To be truly memorable to users, brands should go beyond the visual — to embrace touch, sound, scent, and even taste.

Research suggests that we remember only 5% of what we see. So why does visual design historically account for nearly 100% of the average brand’s design spend? Why aren’t more companies layering touch, sound, scent and even taste into their overall identities?

At Huge, we believe that it’s time for more brands to wake up to the possibility of multisensory experience. Where once companies focused all their energies on what their identities would look like in print, to stand out in the 21st century, there is an increasing awareness that a brand must do more than look good: it must be memorable to all the other senses as well.

As a bit of a history lesson, multisensory branding isn’t new. Some industries learned early how effective a multisensory approach could be: Hollywood, for instance, where the audiovisual nature of the medium gave brands incentive to consider layering graphic and sonic logos atop one another. Consider the MGM Lion and its roar, NBC’s chimes, or the THX Deep Note. These brands all discovered early that they could forge more emotional associations in their customers’ minds than they could with visuals alone.

It’s an approach that Silicon Valley companies also adopted early. From 1987 until 2016, within a half second of starting up a Mac, you’d be served up a multi-sensory logo: the Apple symbol coupled with a resonant, zen-like bong, designed by Jim Reeves. For years, Microsoft, too, had the Windows 95 startup chime, designed by the great Brian Eno, coupled with the OS’s own distinctive logo. Skype had both a graphic logo and the sonic logo (the Skype bubble), as does Intel, with its iconic five-note chime. And as tech companies increasingly explore conversational UIs and voice assistance, the importance of sonic branding identity will only deepen.

Yet it would be a mistake to think that audiovisual pairings are the only multisensory branding experiences worth considering. Touch is also a fertile field in which brands can make their mark. In 2010, the David Family Group registered for a sensory touch mark for the leather wine label it wraps around each of its bottles of wine. In the haptic space, there’s a growing need for distinctive branding touches. Similarly, Visa has designed a haptic cue that tells users that a payment has gone through, even when their phone is in their pocket.

Smell can be also be an iconic addition to an identity. Consider the trademarked sweet-and-salty smell of Play-Doh. Doubtlessly one of the most famous scent logos in the United States, it’s such an evocative scent that just remembering it transports you to a childhood playroom, the sound of a brightly colored lid popping off a plastic tub. Verizon, too, has a trademarked scent “logo” in the flowery musk scent that fills some of its marquee stores.

In the United States, smell is a hard thing to trademark (which is why the signature smells of most perfumes or air fresheners are not protected by law) except when they are nonfuctional and exclusive to branding purposes. That makes the fact that more companies with physical presences aren’t incorporating scent into their brands almost negligent, considering that studies suggest consumers are more likely to purchase something if they have smelled it as well as seen it. (Does it make sense to you now why that car salesman keeps insisting you smell that leather interior?)

Today, awareness is growing that branding identity needs to encompass more than a visual identity. Companies like Siemens and Sonos have started rolling out comprehensive sonic identities that aim to define the distinctive sound of the brand every bit as thoroughly as their look. But there’s more work to be done. Brands need to pursue a more holistic approach to which are flexible enough to embrace all the senses, and think carefully about which senses to target, and why. Because with every sense a brand can meaningfully touch, its impact on its user significantly rises.

A multisensory approach can solve unique branding problems as well. Take, for example, a brand trying to keep itself alive in consumers’ minds during a hiatus. The Mars 2020 mission launches next summer from Cape Canaveral but won’t land until February 18, 2021. To help keep interest alive in the launch during the “downtime,” when the rover is floating through deep space, Huge has teamed up with Scent Marketing, Inc. to create a multisensory identity for the mission, which will allow people to experience the smell of Mars here on Earth.

The data, according to Martin Lindstrom, shows that smell, touch, sound, and taste (in that order of importance) are all being underexploited by marketing spend compared to how they rank in the consumer experience. These are all big areas that smart brands can and should be pursuing if they want to stay competitive. Maybe the best way to think of the opportunity is spatially. Sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste aren’t just senses; they are dimensions your brand can exist in simultaneously.

So ask yourself this: Is your one-dimensional brand really going to thrive? Or is it just waiting to be piloted into the fifth dimension?

Interested in knowing more about multisensory branding? Join Richard Swain at Huge Brooklyn headquarters for a live Magenta Talks discussion on September 17, 6:30 p.m.–8 p.m. EST. RSVP here.

Magenta is a publication of Huge.

Why Brands Should Target All the Senses was originally published in Magenta on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

I’ve experienced a number of strong emotions over the past few weeks. First, the dismay of witnessing the UK vote to leave the European Union, then the sheer ecstasy of my home nation, Wales, surpassing the wildest dreams of even the most optimistic fan, in making it to the semi-finals of Euro 2016.

I am immensely proud of my country of 3 million+ inhabitants and what we have achieved in France, yet at the same time I am devastated to see us walk away from a pact that had made us far greater than the sum of our individual parts. I never thought a political referendum and a football tournament could provide such connected yet contrasting emotions, but then again, this summer is fast becoming one of many firsts.

My nationality has always played a major role in defining my identity but never so much has it influenced my interactions with other people than it has over the past few weeks. Over the course of this 4th July weekend in New York, Wales’ surprise run to the semi-final came up in almost every conversation I had. Sport possesses the unique ability to connect individuals of different nations and, with the advent of social media and the emergence of global brands, such as the English Premier League, this ability seems to be ever increasing.

When Wales beat Belgium 3–1 on Friday, the first message I received was from an American colleague I had met for the first time on Wednesday, while in LA for business. If you’d read the message over my shoulder you could have been forgiven for thinking that it had come from a childhood friend or college roommate. For some strange yet magical reason, sport, and in particular, the unlikely run of an underdog in a major tournament finals, seems to turn distant strangers into kindred spirits.

In the 11 years since leaving home at the age of 18, I have lived on 3 separate continents, visiting 60+ cities across 20+ different countries. During this period, I’ve had people say to me everything from “What language do Welsh people speak?” to “Wales, that’s part of England right?”. Naturally, the further you venture away from somewhere, the less clear that geography becomes in the minds of those you meet, which makes it even more noticeable when you encounter a sudden enhanced appreciation for your etymology.

My first experience of this came in 2011, when Swansea City made its breakthrough into the top-flight of English football. I was living in Australia at the time and, before then, few people I met overseas had even heard of Swansea (the birthplace of both my parents), let alone knew it was in Wales! At this point in time, we’re clearly riding a rare global-media tidal wave but I have a strong feeling that the impact of Gareth Bale and company will be long felt after the tournament is over, both at home and abroad.

As a British national, I am fortunate that I can identify myself as both a Brit and as a Welshman. I also identify myself as European. When Brussels came under attack earlier this year I felt that I had been attacked. When Paris wept, I wept. In order to combat the hatred and prejudice that exists in the world today, I strongly believe that unifying forces, such as the EU, are an undeniable cause for good.

You might think it trivial of me to link the success of a sports team to the atrocities of terrorism but I can’t apologize for wanting to write a love letter to something that has brought far more unity to this planet than it has division. This experience has shown me first-hand the inter-relationship between sport and politics and I’m thankful for the freedom of the Internet for its ability to provide a forum for perspectives that transcend classifications.

Brexit won’t affect the many treasured relationships I have been fortunate to build with my French, Belgium and other brothers and sisters across Europe any more than it will those I have made here in the United States. I just hope that this doesn’t compound a broader global shift towards fear and isolationism, because there are some barriers that not even the unlikely run of an underdog can overcome.

Life isn’t a game and vice-versa but come kick-off on Wednesday I will be cheering as if my life depends on it.

Cymru am byth!