Your brand is alive: The power of multi-sensorial branding

Brands can no longer have a one-dimensional approach that underutilizes key marketing channels. Conversely, there’s a huge opportunity for brands to stay continuously relevant and use agility to create growth. They’ll need agencies who are on the same journey.

Brand building, beyond design

While traditional agencies have often stuck within their specialty, such as logo design or brand strategy, these agencies risk becoming antiquated if they remain static and resistant to change. In a time where customer perceptions are rapidly shifting, agencies of the future will embrace a multi-sensorial approach to brand building.

This means that agencies must invest in more than just design as brands are no longer confined to a visual identity alone. To keep up with brand needs, it’s increasingly important for agencies to be able to offer a more comprehensive, living, breathing brand that is effective across diverse touchpoints. The agencies that can evoke multiple sensory elements in the brand development journey are positioned to evolve and stand the test of time.

The sound of brand success

No brand is on mute; sound is an increasingly vital brand asset that deserves strategic consideration and creative brilliance. The days of brands working with agencies, only to consider sound weeks before the final launch, are numbered. The fusion of sound with both design and experience can humanize brands across touchpoints, delivering memorable and impactful campaigns for consumers.

The research, testing, production, and implementation processes surrounding brands’ sonic assets have been greatly expedited through innovations enabling brand-owned and pre-licensed music implementation at scale across consumer-facing channels. Rapid AI-fueled technological advancements, meanwhile, are allowing brands to tap into our senses beyond visual aesthetics.

Who owns the multi-sensory future?

Well-rounded agencies specializing in an array of disciplines, from sonic branding and visual design to data-driven strategy and the execution of both physical and digital experiences, will lead the way in 2024.

This multi-faceted approach to holistic brand building can be seen through the recent Saudia Airlines rebrand, which reinforces Saudia’s national identity, not just visually, but through all five senses. The entire customer journey has been reimagined, including a distinctive fragrance and locally inspired cuisine, crafted to mirror the spirit and hospitality of Saudi Arabia. Saudia Airlines expressed its ambition and pioneering vision through sound for the very first time, investing in a sonic identity and DNA. This is the first truly multi-sensory brand project launched in the Middle East, with sound, visuals, and taste all considered to heighten all facets of the customer experience.

To evolve our own agency offer, Landor expressed the importance of this new sensory-forward agency approach to redefine our own brand evolution. Strategically following a series of key mergers and acquisitions, Landor broadened its retail experience offer in a merger with Fitch and welcomed sonic branding leaders Amp, motion design specialists ManvsMachine, and architectural design experts BDG. Our commitment to innovation has helped deliver a new sonic dimension to clients, expanding Landor’s AI capabilities with a unique sonic toolset.

The new Landor agency brand identity evolution features an Amp-produced sonic DNA accompanied by a refreshed visual and motion identity. This DNA captures the essence of water across its many diverse forms through sound. A journey through shapes, textures, scale, and power, this fusion of elements differentiates the design agency in a crowded landscape of contemporaries.

Multi-sensorial branding is pushing the boundaries of conventional thinking, actively engaging with audiences through a lineup of experiences that tap into various senses. This new approach enables the establishment of deeper, more meaningful connections with consumers. The brands and agencies that facilitate the integration of sensory touchpoints beyond the visual spectrum will shape the future of wider brand communications while reaping the benefits of expanded engagement.