kind, attaching a flavor to your brand can be challenging. On the other hand, if your business has a waiting room, everyone loves refreshments.

If you’re creating a luxury brand, perhaps you should serve truffles and champagne in the lobby. But you don’t need to go overboard. Consider partnering with a local juice bar or chocolatier, and try developing a signature-flavored smoothie or sweet treat.

Unless you’re in the hospitality industry, the sense of taste will not be at the center of your brand, so don’t fret over this one. But be aware of it. As with anything you do, if you serve snacks in your office, keep your customers in mind and the overall experience you’re trying to provide for them.

Pursue a sensible strategy

Need additional guidance? The Brand Strategy Workbook will give you a good starting point to answer some questions regarding your brand. And if you have any questions, feel free to reach out for a Discovery call or join our online community. It looks a bit confusing and overwhelming, but if you take it one step at a time, it all makes sense in the end. You got this! 

• Schedule a Discovery Call with Pacha
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Dive deeper and take a look at these related articles.

• An Introduction to Brand Archetypes
• Adopting Brand Personas
• Speaking with Brand Voice