By Kacey Culliney
Sensorality is more important than ever in today’s saturated beauty market and sound is one under-developed area that holds exciting promise, according to Mintel.
Sensorial beauty has long existed, with texture, scent and visuals playing a central part to beauty and personal care space. But sensoriality is gaining ground today as the consumer market shifts and expectations widen.
“We’ve always had textures and transformative textures and multi-sensory beauty factors in beauty,” said Andrew McDougall, Director of Insights for Beauty and Personal Care at Mintel. “But I think we’ve reached a point now where people are seeking wellness and wellbeing a lot more, so how products make you feel becomes important. We’re also in a world of information overload, where people are just fatigued by so much going on and sometimes those sensory aspects can tell a story so much more than words,” McDougall told Premium Beauty News.
Sensory as the ’differentiator’
McDougall outlined the power of the five human senses – scent, sight, sound, taste and touch – in his presentation at in-cosmetics global in Paris back in April, detailing how senses are key to engaging beauty consumers. “I think beauty is one of the only industries where that first 1.5 seconds matters as much as the next four weeks,” he told attendees. “The results are obviously important but it’s those first few seconds when you interact with a beauty product that are really important, before the product begins to work, before the claims sway you. It’s a really powerful thing, particularly if we look at it in behavioral terms.”
