Sight, Scent, Sound, Taste, Touch: Crafting Brand Desire Through the Senses

At Brand Reveller, we’ve long believed that branding is more than what you see - it’s what you feel. That’s why sensory marketing sits at the heart of many of the campaigns we shape, particularly for clients in hospitality, lifestyle and modern luxury.

When we shoot for our clients, we don’t just document dishes - we capture mood, movement, indulgence. A slow pour. A glossy glaze. Steam curling into the air. These are the kinds of images that ignite memory and emotion, even before a bite is taken.

Sight as seduction = appetite before taste

Sight is one of the most powerful tools in sensory marketing - especially in food and hospitality. The way something looks is often the first step to how we think it will taste. A slow-motion pour of sauce, the glisten of a glaze, the steam rising from a freshly served dish - these visual cues don’t just make food look good, they make it feel irresistible. They tap into memory, mood, and desire. At Brand Reveller, we lean into these details when creating content for our clients — because it’s not just about showing food, it’s about staging appetite. When done right, sight doesn’t just attract the eye — it stirs the senses.

When done right, sight doesn’t just attract the eye — it stirs the senses. Why? Because sensory marketing works - not just on a surface level, but a human one. People may forget just what something looked like, but they’ll remember how it made them feel.

So when we create campaigns, especially in food and hospitality, we don’t just aim to make things look good. We want people to crave them. Because that’s how you create not just attention, but appetite.

Food as metaphor = next-level storytelling

Food is one of the most powerful tools in a brand’s emotional arsenal. It’s primal, universal, and charged with memory. Associated with comfort, reward and pleasure, it taps into the very emotions luxury brands are designed to evoke.

Take Tom Ford’s “Lost Cherry” or Byredo’s “Vanille Antique”, perfumes written in the language of dessert. Playing with the senses that food provokes, taste and smell.

Scent: The Invisible Signature

Some of the world’s most luxurious hotels have turned scent into a signature part of their guest experience. Aman Resorts has created its own fragrance line, with each scent inspired by a different Aman destination. It’s subtle, transportive, and reflective of the brand’s calm and considered aesthetic. At St. Regis, the signature scent Caroline’s Four Hundred was developed with perfume house Arquiste and is based on a historic high-society ball hosted by Caroline Astor. Baccarat Hotel’s scent, often called Love Affair, is a warm, woody blend of sandalwood, papyrus and musk that feels as opulent as the hotel itself.

These scents aren’t just there to smell good, they help tell a story.

Sound: The Underrated Sense

Sound is often overlooked in branding, but in hospitality, it’s the invisible hand that shapes how we experience a space.

Restaurants and members’ clubs are increasingly treating music like design - not background noise, but a brand asset. Places like Scorpios in Mykonos, use their DJs to shift the rhythm of a venue from sunset to night, using tempo to guide the energy of a room. Even hair salons are tuning into the power of sound. They can curate playlists to carefully pitch to relax, energise or elevate.

Touch: Texture Tells a Story

We don’t just see texture, we feel it. From the velvet upholstery in a private members’ lounge to the weight of a cut-crystal glass, touch signals quality. When we shoot interiors, table settings we look for tactility - crisp linens, glazed ceramics, the gloss of a cocktail.

Texture is also a storytelling tool in digital. A close-up of flaking sea salt on grilled octopus, or the molten stretch of burrata, these moments are tactile, even through a screen. They create longing. And longing creates engagement

Final bite? If you want to make a product unforgettable, make it delicious. Alert the senses. Food isn’t just for eating - it’s for storytelling.