Emotional branding speaks to consumers’ heart: the case of fashion brands

As marketing emphasis has shifted from the product to the creation of consumers’ experiences, sensory marketing seems to be integral to stimulating excitement and pleasure (Douce and Janssens 2013). Sensory marketing engages and triggers consumers’ senses (i.e., sight, sound, feel, taste, and smell) (Krishna 2012). All these five senses elicit emotional responses to goods, services, and the environment with some notable differences such as the sense of sight being most powerful in detecting changes and differences in the environment (Orth and Malkewitz 2008) and the sense of smell triggering the most vivid memories (Fiore et al. 2000). As such, sensory branding influences consumers’ perceptions, judgement, and behavioral responses toward a particular brand (Krishna 2012). As Lindstrom (2010) stated in his book Brand Sense, a brand’s appeal to consumers’ senses allows them to experience the brand more profoundly and have an emotional connection with it at a deeper level.

Fashion retailers have been successful in providing sensory experiences to consumers in their brick-and-mortar stores and, to a lesser extent, online stores. For example, Lush, a fresh handmade cosmetics brand, has been successful in employing sensory marketing: sight from round shapes of visually attractive products and live plants to illustrate the actual ingredients of their products; smell from the intoxicating and sweet scents; sound from knowledgeable salespeople talking actively behind a large bubbling hand bath; feel from unusual textures of the products and smooth and natural packaging; and imaginary taste from products with delicious colors of food (Strang 2015).

Retail technology further enhances sensory experiences among fashion brands. Among the examples are (a) Parada’s “smart closet” where electronic chip tags are sent to an interactive touch screen, allowing customers to virtually experiment with sizes, colors, or fabrics (Lindstrom 2010), (b) Ray Ban’s “augmented reality mirror”, with which a consumer can try any pair of glasses through their webcam and positioning their face on the screen, (c) IKEA’s “virtual reality experience”, with which consumers can customize the layout of home spaces that they have created, and (d) Uniqlo’s “in-store mood stylist”, which uses neuroscience to assist its customers in selecting the best T-shirt based on their moods (“Top 5 Retailers”). These retail technologies particularly appeal to the newer, technology-ridden generations who desire convenient and unique experiences. The following cases illustrate some of the most successful retailers in sensory branding.

Sephora is a company that utilizes sensory branding. Traditionally, Americans have shopped for high-end cosmetics and fragrances at department stores like Macy’s and Belks. In traditional department stores, each brand is isolated at a separate service counter, staffed by a salesperson who only sells that brand, and all products are stocked in closed cases. This creates a high-pressure selling environment, can lead to long waits for service, and makes experimenting with brands very difficult. Since Sephora entered the cosmetics market, it has completely reinvented the shopping experience. Sephora provides a low-pressure environment that encourages its customers to explore and experiment with its products. Open shelving allows Sephora shoppers to touch, smell, and apply any product. With appealing to multiple senses, its open selling environment allows sensory experiences, which are the key to this company’s success (Ostlund 2012).

Hollister Co., inspired by the Southern California surfing style, features beach shack. Its stores place beach-inspired props such as palm trees by the front door, shutters on the window, and wooden beach chairs to engage consumers in the brand experience. On top of this, the brand uses sound in the form of current top hits, and scent in the form of its signature lime perfume to evoke a pleasant response from consumers (Khan 2016). It uses sound sensory marketing strategies as music increases physiological arousal and allows consumers to self-regulate their moods (Khan 2016). Videos shown on wall televisions stream live California beach scenes. Known for its large posters of attractive, sexy models, the Hollister brand targets pre-teens and teenagers. Hollister has an app game, “Surf’s Up”, with rewards like pizza to engage its shoppers outside of brick and mortar stores (Pasquarelli 2017). This is promoted through Hollister’s social media, such Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat, and in-store communication. In these ways, Hollister marketing strategies focus on appealing to consumers’ five senses.

Chanel incorporates recurring colors of black and white as brand recognition in all its channels (Chanel Floraison 2014). Since touch increases probabilities of purchase, it places accessories where customers can feel the products. For example, Chanel has LED signage that visually promotes its signature tweed. In New York City, its flagship store lights up in the shape of a perfume bottle at night. Chanel’s London flagship store has a gravity-defying staircase and hand-blown Venetian glass focal point reminiscent of Gabrielle Chanel’s iconic pearls (Larocca 2013). The London store has curtains with hand-stitched pearls as a means of authenticating the brand. Chanel boutiques have a sitting area that features tweed chairs, plush carpet, fireplaces and coffee tables stacked with Chanel books on each floor for visual consistency (Karmali 2017). In addition, the store sprays Gabrielle Chanel’s classic Chanel No. 5 perfume to enhance the customer olfactory sensory experience (Larocca 2013). Indeed, Chanel is one of the successful brands that have utilized multi-sensory stimuli to intensify their customers’ experiences.