A report on the impact and importance of sensory experience in the world of hotels and hospitality.
Read MoreTop 10 Mistakes in sensory branding /
Using sound, smell, taste, touch and experience has the capacity to define and deepen our emotional relationship with brands. Used well, it increases brand experience, return rates, loyalty, experience, recall and revenues. Used badly it can distract and alienate.
Here is our list of Top Ten mistakes in sensory branding.
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Seriously colourful /
Colour doesn't really exist, yet football teams with a red kit are statistically more likely to win than teams in other colours (tell that to Chelsea fans); coloured placebo pills affect how effective the pill is (apparently red makes us more sexually receptive and blue more relaxed, um Viagra?); percieved colour changes completely by what's next to it (turn grey to yellow by changing adjacent colours); and Isaac Newton randomly named the colours of the rainbow.
Cultural responses to colour differ substantially, but they are still common associations and and influence mood and expectation. It's all in the mind but then that's pretty much where everything lies.
A great article exploring facts and fiction of colour.
Why is sex so great? /
Why is sex so great? Can you smell what time it is?
Read MoreIntoxicating aroma of fish and chips /
Ten top smell you would miss leaving England as highlighted by Ruth Margolis
Read MoreThe secret of sales /
Sniff Test: Step 1 get a group to assess quality and price of a pair of trainers. Step 2 add scent and get a second test group to assess quality and price of the same pair of trainers.
Read MoreCan you hear a rainbow? /
Frank Sinatra thought so and so did many others. Read more.
Read MoreShake the bottle wake the drink /
Orangina genuis died this week
Read MoreLong lost tradition? /
On two flights last week it occurred to us that the absence of the once-great tradition of handing out sweets on landing and take-off is a not only a loss to flyers, but also a missed opportunity to airlines. Iconic confectionary which becomes part of the ritual of flying with a specific carrier that can be enjoyed on the plane and taken home could be a lovely way of enhancing experience and increasing the reach of your brand. A stick of rock for British Airways, Life Savers for American Airlines? Perhaps not: "Attendants prepare for take-off, LifeSavers anyone?"!
Read MoreHotel Costes: Living the dream /
What is a sensory brand? Hotel Costes. Starting with an interiors brief of 'all things in excess', and adding music, art, gastronomy, flowers, scent and live performance, Hotel Costes delivers sensual opulence at every turn. From developing 6 signature scents, a full range of candles and beauty products on sale; the most heavenly Rose Shop; Fragrance Boutique; PalaceScope gallery; to their online radio station, selling your own compilations and albums and then of course the bars and restuarant. Truly a hotel appealing to all senses, building an incredible brand and opening plenty of new revenue streams as well. Hotel Costes, we salute you.
Signature scents by Hotel Costes
The label left behind /
We are loving this sculpture by artist Zebedee Helm. It was discovered when hunting for images of Imperial Leather, half used with the label sticking up. It takes me straight back to my Grandad's bathroom, an electric wall heater and the aroma of Brylcream. The special column created by the refusal of the label to disappear is a unique experiential differentiator and we hope they never do anything daft like get rid of it because it wastes soap or doesn't feel very nice.
We think Imperial Leather should be buying the sculpture and offering it as a competition prize and commissioning other work of this nature to celebrate their point of difference. I suspect they would find a whole community of unknown trad soap fanatics.
Imperial Leather scuplture made out of (wait for it) Bath Stone, by Zebedee Helm.