Incorporate Taste and Scent into Your Branding Strategy
Updated: Jan 19
Can you come up with an aroma that combines nuts and chocolate with sweetness? I’ll wager that you at one time or another bit into a treat with a chocolate shell on the outside and a tasty peanut butter cream on the inside. Think back, what brand occurs to you when remembering how much you enjoyed that treat? It’s got to be Reese’s! Am I right?
If the familiar orange and yellow foil wrapping was taken off, a lot of candy lovers would still recognize this chocolate treat with a peanut butter center as Reece’s famous peanut butter cup. Even years after biting into one, people can still vividly recall how it tasted and smelled.
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups happen to be so incredibly memorable that Reece’s has now developed a fragrance, a makeup line, and scented markers – all carrying Reese’s branding, that intoxicating aroma. Talk about marketing!!
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Aren’t an Isolated Case
You’ve likely noticed that certain scents bring up familiar feelings, like the smell of pumpkin bread baking in the oven reminding you of holidays at your grandparents’ house, or when you smell Clorox, it reminds you of laundry.
Our olfactory sense of smell is connected to the neuronal pathways in the brain that very directly evoke memories and emotions. Even though we are used to having images or music evoke strong emotions, it’s much more common to instantly experience a strong emotional reaction to a certain taste or smell.
Can Taste be Used in Branding?
Taste is closely related to our sense of smell. What we experience when tasting something is 80-90% due to what we’re smelling at the time. You can find proof of this by recalling what it was like last time you had a cold.
Candy and other sweet treats are strongly associated with some of life’s most memorable and happy moments, like birthday parties and holiday celebrations. It stands to reason that we would associate candy with family, fun, happiness, comfort, friendship, and even love.
Furthermore, when we ingest sugar, dopamine is released in our nucleus accumbens, which is the reward center of the brain, and linked to motivation and novelty as well.
How Can You Use Positive Feelings to Enhance Your Branding?
When you understand that a brand can evoke a particular mood, you can capitalize on that. A delicious taste or nice fragrance can boost brand recognition by making a positive impression. As consumers associate the taste or aroma with a brand it can instill loyalty to the business if they’ve had positive experiences with that brand in the past. Moreover, taste and scent affect a person’s mood. In fact, they can even increase employee productivity!
There is no doubt that engaging a person’s sense of taste or smell is an often overlooked tactic that can add an unusual yet effective dimension to the marketing strategy of a brand.
Sit Back for a Moment and Contemplate Your Brand
You need to consider your brand identity, the message you want to convey, and your target market. Once you have a clear picture of your brand identity, choose a flavor or scent that exemplifies those values.
Let’s take a look at how we can help you determine a signature scent that typifies your brand.
Promoting Your Brand
Now that you understand how effective it can be to incorporate scent and taste into your branding, consider which aromas, scents, fragrances, flavors, or tastes best fit your brand’s identity.
Imagine how satisfying it would be if you could connect with your audience in a highly unique way, as if the two of you had a private secret.
Once you’ve gathered your thoughts, take a look at all the products in our catalog. We’re sure that you’ll come across the right promotional products to enhance your brand.
Make Your Company Stand Out in a Crowded Marketplace
Incorporate taste and scent branding into your overall marketing strategy and see what happens. In time, you may discover that your brand has become as irresistible as those unforgettable Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.