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An anonymous wit once remarked, ”the biggest
room in the world is the room for improvement”. Nowhere is this
more true than in the world of businesses that cater to the
enjoyment, entertainment or comfort of the people.
During my years working with leading
hospitality and retail brands, i have often noticed once cardinal
sin – the clients’ failure to place importance on certain key
areas where their brand and customers interact. It is almost as if
these crucial and often very public aspects of business operation
were so obvious they did not require any additional energy to
analyse or critique.
Take, for instance, the sort of music that a
business broadcasts within its premises. All too often the choice
and selection of music, the type of genre, audio volume levels and
so on are left up to the most junior staff on the floor, whether
they be bar staff, hotel receptionists or sales assistants. This
might be in a hotel chain, for example, which has paid million of
dollars to an advertising or brand consultancy to develop a
coherent brand identity for them.
Yet here they are, taking one of the most
emotionally powerful and charged of the five human senses – the
sense of hearing – and leaving that sense completely up to chance,
or the whims of someone who, most likely, has not received a
single iota of brand training.
To illustrate what I’m talking about and how
serious the brand implications can be, i was in a major sportswear
chain a couple of years ago with my wife and young daughter. In
that store, they were broadcasting over the PA system some rap and
R&B music. Now, the problem was that the lyrics (which I shall
describe with my typical British understatement as being “somewhat
fruity”) were completely unsuited to the shop, the environment,
and the type of customer to be found there. At the least, people
shopping with their families should not have to listen to a stream
of “gangsta” rap obscenities.
That chain did a good job of completely
alienating me that day and I made a mental note not to return (or
at least until they changed their concept of acceptable music).
Clearly, if your’re running any kind of
business this is the reverse of what you want customers to be
thinking. If anything, you want them to be reaffirming their faith
in the brand, their commitment to the brand. Not voting with their
feet. And in this case, a customer was lost purely because of a
certain kind of music being played.
I probably have one of the most frustrating
but at the same time rewarding jobs in the world. Why so? As an
independent consultant, I can see with a certain amount of
objectivity the often extreme measures that a brand should be
taking to address issues of how that brand is communicated through
environmental and sensory cues. Sometimes, it can be frustrating
because businesses are often by nature conservative with a small
c. They desire change but only in small steps. But it’s fantastic
when you do find yourself dealing with a decision maker who, from
day one, is on board with what you are proposing, sees the value
and the R.O.I immediately and gives you a clean slate to proceed
with a system or solution. And in business it is fairly
predictable that those with the vision to take chances and think
big often outpace their competitors.
Take the practice of placing signature
fragrances in the public areas of major hotel chains, another area
where I am closely preoccupied with my clients. Certain chains
like Shangri-La and Westin have effectively set the pace by
scenting their hotel lobbies with unique fragrances developed
specially for their brand. This gives their properties a
consistent and powerful sensory cue whenever a guest enters that
space. Furthermore, because the sense of smell is the only human
sense directly linked to the brain’s centre for memory, it sets up
a lasting connection for the brand in peoples’ long term memories.
Now that these chains have adopted these stealth techniques in
sensory branding, others have no choice but to follow since there
is absolute no advantage in “not” adopting these solutions.
But you would be surprise how many business
owners still fail to see what is directly in front of their faces.
Their focus is too often only on the visual – interior design,
staff uniform or retail displays or what you have. Or else their
other marketing strategies always zero in on price and promotions.
Yes, these are clearly all important
ingredient in the marketing mix. However, when you address the
other senses and appeal to people less on the rational and more on
the emotional level you also go one better to create an experience
for your customers. If that experience is sufficiently positive,
pleasant or reinforces the upbeat experiences they had while
transacting with your business then you will have repeat business
from them. And that’s what it’s ultimately all about isn’t it?
In this new series of columns, Simon A Faure-Field will share his
expertise on how F&B business can achieve competitive advantage
through new branding techniques that appeal to the human senses.
He is the founder and CEO of Equal Strategy Pte Ltd and counts
global brands such as Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Marriott Group,
Microsoft and Mercedes-Benz among his clients.
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