Gut Marketing: Part 2 — Sensory Engagement and the Multi-Sensory Experience
The Emotional and Soft-Spot of Visual/Touch/Smell and the Whys of Gender-Based Advertising
Let’s break down the “5” Senses which affect how purchases are made:
Sensory Marketing is a tried ‘n true method.
1% touch, 2% hear, 5% see, 15% taste, 35% smell
80% subconscious buying
If it “looks” good does it “taste” good too? Before you taste you decide to “smell” it. We then swipe a little bit on our fingertip to “feel” the consistency.
I don’t think we have to “hear” the slow dripping of the chocolate because we already know, which is, “YUM.” In fact, based on our “subconscious” buying from having chocolate before, we have already summed it up.
The beginning of TV Tropes
I grew up in the 70s and 80s inundated with smelly candles, musk perfume, smelly chocolate stickers and receiving gold and red stars from your teacher for good citizenship. Leave it to Beaver, My Three Sons, The Andy Griffith Show, and Ozzie and Harriet (50s family sitcom) signified a certain family dynamic Hollywood wanted us to mirror. Adult women were actually building planes and war ships during WWII and there were female pilots.
We catered to the stay-at-home wife and mother. It gave these women an escape (remember the commercial “Calgon, take me away”) to fantasize about while watching cooking shows like Galloping Gourmet or Julia Child on PBS as a source of benign entertainment splashed with a cultural recipe of parisienne ala french cuisine. Women desired to “make a date” with the beauty shop so that they could experience life outside the four walls. The beauty shop was filled with tabloid magazines, noisy hairdryers over their heads, and endless chainsmoking Marlboro or Menthol cigs.
Door to door sales: A new “Cash” Revenue
Men sold vacuum cleaners and shoes while women sold cosmetics (Avon, Mary Kay or Merle Norman). You pocketed the money, Hollywood film actresses portrayed a type of sultry look (Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren, Rita Hayworth) i.e. hairstyle and makeup. TV actresses like Lucille Ball (I Love Lucy), That Girl (Marlo Thomas), Bewitched (Elizabeth Montgomery), I Dream of Jeannie (Barbara Eden) and Mary Tyler Moore show (self-titled) portrayed strong, independent-minded women to step out of the kitchen, compete with the men, and choose your own destiny. Naivé and gullible children were targeted with TV commercials depicting popular sugar cereals — (Tony the Tiger) Frosted Flakes and Captain Crunch. Children watched cartoons from DC Comics (Spiderman, Superman, The Fantastic Four, The Archies), Hanna-Barbera (The Jetsons, The Flintstones, Scooby Doo) and Warner Brothers cartoons (RoadRunner, Sylvester and Tweetie).
The Transition Phase 90’s and beyond
The frenzied obsessive/compulsive “binge neurotic state”shopper emerged. I never could understand the need to collect plush Cabbage Patch dolls, My Little Pony, Beanie Babies and American Girl porcelain dolls.
There would be a “save the date” announcement which caused the droves of crazed, frenzied and fanatical toy shoppers aka hoarders to arrive, staking their place to camp out with one man tents overnight. Massive lines of people began pushing, shoving, screaming, biting and thus the beginning of frenzy, fanatical buying. And I hated it. Bad.
2018: The current state of online game addiction
Epic Games’ Fortnite popularity has catapulted the online gaming industry. Their savvy marketing technique of introducing a new one-of-a-kind skin with a CTA drop date is brilliant. In-game purchases using a currency called “V-Bucks” has festered an impulsive addiction like no other. It’s like feeding raw meat to a shark. Live streaming through YouTube and Twitch, justifies the repetitive behavior that may bleed into everyday life.
It’s quite probable games currently available on PC, Steam, Android or iOS apps, Nintendo’s Switch as well as Playstation 4/Xbox One gaming consoles may see a drop in activity in the near future, however a portion of hardcore gamers love to participate/compete in regional tournaments. Augmented and Virtual Reality (Oculus) is still too new to comment on with regards to Marketing.
Pandora, Spotify, YouTube, Twitch, Instagram (Stories/IGTV), and Snaps allow specific-targeted Ads which are interspersed throughout.
Wave of the Future: Podcasts
Sure, there are tons of “talk” radio show formats highlighting guests who discuss topics, trends, etc. while plugging their latest book or event. There is another type of podcast you may not be privy to.
The exciting part of Podcasts is the adoption of the “Story” or Serial Podcast (similar to an audiobook but episodic). Drama Podcasts and Crime Podcasts are gaining listeners which are a gentle reminder of the good old days of radio. These (daily, weekly, monthly) podcasts are written to carry out a storyline, week to week, consisting of a cast of characters (voice-over artists). There are documentaries and weekly narratives as well.
Links below my dears, to binge your not so virgin ears — make sure you are wearing noise-cancelling headphones.
Marketing for the future is more stationary. We won’t be walking around clothes carousels and up and down the shoe aisle much. The only free-standing buildings will be warehouses and online retailers and wholesale distributors. Our entertainment will definitely not be staring at the TV screen. Instead the focus will be smart watches, a new and improved Fitbit, tablets, laptops and monitors with smart glasses or contacts.
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