• by august , Avida Landau , July 29, 2005

In a world that's oversaturated with media, being exposed to even more sensory stimulation might sound like overkill. Not to marketing guru Martin Lindstrom.

Lindstrom is convinced that today's marketing, advertising, and branding strategies are inadequate. In his new book, Brand Sense: Build Powerful Brands through Touch, Taste, Smell, Sight, and Sound (Free Press, 2005), Lindstrom discusses strategies to turn brands into multi-sensory experiences.

Lindstrom cites examples of companies providing consumers with a unique sensory event while using their brands, from Crayola trademarking the scent of its crayons, to Kellogg's trademarking the crunch of its cornflakes. He says that even a brand such as Disney could be marketed using a distinct smell, one "that would be ever-present in the theme park and in the shops." Later on, when you go shopping for a toy, "the smell would take you back to those past memories you had when you visited the park when you were a kid."

According to Lindstrom, marketers that don't embrace the multi-sensory approach will quickly find themselves out of the game. "Recent numbers have shown that there are [too] many tv ads today [for anybody] to remember [them]." Marketers should "build a bridge between a traditional way of communication to a new way called 5D branding, where we leverage all our five senses or as many senses as we can." To Lindstrom, it simply makes (brand) sense.