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Part of the reaction element of the We Do Your Marketing Way
How sensory triggers shape attention, behaviour and reaction
Every marketing message creates a reaction — but that reaction doesn’t start with logic. It starts with the senses.
Sensory triggers determine what people notice, how they feel, and what they do next. When used intentionally, they guide attention, influence perception, and drive specific actions without the audience consciously realising why.
This page explains how we use sensory objectives as part of the Reaction stage in our marketing framework.
The human brain is designed to respond to sensory input first and rationalise later. Before someone reads your copy or considers your offer, they see, hear, or feel something.
By deciding which sense you are targeting, you gain control over:
Each sense aligns with a different campaign objective — and choosing the right one ensures your marketing has a clear psychological purpose.
Within the Reaction stage, we use the five senses as strategic tools. Each sense represents a different type of response you may want from your audience.
Sight is the fastest and most dominant sense. When sight is the focus, the goal is to:
Enhance brand visibility
Spark immediate interest
Establish or reinforce market presence
This is commonly used for:
Brand launches
Awareness campaigns
Visual re-positioning
Strong visual identity, consistency, and clarity are critical when sight is the primary sensory trigger.
Smell is deeply connected to memory and emotional association. In marketing terms, this sense represents changing how something is perceived.
This objective is used when you want to:
Shift consumer perceptions
Respond to market changes
Introduce something new (product, supplier, positioning)
Smell-based objectives are about reframing — encouraging the audience to see your brand differently than they did before.
Touch is linked to physical response and interaction. When this sense is targeted, the aim is to:
Prompt audience action
Increase enquiries or sign-ups
Encourage direct engagement
This is ideal for:
Lead generation campaigns
Subscription drives
Membership or service sign-ups
Here, marketing is designed to reduce friction and make action feel natural and immediate.
Taste is associated with satisfaction, familiarity, and refinement. This objective focuses on:
Deepening existing relationships
Improving customer satisfaction
Strengthening long-term loyalty
Taste-driven campaigns are often aimed at:
Existing clients
Retention strategies
Upselling or cross-selling
The goal is not attention — it’s reinforcement and trust.
Hearing represents conversation and shared experience. When this sense is the focus, the aim is to:
Encourage referrals
Generate word-of-mouth growth
Turn customers into advocates
This objective works best when trust is already established and the brand experience is strong enough that people want to talk about it.
How Sensory Objectives Fit the Reaction Stage
Senses are not random creative choices — they are intentional psychological levers.
By choosing the right sensory objective, we define:
This ensures campaigns are built with purpose, not guesswork.
In Summary
Senses shape reaction before thought ever begins.
When you understand which sense to target — and why — your marketing becomes clearer, more effective, and more aligned with how people naturally respond to the world around them.