Learn, explore and unleash your inner chef.

“Most marketers are not tapping into all the senses of their consumers, and the opportunities that come from providing a multi-sensorial experience. They must think beyond one sense and find ways to connect with consumers,” advises Karen Stanton, Director, Global Marketing & Branding, International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.

Stanton is a speaker at the marcus evans FMCG Marketing Summit 2019, taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada, February 21-22.

What are some of the innovative sensorial experiences related to the FMCG space?

Many large F&B and personal care companies ask us to create signature scents and tastes. Creating memorable sensorial experiences is a significant opportunity not just for F&B and traditional fragrance industries, but for many other industries too. We see everything from technology, insurance, and airlines using scent and taste to create brand differentiation. In the fight to create brand leadership, scent and taste can set organizations apart and create a connection with consumers that never existed before. You can have a beautiful website and packaging, but consumers will ultimately come back because they love and connect with the brand, and scent and taste is a significant contributor to that.

However, it is not just scent or taste - people have many other senses. The rise of experiential museums such as the Museum of Ice Cream (one of the most instagrammed museums globally in 2018) and the Glade museum of Feelings are indicators of the sensorial-seeking consumer. If F&B manufacturers are just thinking of taste, they are missing a larger opportunity – sound, for example; or the tactile feeling of packaging; the touch of the product itself. The key is to be multi-sensorial in approach.

What can they achieve? Is this just about customer loyalty?

Brands with a long-term presence need to maintain their relevance over time and engaging with the senses is a key component to building emotional loyalty - to create memories and connections over time.

What consumer shifts are taking place today?

There is a significant shift taking place in transparency and trust. Consumers are looking at product labels significantly more than in the past, so many manufacturers are bringing labels to the front and simplifying the ingredient list. Food safety scares, emission scandals and data breaches have shifted the trust equation so that consumers place far more emphasis on what their peers think vs. larger institutions and big companies. They want to know exactly what is in the products they are eating.

Consumers are also far more aware of sustainability issues. Understanding the footprint of products is not a feel-good factor anymore, but an essential part of their decision-making.

Many people connect with their bodies through wearable devices that not only measure steps and exercise, but extend to measurements such as heart rate or stress level. Increasingly, we are seeing DNA analysis for understanding optimal diets and eating specific foods based on genetic make-up. This could have massive implications in the future for F&B manufacturers. There are big opportunities for FMCG manufacturers to engage with consumers in a completely different way.

How can they be agile enough to act on these consumer shifts?

At the fundamental level, it is about listening to consumers; understanding the changing dynamics of lifestyles and shifts, responding in an agile way and exploring new territories of innovation.