Taipei, Sep. 11 (CNA) Smell is the most underrated factor in developing brand, and using the five senses in brand building will be a future trend, Danish brand strategist Martin Lindstrom said in a symposium Monday in Taipei.
"The sense of smell emotionally affects humans up to 75 percent more than any other sense, " claimed Lindstrom in front of about 300 brand managers who attended the symposium, titled "Using the Five Senses to Build Extraordinary Brand."
In 2006, only 1.7 percent of consumers could recall at least one television advertisement from the previous day, compared to 34 percent in 1965, Lindstrom said.
"This shows that the more information we receive, the harder it is to develop brand, " he said.
Today, 83 percent of all information people receive is visual, but eight out of ten new brand products flop. Lindstrom said this also implies that visual factors do not help building brands.
"Which tells us that we have to find another way to build brands, " he said, adding that five senses -- smell, touch, sight, sound, and taste -- are probably "the new way."
As an example, he noted that Singapore Airlines has patented the smell of its hot towels and developed a successful brand, while on the contrary, 25 percent of interviewees in a survey said they did not like McDonalds outlets because of their greasy smell.