Why the future of brand trust is sensory marketing

On a recent call with a major sports organization to discuss experiential communications, a marketing leader pushed back with a familiar argument, “Why wouldn’t I just take a few million dollars and do an ad buy instead? I can reach the same number of people.”

But reach isn’t the problem for today’s brand leader. With marketing teams facing a 54% increase in content production demands, generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Sora, HeyGen, and OpusPro have made it easier or cheaper to produce content at scale to saturate feeds and timelines with ad-ready messaging. Yet, the biggest mistake in doing so is believing that speed and volume equal impact. When reach and efficiency aren’t prioritized, nuance and complexity take precedence. When this occurs, audiences tune out.

Far too many brands have chosen to ignore the erosion of trust and AI fatigue currently taking shape. From cultural forces to an overreliance on influencer marketing, audiences have become increasingly skeptical of what they consume. The rise of deepfakes and AI-generated influencers like Lil Miquela or viral personas like Granny Spills, each with millions of followers, has only accelerated that distrust. So when audiences no longer trust what they see, sensory marketing, a deeper and more integrated approach to experiential marketing, must step up to capture and retain their attention.

OUR 5 SENSES ARE INTEGRAL TO BRAND STRATEGY

There’s a shift happening within the realm of communications, marketing, and authentic storytelling. Brands leading the way are designing experiences that encourage audiences to immerse themselves within their world. From the sounds or scents that evoke nostalgia to the tastes of a once forgotten meal, each creates connections that become part of their brand strategy.

This is experiential communications—the intersection where strategic storytelling, edutainment (education and entertainment), and community convene through the use of our senses.

WHAT WE SMELL, WE REMEMBER

While working with the Monell Chemical Senses Center 15 years ago, research revealed how the brain enables smell to trigger powerful memories. When paired with taste, retention increases even further and anchors meaning.

That recall is important for reinforcing the emotional connection between a brand and its audience. Research from the Sense of Smell Institute shows people remember smells with about 65% accuracy after a year, while visual recall falls to about 50% after just three months.

CEO of Scent Marketing, Caroline Fabrigas, calls scent an “invisible influencer,” much like the feeling of entering a hotel lobby, like 1 Hotel, and immediately wanting to bottle up the smell to take it home. That response is not only by design, it’s clearly working.

SENSORY MOMENTS TURN FEELING INTO ACTION

Experiential marketing has become shorthand for brand activation, and that’s where we’ve gotten it wrong. Some of the most effective brands operating in this space don’t label themselves “experiential.” Instead, they rely on sensorial visuals and immersive experiences to translate emotional resonance into buying behaviors.

Companies like We Are Ona describe their work as curated culinary experiences. Through food, they tell stories, create memories, and build connections, using taste as a channel to communicate with their audience.

Hailey Bieber used strategic creative direction to develop product design visuals for her beauty brand, Rhode, reframing skincare as craveable treats; the move saw the brand generate over $200 million in net sales from just 10 products.

The multisensory experience of food activations and edible-inspired marketing creates a sense of relatability, nostalgia, community, and luxury, thus improving brand value while stimulating subsequent purchase decisions.

WHY SENSORY EXPERIENCES WORK

Experience is the most credible distribution channel. In a time where content is abundant but recall is scarce, in-person connection and sensory principles are powerful.

When I hosted a manifestation party for a group of journalists, I knew the safest choice would’ve been a polished dinner, but chose, instead, to double down on experience. We passed out magic wands, concocted a fictitious drink called “magic bubbles,” and played board games all night long. Seven years later, I’m still told by media executives that it was one of the best brand events they’ve ever attended.

Bringing a multi-sensory event of this nature to life requires human design. Its effectiveness, beyond the fun, interactive experience, was because it was deeply rooted in research, science, and sensory marketing. This same level of intentional, audience-led design is infused into my collaboration with Ohai.ai for the curated experiential series called, “Care To Gather.” There, a multidisciplinary team, from linguists to copywriters, pressure-tested every detail, including scripts and the run-of-show. The results proved that events that convert must be engineered around audience psychology and behavioral response.

SENSORY EXPERIENCES DRIVE PURCHASING DECISIONS

Marketing leaders can continue feeding the content machine or invest in experiences that audiences will remember, talk about, and return to. In a trust-fragmented world, experiential communications converts skeptical audiences into buyers ready to click, buy, and repeat.

Rakia Reynolds is a partner at Actum.

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