Con los cinco sentidos
El marketing sensorial apela a los sentidos con el objetivo de crear experiencias sensoriales a través de la vista, el sonido, el tacto, el gusto y el olfato. También se le conoce como marketing multisensorial, ya que a menudo se orienta a una combinación de sentidos, que principalmente son la vista, el oído y el olfato.
Se trata de conseguir que el acto de compra se convierta en un rato de confort y placer sensorial que impregne la conciencia del cliente, le ponga de buen humor y consiga que disfrute de la experiencia de compra. Con esto no sólo se logra un mayor consumo, sino también un mayor índice de regreso a la tienda (repetición de compra), lealtad y vinculación con la marca.

Sensaciones y emociones
Las personas podemos ser entendidas como un binomio entre razón y emoción. Como afirma Tim Pethick, experto en marketing, “la razón guía, pero las emociones deciden”. A menudo tratamos de convencer a nuestros clientes con argumentos racionales (precio, prestaciones, etc.), y debemos tener en cuenta que el impacto emocional de un packaging (tacto, color…) o de un establecimiento (olores, sonidos, colores…) rivaliza en gran medida con su impacto racional (la información que contiene, el beneficio que promete).

Por diferentes caminos
La información sobre nuestro entorno llega a nuestra conciencia entrando por las cinco puertas sensoriales habituales y también puede permanecer en nuestra mente y regresar para ser reexperimentada gracias a la memoria, ya que podemos recordar cosas que hemos visto, oído, tocado, saboreado y olido y volver a experimentar las sensaciones que aquéllo nos produjo. Los impactos sensoriales generan un recuerdo ligado a emociones.
La información sensorial llega a nuestra consciencia por diferentes caminos activando distintas combinaciones del sistema límbico, el córtex cerebral y las amígdalas, entre otros órganos. Existen algunas empresas que ya son capaces de realizar investigaciones de mercado para determinar las reacciones fisiológicas que los clientes experimentan al estar expuestos a estímulos sensoriales visuales, auditivos y olfativos (ver, por ejemplo, Hamilton Research). Sin embargo, la investigación de mercados dispone hoy en día de mecanismos que todavía siguen siendo muy rudimentarios, si bien son capaces de conseguir algunos resultados significativos.

Una música de narices
De entre los cinco sentidos, diversos estudios científicos demuestran que el olfato es uno de los que genera mayor impacto. M. Gobé afirma en su libro Emotional Branding: The New Paradigm for Connecting Brands to People, que las empresas que emplean estrategias olfativas en sus establecimientos pueden llegar a incrementar en un 40 por ciento su facturación. Este video habla de ello. En España proliferan las empresas que se dedican a crear esencias corporativas, es decir, esencias diseñadas para convertirse en la fragancia asociada a una marca. HomoNapiens, FresKaroma u Odotipo son algunas de ellas.
En los últimos años ha habido otras marcas que también han creado su propia fragancia corporativa, como cadenas de hoteles (NH, AC…) y cadenas de ropa, como Zara.

El oído es otro de los sentidos más potentes para desplegar una estrategia de marketing sensorial, centrada en crear una experiencia de compra mejor y más memorable. Son célebres las tiendas de ropa Abercrombie & Fitch por usar no sólo una fragancia característica en sus establecimientos, sino también una estrategia basada en la música que se puede escuchar en ellos.
Son famosas también las tiendas Natura, que combinan a la perfección el uso de músicas new age con aromas de distintas naturalezas para crear una experiencia de consumo propia y diferencial. Pero incluso espacios como Leroy Merlin están apostando por la combinación de elementos que tengan en cuenta y estimulen los distintos sentidos para crear una experiencia de compra realmente especial.

Logotipos, odotipos y sonotipos
Así, como vemos, el marketing sensorial se preocupa de los sentidos del cliente, y trata de mejorar su experiencia en nuestro establecimiento, y también su experiencia con el uso de nuestros productos y servicios. Una inversión en estrategia sensorial puede conseguir una multiplicación de nuestra facturación, tanto si la desplegamos sobre nuestros establecimientos como sobre el packaging de nuestros productos.
¿Es agradable caminar por nuestras tiendas? (tacto y oído). ¿Las mesas y sillas de nuestros establecimientos son agradables cuando nos sentamos en ellas? (tacto). ¿Tenemos la temperatura correcta o nos hemos pasado con el aire acondicionado? (tacto). ¿Los colores y la decoración invitan a la vitalidad o a la introspección? (vista). ¿Tenemos la iluminación adecuada en nuestro restaurante o nuestra joyería? (vista). ¿Debería sonar música en nuestros establecimientos? ¿Y qué tipo de música? (oído). ¿Ese hilo musical tan práctico responde realmente a nuestra estrategia de marca y posicionamiento? ¿Invita a nuestros clientes a quedarse o a irse corriendo?

No olvidemos que TODO comunica. El logotipo que todos hemos asumido como necesario tal vez esté demasiado solo llevando todo el peso de la imagen de marca. Un aroma corporativo (odotipo) podría ayudarle a mejorar la percepción de marca, y una marca sonora (sonotipo) podría ayudarnos a definir mucho mejor lo que el cliente percibe de nosotros y apoyaría al resto de nuestra comunicación.
Estamos en un mundo móvil, táctil y multisensorial. Los que mejor jueguen con sus fichas generarán un posicionamiento diferencial y superior.

There is indeed a sizeable body of studies establishing links between pleasant smells in retail settings and improved brand perception. Spangenberg, a marketing professor and dean of Washington State U’s college of business, has studied and written about human response to scents in retail environments. “We’ve shown that scent can increase the customer’s positive shopping behavior,” he says. “It keeps people in the store longer, they enjoy it more and they express more positive intentions to return.”

A 1998 study from the University of Paderborn in Germany revealed that when retailers use “olfactory communication,” it can increase consumer perceptions of product quality. (A few years ago, a home-improvement chain in Germany discovered that the moment they began pumping the scent of fresh-cut grass into the stores, more customers began rating their salespeople as knowledgeable.) Still other evidence suggests that a pleasant ambient smell has an effect on shopping times and frequency. A 2011 study from Hasselt University in Belgium demonstrated that a pleasant fragrance in the air increased the likelihood that consumers would revisit a store. Semoff attests that there’s also evidence that scent can keep people there too. “If you introduce a scent, customers will linger longer,” he says. “And if they do, purchase intent goes up.”

Not that ambient scenting is as simple as plugging in a unit and waiting for the crowds to rush in. Like any behavioral science applied to a real-world environment, there are many variables, and some possible risks too.

First, Spangenberg’s research has suggested that ambient scenting can actually do harm to customer perceptions if inappropriate to the setting. “Male smells shouldn’t be diffused in female shopping sections,” he says, “and food odors don’t belong with clothing.” Scent “volume” is another issue. Semoff says that, unlike most other kinds of marketing, more is not better. “The law of diminishing returns can apply,” he says. “The scent should stay in the background—pleasant, but not distracting.”
Knitowski of Victoria’s Secret points out that scent can “create and align with a brand both in a good and bad way,” referring to the feeling that some stores overdo the scents of their signature colognes, and if a consumer doesn’t like it, he or she may stay away, period.

Cost is another factor. While some smaller companies opt out of necessity to go with an off-the-shelf aroma (ScentAir’s Kindfuller says that the popular scents among smaller retailers right now include citrus, fig, tea and grass), a signature scent—especially if it’s a branded cologne or perfume—is labor-intensive. “If you have a fine fragrance product, you can re-engineer it to deliver it via scent-diffusion equipment, but it requires a lot of art and expertise,” Semoff says.
Simmons relates that Hugo Boss spent two months tweaking the formula of its signature scent before getting it right. And little wonder. Asked to describe the juice, Simmons says it contains “light accents of fruits and citrus with a hint of cocoa fill[ing] the top note before a green floral heart of gardenia, jasmine and muguet over a foundation of vanilla, sandalwood, cedarwood and amber.”

Then there’s the price of the diffuser technology itself. While a portable unit suitable for a dressing room might run a mere $130, the HVAC-ready diffusers start at $2,000, and a large area like a hotel lobby may require several of them. Replacing the scent oil then becomes a fixed monthly cost: as little as $30 to several hundred dollars.

Finally, a certain haze of controversy hovers over the topic of scent diffusion. Consumers and employees are inhaling microscopic droplets of oil misted into the air by the diffusers, and most are unaware of the fact. It raises questions not only about whether customers are somehow being behaviorally manipulated, but also whether it’s safe to be breathing the stuff to start with.

As to whether ambient scenting is tantamount to subliminal manipulation, the answer seems to be no—for the most part. “It is not subliminal,” Spangenberg says. “But it is peripheral, and if you don’t draw customer’s attention to the scent, it is more effective.” That said, “One could argue that it’s nothing more insidious than pleasant music,” he says.

The question of health ramifications, however, may not be as easily dismissed. SMI’s Semoff maintains that scent particles in the air are no cause for concern. “The fragrances used are all approved by the International Fragrance Association and meet a high level of global regulatory compliance. [The concentration] is one part per million, so you’re way below the level that would trigger an allergic response,” he says.
Not everybody believes the industry position.

“It’s nonsense,” says Judi Shils, founder and director of the advocacy group Teens Turning Green. “Who has any idea what dose is the tipping point? Nobody can say that X amount of this chemical in your body will not do anything.”
Anne C. Steinemann, a professor of environmental engineering at the University of Washington, adds that “there are no harmless levels. Even one part per million is high for certain chemicals. It depends on the substance and the individual. Tell a mother with a child who has a peanut allergy that it’s ‘just one peanut.’” She refers to the growing use of scent diffusers as a “public health hazard” that’s “putting people at risk.”

Shils claims to be in touch with “quite a few” Abercrombie employees in Southern California who claim that the presence of too much fragrance in the store environments have made them ill—claims that Abercrombie corporate has vigorously disputed. Abercrombie’s response to Teens Turning Green, which it made available to Adweek, reads in relevant part: “The [scent diffusion] machines emit a water-based, safe fragrance that complies with local, state and federal law. The scenting formulation is also without Air Contaminants as defined by the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Act. Therefore, based on available information, we firmly believe that the use of this scenting program poses no threat to the health of our associates or customers who are in the store.”

Steinemann remains unimpressed by such positions. “The standards of OSHA are really old, and their regulations do not apply to these products,” she says. OSHA did not return phone calls seeking comment for this story.
In the meantime, scent diffusion is steadily gaining awareness among marketers, which means that its use is likely to increase. “Scent is grossly underutilized by brand builders,” Buyology’s Sturgess says. “But this has been changing in recent years, and we’re starting to see it be introduced in academia. The science is clear: Scent has incredible potential.”

That’s something that Hugo Boss’s Simmons knows already—and he says he’s never seen an instance of the smell turning a customer off. In fact, he says, “the stores would feel cold without the smell. When I walk into a store and the machine is broken, I notice that something’s missing.” Next up, he says: installing diffusers in the Hugo Boss stores in Canada.

Walk into any American mall during the months of November and December, and, if you can tune out the hordes of frantic holiday shoppers, you’ll likely notice upbeat Christmas music, the smell of pine boughs and cinnamon, bright red candy-canes, and plenty of free samples.

For the casual shopper, these holiday accoutrements may seem to exist as an extension of the commercial joys of the season. But for brick-and-mortar retailers, especially those that sell commodities, the five senses matter. Atmospherics, or the study of physical retail spaces, is a field increasingly of interest as more and more marketers and small-business owners try to perfect their stores’ “retail experiences.” During the holiday season, when stakes are sky-high and competition is fierce, atmospherics become especially important. And businesses that understand how to play into consumer pyschology will likely reap the rewards of higher sales.

“The scents of pine, cinnamon, and mulled cider join with the sounds of carolers, traditional hymns, and pop holiday tunes to create the Christmas holiday season in the minds of many,” notes Eric R. Spangenberg in his 2003 study, “It’s Beginning to Smell (and Sound) a Lot Like Christmas: The Interactive Effects of Ambient Scent and Music in a Retail Setting.” “In attempts to attract Christmas shoppers to their stores, retailers often implement such mainstay environmental cues to create pleasant and enticing atmospheres that evoke the spirit of the holiday season….Our results suggest that wise retailers can act upon this lesson by blessing their customers with synchronized sound systems and scent diffusers, and in turn receive the blessing of strong holiday sales.”

“Our results suggest that wise retailers can act upon this lesson by blessing their customers with synchronized sound systems and scent diffusers, and in turn receive the blessing of strong holiday sales.” —Eric R. Spangenberg . How do the five senses affect retail—and how your business might be able to (subconciously, at least) encourage shoppers to buy more products and shop more often? We asked the atmospherics experts.
The way your store smells matters. A lot.

“Ambient scent contributes to the building of a favorable perception of the mall environment, and indirectly of product quality,” notes Jean-Charles Chebat and Richard Michon in “Impact of ambient odors on mall shoppers’ emotions, cognition, and spending: A test of competitive causal theories,” a study that explored how citrus smells influenced customer moods and decisions. Of course, it’s no easy task to determine which smells are approriate for each store; however, some research indicates that “ambient,” scents, or a generally pleasing odors, have several implications for consumer pyschology, and can positively influence purchase decisions. In “Improving the Store Environment: Do Olfactory Cues Affect Evaluations and Behaviors?,” the American Marketing Association concluded that a good smell—no particular one—can literally alter a customer’s perception of time, which can lead to more time spent in the store, and more sales for the store owner.
“Ambient scent may lead to an enhanced subjective experience for retail shoppers…the time consumers spend examining merchandise, waiting in lines, or waiting for help may be made to seem shorter than it actually is by introducing ambient scent into the environment,” the study read.

A savory or sweet smell, as you might expect, also makes a shopper hungry—and not just for food.
“They get your saliva glands going, and that makes you hungry,” Paco Underhill, author of Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, told the Los Angeles Times recently. “And when you’re hungry, you’re more apt to buy anything, not just food.”

Music can be be a powerful marketing tool. (And it’s not just the songs you choose.)
Sound matters, too. Allen Klevens, CEO of Los Angeles-based Prescriptive Music, which works with companies such as The Cheesecake Factory and Century 21 to create music playlists, says the goal of music in a store should be to get customers to spend more money, stay longer, and, most importantly, have them return.
While it certainly makes sense to play holiday jingles during the gift-buying season, he says, you don’t want to drive your customers—or staff—nuts with repetitive holiday music.

“In August, we start at approximately 20 to 25 percent of holiday music,” he says. “Then, as it gets closer to December, we raise it up to 40 percent. Closer to Christmas, we raise it up to 60 percent. On Christmas, we’re at 100 percent. [When you're shopping], you don’t want to hear Jingle Bells for the 19th time.”
More specifically though, the volume of the music, and music tempo may have an influence on purchase decisions, too.
“Studies show that the slower the tempo, the slower people walk through the store, so the more they put in their baskets and the more they end up buying,” Deborah MacInnis, professor of business administration and marketing at the USC Marshall School of Business, told the LA Times. “If the tempo is faster, people walk faster too. They don’t stop to look so much, and they don’t buy as much.”
Interestingly, research also shows that retail music selections shouldn’t be made in a vacuum: the other five senses play into how customers perceive the music. So if you decide to play Christmas music but your store smells like summertime, it can create cognitive dissonance—and even affect purchase decisions of customers.
“When inconsistency exists between the ambient scent and music, however, evaluations and behavioral intentions are not affected and in some instances are negatively affected,” noted Spangenberg in the Journal of Business Research.
Offer free food samples. It works.

Would you like to try one? In one experiment at Arizona State University, researcher Stephen Nowlis oberserved that offering a free sample didn’t just lead to more purchases of the item being offered—it led to more purchases of everything.
“Our research suggests that sampling drives people to want more of anything that’s rewarding,” Nowlis, a marketing professor, noted in the Journal of Marketing Research. “And that’s the managerial implication. These sample tables can help not just manufacturers, but retailers as well. Retailers could benefit because customers who try samples seem to want to have a lot more stuff, as opposed to just more of what they sampled. They want all kinds of things.”
Beware of certain touch effects.

The “touch” aspects of a store appear to have several implications for how customers interact with your products. Take, for instance, the “Butt Brush,” effect, a term coined by InformeDesign, a website for design and human-behavior research.
“Personal space translated into a retail environment suggests that when a shopper is bumped or jostled while looking at merchandise, they may become uncomfortable, lose interest, and leave the area,” researcher Seung-Eun Lee, an assistant rofessor of the retail merchandising program at the University of Minnesota, explains. “Creating maneuvering room for customers eliminates or greatly reduces the butt-brush effect. More maneuvering room extends time customers spend in the store and enhances the probability of purchasing.

Beyond store layout, allowing customers to physically interact with products—picking them up, playing with them, trying them on—may help sales conversion, too. A recent experimented documented by Pyschology and Marketing, a trade journal, found that auto retailers experienced better results when customers actually touched and interacted with the cars. Specifically, the study noted that shoppers who touched the cars would “evaluate products more positively, enjoy the test-driving experience more, and show stronger brand–self connection.”
Color choice matters.

Sight is the most obvious sense involved in shopping—but there are some subtleties any retailer can play with. “The first point of interaction is shaped by the color, and color is the most memorable sense,” says Leslie Harrington, a color consultant and the executive director of The Color Association, which does color forecasting, education, and advising for brands. “Before anything else, they see color.”
Plenty of research has gone into how specific colors make people feel. Most can agree that reds and oranges make customers feel excited, while greens and light blues are calming. Ultimately, though, there’s no one color that’s going to get your customers to buy. But by matching your store’s color scheme to your brand’s theme, customers will feel more comfortable.
“Consumers know intuitively if the color and brand connect, and if it’s authentic,” says Harrington. “If it doesn’t connect, it turns them off.”

En Octubre 2011 en la Calle Felipe II de Madrid, se podía “oler” a flores Suizas en el evento que organizó COMARK “Suiza abre sus puertas” y que Omniaroma colaboró aportando el aroma y su aplicación en esos stands en forma de torres.

Cuatro años dedicó Jordi Roca a estudiar el mundo de la perfumería, el cual –dice- “tiene mucho que ver con la cocina”. Entonces se aficionó a transformar algunas conocidas fragancias en los postres. En este caso, opera a la inversa: “ Es una crema de limón, bergamota, un destilado de peil de limón, un azúcar de miel, marialuisa,… Un conjunto de ingredientes que evocan alegría. A partir de este plato, encargamos al perfumista Agustí Vidal que elaborase una fragancia, que después nosotros servíamos en los postres, para que el cliente tuviera una experiencia más completa”.

Este perfume – llamado Nube de limón- tuvo tanto éxito que actualmente se puede comprar en el “Celler de Can Roca”

Noticia aparecida en El Periódico de Catalunya

La Sociedad Española de Ciencias Sensoriales ha estado presente en la Universidad de Verano de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. Marta Tafalla, miembro de la SECS y profesora de Filosofía, ha coordinado el curso «Cultura de l’olor, cultura de l’anòsmia» (Cultura del olor, cultura de la anosmia). El Dr. Josep de Haro, especialista en sensorialidad y vocal de la SECS, ha participado en el programa con la conferencia «Filomosofia (Smell Knowledge Lovers)», en la que ha planteado la estructura básica sensocognitiva que sustenta la percepción olfativa.