The BRAND sense blog

The World's First Multi-Sensory Webinar - 16th Dec 2009

Great News!

Get in touch to register for the webinar - [email protected]

The Smell of Virtue - oh really?

Apparently the smell of a citrus smelling cleaning product called Windex is enough to get you digging deeper for charity as well as make you much more altruistic when sharing a $12 windfall with your friends!

According to Katie Liljenquist, assistant professor of organisational leadership at Brigham Young University Marriott School of Management said:

"This is a very simple, unobtrusive way to promote ethical behaviour. The data tells us a compelling story about how much we rely upon cleanliness cues to make a wide range of judgments about others."

The study due to be published in a forthcoming issue of Psychological Science but reported widely in the press this week, is entitled "The Smell of Virtue". Participants carried out several tasks – the only difference being that some worked in unscented rooms, while others worked in rooms freshly sprayed with lemon-scented cleaner.

See: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6431235/Clean-environments-encourage-generosity-and-fairness.html

One of the co-authors of the study, Professor Galinsky of the Kellogg School claims that, "Basically, our study shows that morality and cleanliness can go hand-in-hand. Researchers have known for years that scents play an active role in reviving positive or negative experiences. Now, our research can offer more insight into the links.

Does it really?

This kind of research annoys me. Here are just some of the questions it raises:

• Why was only once fragrance, Windex, tested? (Who sponsored the research I wonder?)
• If nice fragrances invoke positive behaviour, do nasty fragrances invoke negative behaviour?
• Who defines nice and nasty?
• There is no investigation or questioning of the claimed link between sensory perception and behaviour. Does such a link exist? That's the real question.

Take a look at Avery Gilbert's blog for an in-depth critique http://firstnerve.com/2009/10/smell-of-virtue-drive-by-research.html

Sound bite research like this, with extrapolated claims, annoys me because it tends to undermine the really valuable research being carried out by more rigourous sensory scientist who are seeking to understand the subtle influences of senory perception on our subconscious emotions and associations.

This is a huge subject and intuitively I believe in the power of the senses to influence our perception of many things, including brands - the subject matter of this blog - but I do not believe the smell of Windex or any other cleaning product for that matter, taken out of context, has the ability to influence, positively or negatively, our innate human values of altruism of virtue.

If I'm wrong, be careful not to overpay the window cleaner next time they are round!

Toothpaste, with Zinc. Hmmm.....

I spent some time in the oral care category of my local supermarket yesterday - don't ask, but it was for work, not because I spend my leisure time there.

A variant of Aquafresh called Extreme Clean makes a big thing on it's packaging about containing Zinc. Along with about 10 other visual messages and claims on the front of the pack there is a bold red box in the top corner which just says "NEW with ZINC".

No explanation of the benefits. No clue as to whether that means there are lumps of metal in there and what it might do for my teeth. I don't know about you but it sounds really rather scary - a great reason not to buy it but to get Colgate instead. Which I did.

Apart from the fact that most shoppers probably spend about 4 seconds trying to decide what toothpaste to buy from the hundreds in front of them in this aisle, I am perfectly sure GlaxoSmithKline will have carried out very careful market research to understand the delicate nuances that consumers will recieve from this proud proclamation on the pack. Or have they?

What do you think? Would the idea of Zinc in your toothpaste encourage you to buy or have you believe that your teeth might turn radioactive. Once you have posted your comments, I'll be sure to pass them onto GSK. They might get a surprise.

The World's First Multi-sensory Bank - in Colombia!

http://www.brandsenseagency.com/index.php?The-Worlds-first-Multi-sensory-Bank-in-Colombia

Banish all your preconceptions about South America and Colombia in particular, being distant, out-of-touch, politically unstable and well, just a little 'quaint'.

When it comes to brand experiences and retail banking in particular, they are truly leading the world! OK so it's a project of which I am personally very proud but Helm Bank, based in Bogota had the vision and inspiration to smash convention in a truly conventional sector.

This short video shows you what they have done. (Sorry that in this blog you cannot experience the tastes and smells of the brand but please turn the volume up to hear the amazing branded sound).

 

Although the first branches were only opened a few weeks ago, early indications show that they are breaking all the key business performance indicators.

Here's what the strategy director of Helm Bank has to say:

"Helm is a revolution and the market is realising it! We've broken the rules and dared to change the banking standards. Our competition has noticed it and I bet they are scared! 2000 people attended the launch and everybody was astonished. There were even tears!! You cant imagine the sense of belonging in the employee base. They are proud of Helm."

And rightly so. You can't say that about any of our established 'westernised' banks, can you?

Innovation in design = a moving logo! Is that the best we can do????

I don't believe it! Another article in Marketing Week this week caught my eye. It's called Innovation Update Design. Prominence was given to a case study on the Swiss Telecoms company called SwissCom (says what it does on the tin).

Aparently their agency has created a "multisensorial identity". Well good for them. But, when you look closer what this actually means is that they have a moving logo on their website!!! Come on guys, is this really the best we can come up with for brand identity innovation?

Someone else in the article talks about needing to move from 2D into 3D communications. Since these ideas have been around since 1915 when coke created the iconic bottle shape as part of their identity, it's hardly innovative, or am I missing something?

83% of all marketing communication spend is purely visual. Now we can have moving logos, this figure is probably going to be even higher. It's linked to the blinkered love affair that marketers have these days with everything digital.There is a huge body of research which proves that smell, touch, sound and taste are just as important to consumers for driving trial and building brand loyalty.

5D communication, using all the senses, is what this blog is all about. There is a growing community out there who understand that truly engaging brand experiences have to appeal across all our senses. There are pioneer brands all over the world creating signature brand fragrances, sonic logos and sensory packaging for example. Now thats really pushing the boundaries in brand innovation.