MEDIA ARTS MONDAYS:
Multisensory Media

Advertising, for the most part, works by appealing to people’s eyes and ears — 80% of all brand communication is audio or visual. And while mainstream ad media will probably always exist in people’s lives as mostly sight and sound, the way audiences make sense of their world is obviously a more holistic sensory experience. Taste is an important part of how people develop, well, their individual tastes and palates. Touch is how people connect with and attach to the physical world and affects people’s perceptions of value. And smell is an incredibly important part of memory and feelings, affecting people emotionally 75% more than any other sense. Admittedly, multisensory media can sound a bit Orwellian, and bad advertising is still bad advertising whether you’re seeing it or smelling it, but maybe in an increasingly audio/visual world, the ways brands let people touch, taste and smell will become even more meaningful.

While marketers have embraced sensory branding in creating product and brand environments that engage all the senses, advertising still primarily relies on sound and sight. But with recall rates at an all-time low, a multisensory approach incorporating the other senses can help make a brand’s message more appealing and memorable. Using only sight and sound limits brands to a 2-D media world, but adding taste, touch and smell opens up a 5-D brand experience. However, brands must be careful not to overdo it or put sense over substance.

A Billboard You Taste

Instead of just talking about how good their chocolate tastes or showing an appealing visual, Thorntons  Chocolate Company decided to actually let people try their product with an edible billboard. Thorntons created the world’s first chocolate billboard (just in time for Easter) consisting of ten massive chocolate bunnies, 72 giant chocolate eggs and 128 panels made of pure chocolate. People walking by were encouraged to sample pieces of the 860-lb. 14.5×9.5 foot billboard and have a literal taste of the product.

Collateral You Touch

In Portugal, 4,500 new cases of breast cancer are detected annually. Roche, the world’s largest cancer-treating drug company, is raising curiosity and generating awareness regarding the importance of self-exams using stress balls with a “lump” inside and the message: “You don’t see breast cancer. You feel it. Do the self-exam.” By physically squeezing the ball, women were shown what to look for and just how vital self-exams are. There program has inspired a 22% increase in mammograms and 28% in hospital visits.

A Commercial You Smell

Nivea was the first company to utilize scent to add a new dimension of realism to cinema advertising. As moviegoers watched a typical beach setting, the scent of suntan lotion filled the theater. The ad, ending with the line, “Nivea. The smell of summer.” engaged a sense that is always on. The scent tapped into people’s memory and invoked a psychological trigger that significantly increased the ad’s impact. Exit polls showed a 515% higher rate of recall compared to the same ad shown without the scent.

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