Quantcast
Marklives.com

Marklives.com

Covering Africa's changing media, marketing and advertising landscape.

  • Home
  • Sections
    • Media
    • S’HOT
    • Marketing
    • Tech
    • Adland
    • Archive
  • Columns
    • Adnalysis – Bogosi Motshegwa
    • ABC of Scale — Charlie Mathews
    • Agency Leaders – Most Admired Poll
    • Agency Life – TJ Njozela
    • Back2Basics – Mark Eardley
    • Big Q – MarkLives Panel
    • Brand Culture – DK Badenhorst
    • Cartoon – The Marketing Mice
    • Circulation Data – ABC Analysis
    • Clicks ‘n Tricks – Charlie Stewart
    • Cover Stories – Shane de Lange
    • The CX-Files – Julia Ahlfeldt
    • Dear Radio – Paulo Dias
    • Dissident Spin Doctor – Emma King
    • Fair Exchange – Erna George
    • Gestalt – Leeya Hendricks
    • Global Headline Makers – Mark Tungate
    • Headspace – Tenielle Maris
    • Hermaneutics – Herman Manson
    • Hidden Figures – Musaba Kangulu
    • Masterclass Notes – Johanna McDowell
    • Media Future – Arthur Goldstuck
    • Media Redefined – Martin MacGregor
    • Motive – By Invitation Only
    • Only Connect – Bradley Elliott
    • Shelf Life – Cheryl Hunter
    • South African TV Ratings
    • The Interlocker — We cover comms
    • The Martini Shot – Bobby Amm
    • The Real McCoy – Sean McCoy
    • Thinking B2B – Warren Moss
    • Unorthodoxy – Gau Narayanan
    • Fragments – Marguerite Coetzee
    • Young, Gifted & Killing It – Veli Ngubane
  • Find an Agency
    • Shortlist & Compare Agencies
    • List your Agency
    • List as Agency Supplier/Service
    • Register as a Marketer
    • Company News Feed
    • Upgrade to Ramify Premium
    • Add Premium to Cart
  • Data
    • Biggest SA consumer magazines
    • Biggest newspapers in SA
    • Top 50 SA advertisers 2016
    • South African ad agencies by revenue
    • South African TV Ratings
  • Careers
    • Advertising
    • Digital
    • Marketing
    • Media
    • Public Relations
    • View All
  • About
    • About & Contact
    • Advertise
    • Partners
    • Shop
Fragments – Marguerite Coetzee
New Coca-Cola banners

Multisensorial marketing — the tasty

  •   May 11, 2017
  •   0

by Marguerite de Villiers. Our taste preferences and perceptions differ vastly from how others experience taste. Not only do taste trends come and go as we are introduced to new food products, regional variations, and flavour innovations, our preferred tastes change as we age. As marketers, we need to incorporate verbal, visual and experiential perspectives when marketing taste.

The single sip slip-up

Blind taste tests are a popular way for competitor brands to determine which brand consumers prefer — solely based on taste. Products are placed in unmarked containers and given to consumers to taste and indicate which they like most and for what reasons. It isolates consumer perception and preference around taste, avoiding other influences inherent in branding. Sensation transference is the impact on taste by consumers’ subconscious associations with branding and packaging. In other words, we eat first with our eyes. We transfer the way a product appears over to our perception and experience of its taste.

The Pepsi Challenge — an ongoing marketing promotion since 1975 — has consumers taste unbranded Pepsi and Coca-Cola. This challenge has revealed that most American consumers prefer the sweeter taste of Pepsi. But there is a twist to this tale: other studies have shown that, while consumers are more likely to prefer a sweeter option when allowed just a single sip, they would opt for a less-sweet alternative when drinking a larger amount over time.

The taste mistake

In an attempt to replace the original recipe with something sweeter, Coca-Cola introduced “New Coke”, which later became “Coke II”. ‘The new taste of Coca-Cola’ was considered by many as a major marketing failure. The original Coke formula was then reintroduced and rebranded as Coca-Cola Classic. There was a significant spike in sales, causing consumers and critics to question whether it all was just a marketing ploy or truly a cautionary tale.

In 2016, Coca-Cola launched its “Taste the Feeling” campaign, shifting from a lifestyle brand to focusing more on its unmatched taste. For many, the taste of Coca-Cola is unbeatable — partly because of the powerful, subconscious and emotional experiences evoked when drinking Coke. Coca-Cola’s new campaign is particularly targeted at lapsed consumers, reminding them of the nostalgic and youthful associations they may have with the brand.

Taste of place

Terroir is described as the characteristic taste and flavour of a product that has been influenced by the environment in which it was produced. These include physical factors and practices involved in its production. Terroir impacts the perception and price of a product, particularly in wine, cheese, pork, cognac and coffee.

There exists a relationship between taste and place. We see this clearly in single-origin coffees such as those served at Starbucks. Sourcing coffee beans from an isolated region seems to intensify the characteristic taste unique to that location.

When marketing taste, we need to develop a strategy that is both appealing and that creates the impression of benefit. The challenge is to do so through justified claims and without making comparisons: a product needs to stand for the best. Edible products need to be portrayed as both tasty and flavourful in order to convey enjoyment, to be memorable and connect with consumers’ existing memories, and to be perceived as being beneficial in addressing a need or desire.

 

Marguerite de VilliersMarguerite de Villiers is an anthropologist at strategic marketing consultancy, Added Value.

“Motive” is a by-invitation-only column on MarkLives.com. Contributors are picked by the editors but generally don’t form part of our regular columnist lineup, unless the topic is off-column.

— Sign up now for the MarkLives email newsletter every Monday and Thursday, now including headlines from the Ramify.biz company newsroom service!

Columns

  • *Young, Gifted & Killing It – Veli Ngubane
    *Young, Gifted & Killing It – Veli Ngubane
  • ABC of Scale — Charlie Mathews
    ABC of Scale — Charlie Mathews
  • Adnalysis – Bogosi Motshegwa
    Adnalysis – Bogosi Motshegwa
  • Agency Leaders – Most Admired Poll
    Agency Leaders – Most Admired Poll
  • Agency Life – TJ Njozela
    Agency Life – TJ Njozela
  • Back2Basics – Mark Eardley
    Back2Basics – Mark Eardley
  • Big Q – MarkLives Panel
    Big Q – MarkLives Panel
  • Big Reads on MarkLives
    Big Reads on MarkLives
  • Brand Culture – DK Badenhorst
    Brand Culture – DK Badenhorst
  • Brands & Branding – Affinity Publishing
    Brands & Branding – Affinity Publishing
  • By Invitation Only – Motive
    By Invitation Only – Motive
  • Cartoon – The Marketing Mice
    Cartoon – The Marketing Mice
  • Circulation Data – ABC Analysis
    Circulation Data – ABC Analysis
  • Clicks 'n Tricks – Charlie Stewart
    Clicks 'n Tricks – Charlie Stewart
  • Cover Stories – Shane de Lange
    Cover Stories – Shane de Lange
  • Dear Radio – Paulo Dias
    Dear Radio – Paulo Dias
  • Design Indaba – Festival of Design
    Design Indaba – Festival of Design
  • Design Plus – Mark Tungate
    Design Plus – Mark Tungate
  • Dissident Spin Doctor – Emma King
    Dissident Spin Doctor – Emma King
  • Fair Exchange – Erna George
    Fair Exchange – Erna George
  • Fragments – Marguerite Coetzee
    Fragments – Marguerite Coetzee
  • Gestalt – Leeya Hendricks
    Gestalt – Leeya Hendricks
  • Global Headline Makers – Mark Tungate
    Global Headline Makers – Mark Tungate
  • Headspace – Tenielle Maris
    Headspace – Tenielle Maris
  • Hermaneutics – Herman Manson
    Hermaneutics – Herman Manson
  • Hidden Figures – Musaba Kangulu
    Hidden Figures – Musaba Kangulu
  • Masterclass Notes – Johanna McDowell
    Masterclass Notes – Johanna McDowell
  • Media Future – Arthur Goldstuck
    Media Future – Arthur Goldstuck
  • Media Redefined – Martin MacGregor
    Media Redefined – Martin MacGregor
  • Only Connect – Bradley Elliott
    Only Connect – Bradley Elliott
  • Shelf Life – Cheryl Hunter
    Shelf Life – Cheryl Hunter
  • South African TV Ratings
    South African TV Ratings
  • The Ad of the Week – Oresti Patricios
    The Ad of the Week – Oresti Patricios
  • The AdForum Summit – Johanna McDowell
    The AdForum Summit – Johanna McDowell
  • The CX-Files – Julia Ahlfeldt
    The CX-Files – Julia Ahlfeldt
  • The Interlocker — We cover comms
    The Interlocker — We cover comms
  • The Martini Shot – Bobby Amm
    The Martini Shot – Bobby Amm
  • The Real McCoy – Sean McCoy
    The Real McCoy – Sean McCoy
  • Thinking B2B – Warren Moss
    Thinking B2B – Warren Moss
  • Unorthodoxy – Gau Narayanan
    Unorthodoxy – Gau Narayanan
  • View All
  • Project Manager
    April 20, 2018
  • QA Tester
    April 19, 2018
  • Snr Account Director – Award winning independent agency
    April 19, 2018
  • Junior Digital Account Manager: Retail/FMCG
    April 19, 2018
  • Marketing Coordinator: Sport
    April 19, 2018
  • Mid-Senior Packaging/Product Designer
    April 18, 2018
  • Mid-Senior Graphic Designer
    April 18, 2018
  • Senior UX Designer
    April 18, 2018
  • Marketing Manager: Premium Alcohol Brand
    April 18, 2018
  • Graphic Designer
    April 18, 2018
  • Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Leave a Reply Click here to cancel reply.

    No comments yet.
    Facebook
    Like us on Facebook
    Twitter
    Follow us on Twitter
    Google Plus
    Add us on Google Plus
    YouTube
    Join us on YouTube
    Pinterest
    Follow us on Pinterest
    Subscribe Newsletter

    Get our round-up of top ad and media industry news every Monday and Thursday.

    Useful Links

    • About & Contact
    • Comment Policy
    • Advertise
    • Partners

    Partner