India, Dec. 5 -- Skoda Auto India recently launched Octavia RS (Rally Sport), a limited-edition performance vehicle which saw all the 100 cars get booked in less than 30 minutes. The response was heartening for Skoda but the brand didn't want to leave the rest of its fans - those who could not lay their hands on the car -- disappointed. With its creative agency BBH, it had already launched an interactive microsite for fans and a bespoke driver's seat fragrance to give consumers the feel of being behind the wheel. But that wasn't enough and Skoda sought a deeper engagement with Octavia RS fans. So BBH engaged an expert hypnotist who took willing Octavia RS fans on a "Mind Drive." Through hypnosis, it made them experience how it would feel to be driving an Octavia RS which has sporty genes and a 7-speed automatic transmission system. "Since the cars sold out, we offered fans the opportunity to use the power of imagination to experience the drive," said Parikshit Bhattaccharya, chief creative officer, BBH. "This was our way of creating a differentiated sensory branding. Fans experienced the car without being in the car," Bhattaccharya said. Brands are increasingly looking to offer multi-sensory experiences to consumers through advertising and communication to standout in the clutter of marketing messages. "They want to go beyond videos to focus on emotion and immersive experience. Multi-sensory branding gives many more dimensions to a product. Visual and audio cues, taste and touch create memory structures," said Bhattaccharya. But it is now widely accepted that humans experience the world through many more than just the traditional five senses - some estimating as high as thirty-three - though not all are equally recognized within the scientific community, said Samit Sinha, managing partner at Alchemist Brand Consulting. He cites Diane Ackerman from A Natural History of the Senses, where she argues that though sight dominates our perception, the other senses play equally vital roles. "Colours, shapes, and visual symbols influence our emotions, yet sound, especially music, creates intimacy," Sinha said. The olfactory sense triggers memory, taste is intertwined with identity and touch anchors us in the physical world, he added. "When used well, sensory stimuli can capture attention, strengthen emotional resonance, and deepen brand recall. Yet despite growing awareness, real-world application remains limited, with only a handful of standout global examples," he said. While Harley Davidson has patented the sound of its engine, Singapore Airlines uses scents, cabin sounds and other visual and tactile cues to evoke comfort and luxury to build a distinct brand identity, Sinha said. Sandeep Budhiraja, promoter of market research firm Spark Sensory agreed that examples of building brands on sensory cues out of India are few and far between. "The IHCL hotel brands like Taj, Vivanta or Ginger, play different music and use signature fragrances in their properties," Budhiraja said. Sensory differentiation in product development and branding is critical in the age of shrinking attention spans, he said, ruing the fact that start-ups aren't investing in this domain. "You cannot create a strong brand without a strong story emanating from a sensory experience," he said. Since most engagements are focused at specific cohorts, data on them makes it easier to design something beyond sight, sound and motion, said BBH's Bhattaccharya. "Basically, the brands are asking to create something that will deliver lasting stories as most content has become disposable," he added. "Now there are tools available to build that experience. You will see this done at scale," he said. Sinha agreed that the landscape is poised for transformation. AR, VR and sophisticated AI could finally unlock the full potential of true multi-sensory brand engagement, helping deliver not just immersive simulations, but also highly customisable ones, he said. Sinha doesn't see the increased adoption of online shopping and marketing as a challenge. The convergence of metaverse development and rapid advances in AI has the potential to create simulated experiences that may one day be indistinguishable from a user's physical reality, he said. With haptic technology, online marketing and e-commerce can already activate the sense of touch. "And though true scent and taste simulation doesn't yet exist, it's only a matter to time," he said, adding that up until that future arrives, it is essential for many brands to complement their online presence with physical experience centres that enable richer, multi-sensory engagement....