12: Brand Touch and Feel
View the warning on the contents page regarding "facts" presented by this author.
The author scoffs at the notion of a "do not touch" sign in a retail environment. Aside of conveying contempt for the customer, by whose dirty and clumsy hands the merchandise may be soiled or broken, forbidding touch is effectively forbidding the customer from connecting.
Touch is a very powerful sense - physical contact makes things seem real, and makes us feel connected to things in the environment. In a retail environment, a customer who touches a piece of merchandise is far more likely to make a purchase than one who merely surveys the inventory by sight. Touch is also the "final test" before purchasing - to test the ripeness of fruit of feel the texture of fabric.
The ability to touch products is often cited as a primary reason that many customers still purchase products via brick-and-mortar stores, in spite of the lower cost and greater convenience of shopping online.
Also, while touch is generally considered to be primarily experienced through the hands, it is not exclusively so: we can feel the fabric of clothing, the carpet beneath our feet, the movement of air over our skin. The hands are not even the most sensitive instruments for perceiving touch - notice that when feeling fur or fabric, many individuals instinctively place it against their cheek.
Getting in touch with your brand
The sense of touch is not redundant to sight, though we may learn that textures have a certain visual appearance, the tactile sensation is much richer and more credible.
When customers handle a product, they form a strong impression of it. For example, if an object feels heavier than others of its kind, there is usually a perception of quality. Or if a product feels lighter than others of its kind, it may engender a sense of sophistication and elegance.
Along with weight and shape, texture is also a factor. The author refers to a study at the University of Leeds that found that, in perfume bottles, subjects that handled a product in a smooth bottle were more likely to regard it as stulish than those who were given the same product in a rough or textured one.
Touch extends far beyond the initial encounter with a new brand or product. Aside of the sense that a person who handles an item for the first time perceives it through touch, those who use an item have become accustomed to the way that specific brands feel. They have a deep attachment to known brands because they feel familiar, feel right ... and competing products feel different, feel wrong.
Touch is commonly associated to clothing items, but it is also a significant factor in the perception of technology devices and even tools. Apple is given as an example of a firm whose products have very carefully engineered tactile sensations.
Bringing your brand to the surface
The sense of touch extends beyond the item itself to its packaging: while packaging materials are often discarded, they constitute the customer's first experience of an item that puts the customer in a positive state of mind. Consider the jewelry: would a customer be willing to pay as much for an elegant wristwatch that cane in a cheap plastic case rather than a velvet box?
In packaging of consumer goods, especially grocery items, some firms have taken the route of creating unique packaging, such that customers perceive the "feel" of their jar and can identify their brand without even seeing it. Consider the care that went into the design of the Coca-Cola bottle, which was designed so that customers would know the brand by touch, and to which the company has remained faithful for nearly a century, even while other beverage manufacturers use nearly identical package shapes.
The use of a unique package design is an effective way to stand out from nearly identical competitors. The Coca Cola bottle is again mentioned, along with the prism-shaped box of the Toblerone candy bar.
(EN: This calls to mind the phenomenon of "unboxing" - where an early adopter of a new technology gadget will post a video or photo series that shows the produce being removed from its packaging. This nerdy striptease is curiously popular, and demonstrates the way in which clever packaging makes an impression about the sophistication of the product itself.)
There is some reference to packaging technology, which has made it less expensive to customize the texture, though few companies put this level of thought into their product. The package can have an embossed logo, provide details in Braille (required for European pharmaceuticals and recommended for many products, or even given a specific texture. Plastics are especially adaptable, but it can also be done with traditional materials such as metal and glass.
The author provides examples: a DVD case that had a snake-skin texture, a car where the company name and logo is embossed on the dashboard, promotional beer cans that were given the texture of uniforms of sporting equipment.
(EN: The author's examples seem novel and a bit gimmicky, and no evidence of effectiveness is presented, but from personal experience, I've noticed that texture has caught my eye - a product in a textured container catches my eye, makes me more inclined to pick up the item. Though I don't have a sense that it's particularly effective in getting me to buy it, it does at least get my attention and make the product stand out against others that are in "typical" packaging in terms of texture and shape.)
There is also oblique reference to ancillary concerns about packaging, given that environmentalism is in fashion: customers seem drawn to recycled or recyclable containers, and in some instances take a dim view of wasteful packaging.
Novelty and creativity are key components, but also consider appropriateness (whether the given texture is in line with the brand) and consistency (special promotions are fine, but having a consistent texture better supports branding and identity).
Using touch in a collateral
Even before the product is handled, or even when there is no physical product that can be handled, a tactile impression by the promotional materials.
Consider the weight and texture of the paper, whether there is any embossing, whether it is matte or glossy, whether spot-varnish can be used, etc.
As with product packaging, so few companies put much thought into the matter, or choose anything other than the cheapest materials, that doing so can have a dramatic impact.
The quality of promotional materials must be consistent to one another, and it's a good idea to use the same textures in follow-on contacts. The example given is of a promotion that used parchment paper and a wax seal: the same paper was used for in-store collateral, and the same wax was used in give-away items, and the theme was continued throughout the firm for a period of five years.
Another suggestion is to enclose tactile items in promotional mailings that are related to the product. These may be related to the product itself (a swatch of fabric), used to communicate a touch sensation, or included for novelty: the author gives the example of a nonprofit that included a length of steel wire in its mailings (the wire being used in constructing makeshift barriers to prevent erosion of farmland) that led to a 59% increase in the effectiveness of the campaign.
Touching what surrounds you
Another are in which to consider touch is the customer environment, where the "feel" of objects in the environment contributes to the sense of the brand.
Consider the difference between a fast-food restaurant and a fine dining restaurant: the texture of the furniture, flatware, napkins, and other elements is geared toward conveying the level of quality. While the visual appeal of these elements is often considered, the tactile experience has a far greater impact.
(EN: a more telling example are "almost quality" experiences such as banquets at corporate events and low-end country clubs, many of which attempt to convey quality, but fall short of the mark - the tablecloths and napkins look upscale, but are rough to the touch; the flatware is metal, but it's lightweight and flimsy; etc. The fact that they get the "look" right but miss the "feel" undermines their intent - they clearly want to give the impression of quality, but do not pull it off, and the contrast between look and feel calls attention to the deficiency.)
However, do not consider the immediate tactile experience to the detriment of the ultimate impression of extended contact: where a customer will be seated in a chair for an extended period of time, the level of comfort is more important than the initial contact with the fabric; where a customer will use a product for an extended period of time, the durability of the case is more important than the initial feel of it.
Having traveled extensively, the author recommends that the reader splurge on a night in a luxury hotel to get a sense of the degree to which such a place considers the detail of touch, as opposed to some of the less attentive places he presumes the reader to be more familiar with.
A sense of touch on the web
The author suggests that "I believe it soon will be ... possible to put the sense of touch onto a website" and that "many research labs [are] currently engaged in finalizing hardware and software that bring impressive tactile experiences into the hands of website visitors."
(EN: This is a stupendous exaggeration. He doesn't name a single firm that is at this stage of development, and I can't find reference to any online. I'm aware of a few experimental attempts at doing this, none of which are entirely satisfactory, and none of which are anywhere near the point where they will come to market. Even then, the equipment is likely to be expensive and bulky, and it may be quite a long time before it is in widespread use, if users even want such a thing.)
He then mentions touch-screen technology as becoming the interface of choice for portable electronics as well as kiosk computing. (EN: This is true enough, and seems likely to extend to personal computes and televisions, but it's not really a tactile experience that is unique to the brand - any more than the feel of your computer's mouse could be claimed to be so.)
Another jump to the notion of haptic technology, which uses texture and motion in a glove-like control device to manipulate objects in a virtual reality environment. (EN: which is also in the experimental phase, and somewhat promising, but still more in the nature of a control device than a touch experience unique to a brand.)