There is no dearth of advertising today. However, advertising alone doesn’t quite cut it. When the advertisements drive your prospective customers to your store, what they need is a sensory explosion. Appealing to all the 5 senses of your customers has a proven track record of increasing sales observes Kavita Parab

When you walk into a Starbucks café, you are always greeted with a distinct aroma of coffee which is typical of its outlets. Can you imagine a day it stops smelling of freshly brewed coffee and cakes? The answer is certainly a no. That’s because a particular fragrance, logo or façade are intrinsic to a brand and have unknowingly become part of the brand’s identity. You cannot disassociate the brand from the senses associated with it. The emotional quotient of a consumer is high when he or she is purchasing, especially jewellery and that’s where sensory marketing comes into play. Brands use this tactic subtly to connect all the five senses i.e. sight, sound, taste, touch and smell. Our senses help connect our internal world with the external.

So how can you reach out to the consumers other than the traditional methods of advertising? Jewellery connects with the buyers on an emotional level. It evokes a lot of emotions like love, bonding, promise, and commitment. So, we all know that senses play an important part in our purchasing decisions. For beginners it might seem to be a farfetched idea to employ senses like taste, sight and smell in a jewellery store. However, a few jewellery brands have already been employing sensory marketing successfully and have managed to connect with the consumers on a sensory level. Kartik Khanna, Creative Director, Khanna Jewellers said, “Buying jewellery is more-often an emotional process for a client. It is associated with a milestone in their life or a happy moment and it becomes imperative for a retailer to create a pleasant environment. More than the overall look of the store it is the intangible touch-points like smell and sound that mould the experience and hence we have tried to create a multisensory experience in our stores.”

Sound

Sound is an effective way of advertising. The brands have been using it through radio jingles, slogans, caller tunes etc to get into the minds of the consumers. However, in-store music can also be of help in giving an overall multi-sensory experience to the consumer. Varying tempos, volumes and pitches of music can affect consumers’ perceptions about your brand. A special collection of handpicked jazz and classical music, can soothe one’s senses.

We use soothing instrumentals which can calm the consumers and not crowd their mind with various emotions. It certainly helps the consumer to be at ease and concentrate on the purchase Ishu Datwani, Director, ANMOL

Taste

To incorporate taste into sensory marketing, one has to think outside the box. Food sampling is a basic, widely used technique. In order to execute this sense in an effective manner, you must create an experience. There are some jewellery brands who conduct cheese and wine tasting sessions at the time of a launch of a collection.

At Rose, we offer our clients the finest of teas, coffees and juices from around the world. Over the years, we have had many customers come into our store just for a coffee and have ended up buying large ticket items Karan Vaidya, Marketing Manager, The Rose Group

Touch

No matter how well you have used all the other senses, it’s the product and its beauty, which will get you the business. Touch and feel play a crucial part in the world of jewellery. For a buyer, it is still important to feel, touch and try the jewellery before the final decision is made.

Sight

Everything that your customer sees has a lasting impact on them. Apart from the décor, the store needs to have displays that will appeal to the consumer. There could be a combination of sound and visuals in a store that creates a lasting impression on the visitor. One cannot deny the importance of tastefully done interiors as there are certain colours that would make the visitors calm while some colours might evoke emotions of agony or trauma. Kiora Amorez, in order to give a memorable multi-sensory experience, has a corner in the store wherein consumers can actually witness the craftsmen making jewellery. It certainly is one of the important attractions at the store.

Smell

Of all the senses, smell is the most powerful one. It elicits a memory in an instant before sight, sound or touch. Smell subconsciously affects your perceptions more than any other senses. It has the power to take you back to a particular time and place in an instant, quicker than any other sense. According to reports, people spend approximately 18 per cent more time in rooms that smell nice. A good fragrance will certainly have a long-lasting effect on the consumer’s mind.

People often rely on their sense of smell to decide whether or not they want to stay and shop. An overbearing fragrance can be as much a repellant as a pungent one, we therefore try and keep it subtle and use a lot of natural jasmines Kartik Khanna, Creative Director, Khanna Jewellers

At Diacolor, we aim to provide our customers not only the best quality jewels, but also give them a great shopping experience. We ensure that the store exuberates happy fragrances like rose, lilies and vanilla. It is believed that these fragrances evoke the emotions of love, comfort and trust. Association of a particular fragrance with a particular brand, enhances brand engagement and loyalty. Hence, we insure that throughout Diacolor boutiques, offices and even at our trunk shows, there is uniformity of fragrance, giving our customers a great shopping experience. Rishabh Tongya, Creative Director, Diacolor

In our store, we make sure that the fragrances used are all natural and help our clients to feel connected to the places they come from. As we get a lot of clients from Emirates, these clients feel good when they smell Oud based fragrance in the store. Fajeena Karim, Creative Director, Kiroa Amorez