Branding is evolving. Over the next decade the dialogue will shift from better print campaigns and more catchy television commercials towards a path of reinvention. Brands will have to stand out, assert uniqueness, and establish identity as never before. Traditional advertising channels will continue to hold true, but will have to exist alongside non-traditional channels, which are mushrooming as fast as technology permits. Airwaves and cyberways are gridlocked with so many messages that it's hard to find a voice in the jam.

Less than 10 per cent of the world's top brands demonstrate a sensory branding platform, although this is expected to increase to 35 per cent within the next five years. The development will happen within the following three categories of industry.

1. The sensory pioneers - automobile and pharmaceutical will lead the way in sensory focus and innovation the next decade. Trademarking components that build loyalty, and avoiding expiring patents will become the main driver.
2. The sensory adopters - the telecommunications and computer industries are both fighting for definition and differentiation in their commodity-driven businesses. They are most likely to look to the automobile and entertainment sectors for inspiration.
3. The sensory followers - a broad collection of industries including retail, FMCG and entertainment are more likely to follow than to lead. These industries often work with smaller budgets, have less of a margin to play with, and perhaps more importantly, are dealing with a less competitive picture than the sensory adopters.

There's every indication that branding will move into an even more sophisticated realm - the Holistic Selling Proposition. HSP brands are those, which not only anchor themselves in tradition but adopt religious characteristics and leverage the concept of sensory branding as a holistic way of spreading the news. Holistic brands are smashable. They have their own identity which is expressed in its every message, shape, symbol, ritual and tradition.

If you want to understand the dynamics of sensory brand building this chapter summarizes every element of it. It takes you through fascinating statistics from the BRAND sense study and present aspects of branding you most never have noticed before now.

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