Brand Sense: How to Build Powerful Brands Through Touch, Taste, Smell, Sight and Sound

Martin Lindstrom
Kogan Page Limited
London, UK N1 9JN, and Sterling, VA 20166-2012
2005
237 pp.
Keywords brand creation, brand building, branding

As a teenager, I remember working in the local movie theater and being directed by my manager to
constantly pop popcorn, all day and all night. We had already popped plenty of popcorn for the day early
in the morning, and in fact, much of the popcorn that I would pop throughout the day would end up going
in the trash. I couldn’t figure out at the time why we were wasting so much popcorn!

I realize now that the popping of the popcorn occurs, not only to create product to sell, but to create a
unique experience using the sense of smell. The scent of popcorn popping not only stimulates the olfactory
senses in a very positive way that creates desire for the product, but it also assists in making going to the
movies, a multi-sensory experience.

Brand Sense, by Martin Lindstrom is a real-world, example-filled book of brands that have built loyal
following using multiple dimensions of our natural senses. Those who are familiar with brands that play on
our senses, will no doubt be entertained by the many examples that show how firms appeal to a variety of
our senses ranging from travel leader, Singapore Airlines, to mega-brand, Coca-Cola. Lindstrom uses both
successful and unsuccessful examples to show how brand managers can create their own “smashable
brand” which the author defines as a brand that is still recognizable after removing the product’s logo and
brand name. In other words, if you were to smash a bottle of Absolute Vodka in which the label was
removed and lost, what people still realize that the remaining pieces of the bottle were a bottle of Absolute?

Lindstrom stresses many brands today are not smashable, in the sense that if the product lost its logo and
name, the brand becomes unrecognizable and loses its meaning. In order to reverse this logo and name
dependency, all other elements that are picked up by our senses – colors, pictures, design, sound, taste –
must be fully integrated. Lindstrom gives multiple examples of brands that lost their “smashability” by
becoming too dependent on brand name, such as the struggling Kodak, but counters each miscue by
dissecting the successful Singapore Airlines, in which the company has made the experience of air travel a
truly multi-sensory experience from the specifically tailored look of the “Singapore Girl” to the scent that
she wears while on the job (which is also found in through the cabin). Lindstrom clearly illustrates this in
his succinct writing style, “The sensory branding of the Singapore Girl reached its zenith by the end of the
1990s when Singapore Airlines introduced Stefan Floridian Waters… and aroma that has been specifically
designed as part of the Singapore Airlines experience. Stefan Floridian Waters formed the scent in the
flight attendants’ perfume, was blended into the hot towels served before takeoff, and generally permeated
the entire fleet of Singapore Airlines planes.” (p. 15). Multiple anecdotes like these are found throughout
the book.

What the makes the book particularly interesting are the visual diagrams Lindstrom uses throughout to
show a graphical representation of where a specific brand falls in terms of appealing to each of the five
senses. His depictions are simple to understand and follow, and can be easily utilized by a brand manager
with just a small amount of data. Using these diagrams and examples throughout, Lindstrom paints a clear
picture of what brands appeal along multiple dimensions, and which ones do not.

Lindstrom’s book is not as much a “how to” as it is an introduction to brand managers of the concept of
brand smashability. This book can be resourceful for brand mangers of new products in development as
well as brand managers of well-established brands who can take advantage of creating a multi-sensory
experience to get an edge on the competition. The author even presents data and analysis that shows how
Coca-Cola has taken better advantage of using the customer’s multiple senses compared to its rival, Pepsi.
All throughout, this book is chock full of practical, recognizable and relevant examples using global brands
that almost anyone can understand and relate. Lindstrom has a knack for taking a brand, and analyzing its
key components in a clear and understandable way that will make sense to even the newest brand
managers. Additionally, his writing style is highly enjoyable, as he gets his points across without over
analysis.

The book is broken down into eight clear and distinct chapters. At the end of each chapter a “Highlights”
section appears, which is actually quite comprehensive, that breaks down the key points of the chapter.
Additionally, the Highlights are followed by “Action Points” which offer specific instructions for brand
managers in which they can apply the key chapter concepts to their own product(s) and brand.

While this book’s intended audience is primarily brand managers, I myself intend to use it my Consumer
Behavior class. This is a fun, easy to read book that packs a lot in to a small amount of pages. Students
will enjoy the multitude of examples of their favorite brands and how the brands have evolved into
becoming “multi-sensory.” I think all brand mangers should read this book if they want to get an additional
edge by tapping into the natural physiology of their customers.

Jeffrey Podoshen
Assistant Professor of Marketing
Franklin and Marshall College