soulsight®

The pendulum of design is always in motion, and we are back at the point where dynamic engagement of all of our senses is new again.

I grew up in an era of open street markets lined with barking fish mongers, trilling bakers and singing produce men. We used to buy our bread by touch and sound. The crack of the crust was the real indicator of freshness and quality. (No, I didn't grow up in 1827 London.)

It seems it soon will no longer be good enough again to just "show" the consumer what your brand is all about. Consumers are now being reintroduced to hearing, tasting, and even feeling what brands are all about before they buy. This level of sensory stimulation creates a high level of physical and emotional engagement between the brand and consumer. The tactic suggests that the more layers of engagement, the stronger the bond between consumer and brand. I wholeheartedly agree.

The video below from Australia's Today Tonight program illustrates how a retail environment can employ the tactic. But, I think it really opens up the conversation of how sensory marketing techniques can be utilized on a brand level in packaging. I can see how, in the near future, consumers will be exposed, on a broad level, to tactile cans and scented packaging as a routine element of design strategy. Of course, Sun Chips is a great example of how important it is for a brand to analyze the sounds coming from their packaging, both ones that may be positive or negative. With e-ink technology already in use, is motion activated dynamic packaging far behind? Creatively, it opens up our medium and excites me with the possibilities. Imagine what we can do creatively with all of our five senses in play.