Branding Should Be a Sensual Experience

During a spirited discussion on branding the other day, a friend told me, "good branding should create a sensory experience--it isn't just about messaging the right slogan."  I agreed. A technical definition of sensory includes, "of or relating to sensation or to the senses" (Merriam Webster online). Branding should appeal to our sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. We agreed much of the information floating around out there on branding has to do strictly with messaging, or spin doctoring with an emphasis on consistent presentation.

But I wanted to take the discussion one step further. I asked, "shouldn't branding be a sensual experience?" Whoa. Then, the subject of sex came up in the conversation. You know, sex sells anything? Well, that wasn't exactly what I was talking about.

Sensual actually means, "relating to the gratification of the senses or the indulgence of appetite" (Merriam Webster online). Do you see the subtle difference between the two? One has to do with overall design, the other draws an emotional response.

Yes, branding is more than logos and slogans and vain repetition. But I hear a lot of discussion about written messaging and very little discussion about the importance of the rest of the presentation package. For instance, in a workshop last summer on branding, I heard a communications associate talk about the amount of time they spent devising talking points and media strategy, only to have their website and printed materials sport two completely different graphic presentations. We had (emphasis on had) an eatery in town that specialized in toasted sandwiches, but every time I walked in there, all I could smell was burned bread. That evoked a response alright. I kept thinking, "why don't they just turn on the ventilation in here?" Yes, smell solicits an emotional response. I quit going to the sandwich shop and this last year they closed down.

Yes, branding is all about messaging. But what kind of sensual messages are we creating?

image from Flickr by Lella Sodre