We experience things in many ways, and marketers are always in search of a new way to connect with the consumer.  Psychological research always shows that the strongest recollection comes from the highest involvement of our senses.  For example, when you are a florist trying to sell a flower, you don’t just market the fact that the flower looks nice, you also sell it on the merits of its smell.  This adds value to the end product, because it has more uses, and more ways for someone to experience it.

If you are currently a marketer of a certain product or service, think, can you add any senses into your item?  If so, you will add value and widen the market for purchasing it.

Ever notice how TV ads showing sumptuous Big Macs don’t just play on its “mouth watering” taste?  They also appeal to the smell of it.  In fact, White Castle’s commercials regularly make use of the “wafering” smell of little burgers affecting people in all sorts of strange ways.  Once again, they are connecting taste with smell, or adding value through the addition of a sense.

The greatest product, therefore, is one that mixes all five senses: touch, taste, smell, hear, and see.  Since in modern times, humans rely upon vision for the highest percentage input of their senses, it makes sense to market to the eye.  This would be using appealing packaging, a nice set of colors, and so on.   Most marketers know this.  A marketer must also realize that he has the most competition in the visual field.  If we take a look at the perfume areas in department stores, we will see that not only do they have beautiful packaging, but there is always the smell of some great perfume in the air.  This isn’t done by accident, but rather to engage more senses.

A strange example we can look at is the car wash.  Ever go to a car wash where you get to select something other than just the finish?  Perhaps choose a “smell” for them to infuse your car?  That is marketing to the senses.  Any time we can experience one of our senses in a positive way, it has value to it.  Not only does your car look nice now, it also smells good.  That is worth more.

Selling a clothing line?  Don’t just play up its great looks for this year’s fashion, have some ad copy talk about how it feels.  This will increase your chances of connecting with the purchaser.  Even if he wasn’t the biggest fan of the brown color, he might be a sucker for the soft feel of fleece.

This is a great way to add value to your product without having to re-engineer it, just think, how can I involve more senses?