Desserts are fun! And anything with gustatory and olfactory experiences is sure to stick. Religion knows this. Hence, two of the GI-tagged food items in India, Tirupathi laddoo and Palani panchamritham, are temple offerings. Corporations know this too. Hence, they offer free lunch to keep their employees religeously loyal to them or at least make them stay in the office more. Hilton DoubleTree offers warm chocolate chip cookies as a welcome gesture to guests on check-in. Malaysian Airlines is known for their signature Kacang, or salted peanut snack, available only on their flights. Dunkin Dougnuts once ran a ‘Flavor Radio’ campaign. Where an atomizer on buses released a scent of Dunkin Donut coffee at the same time when the brand’s jingle played on the radio in the bus.
If big organizations can do it, small businesses and startups too can give it a try. If you are a Google My Business service provider, then you can have a few packets of cotton candy glitter bombs at your event booth. When you have a visitor, you can offer them a drink (sparkling water, champage, any clear beverage). And add the cotton bombs as an element of surprise, making the visitor wonder what flavor or color it could be. If it is a Microsoft hackathon, then it could be Microsoft-flavored soft serve or softy ice cream with energy boosters.
Now it need not be related to a famous brand. It could be your own business, your own brand. While using food in your marketing mix, just make sure you try to reflect your brand through gusto-olfactory experiences (flavors, textures, and colors, in short). DO NOT explicitly put your logos on food. That can kill the purpose. People have overdone it in the form of cookies, cupcakes, cakes, chocolates, and so on, all stamped with selfish-looking, force-fitted logos. It sends out a cheap signal that you are not putting in enough effort. While a novel flavor with subtle resembles to your business through brand colors can give people a talking point.
The more restricted the gusto-olfactory experience, the more special and sweet it becomes. For example, you can offer it:
- Only for alumnis
- Or only for special customers
- Or available only in certain geographic locations
- Or available only on special occasions like business anniversaries or milestones
If you are a service provider or a reseller of a known brand, then don’t be a miser. Once your event is done, share pictures of how people enjoyed it along with the recipe that other partners in the ecosystem can try. Let the celebrations spread! A good company in its right mind will always enjoy people celebrating its brand and its brand values.