«We want to become the leading trade fair for multi-sensory marketing»

Michael Mätzener has further developed the festival for haptic advertising «Marketing» and explains in an interview what the senses are all about and why he thinks multi-sensory marketing is the future.

Anna Kohler

–

March 1, 2023

Werbewoche.ch: On March 7th, the Kongresshaus Zurich will be all about multisensory technology. Please explain why the trade fair for promotional items is now called the Festival for haptic advertising and multi-sensory marketing.

Michael Mätzener: The majority of companies are still limited to addressing only the sense of sight and hearing. Wrongly. Today, multi-sensory marketing is an essential requirement to assert oneself in saturated and highly competitive markets and to outperform the sensory two-dimensional competition. Activating the senses of smell, taste and, above all, the sense of touch harbors enormous potential that needs to be exploited. We will show how this works at the festival on March 7th, 2023 in the Kongresshaus Zurich.

So, in your opinion, multisensory technology can support marketing?

Yes, multi-sensory marketing improves the way a target group experiences a brand. Today, a brand should not only be recognized by a logo. It should appeal to all the senses. What does the trust of a bank smell like, for example. Or how does the quality of a 5-star hotel feel. Today, brands have to “touch” the customer so that he decides to buy. Multi-sensory marketing controls the explicit and implicit sensory codes in sales and advertising, thereby creating compelling brand experiences. People perceive a brand through their senses and this is nothing new, but up to now it has only been implemented by the big power brands.

Marketing builds bridges between creative manufacturers and brands, modern promotional product agencies and retailers as well as marketers and industrial users. That’s what it says on the website. Could you elaborate, how exactly can one imagine this day in the congress center?

Yes, this festival is simply intended to unite all experts from marketing, advertising and communication in one day. It offers a stage for ideas and innovations. It shows how multi-sensory marketing works. We have exciting keynotes and workshops, so we also have a concentrated load of knowledge and approaches that we want to pass on in order to position your company even deeper, faster and better with multi-sensory marketing in the future.

How many visitors are expected plus minus?

We can expect around 1000 visitors.

How long has this event been around and who is the driving force behind it so that marketing keeps reinventing itself?

Marketing is taking place for the ninth time this year. I have been observing various events in advertising and marketing throughout Europe for a long time. See weaknesses but also strengths. This led to the desire to develop this leading trade fair for multi-sensory marketing with a lot of heart and soul. An event purely for haptic advertising or just for promotional items is simply no longer up to date and is no longer sufficient to attract trade visitors to an event.

How strong is the idea of ​​sustainability in marketing?

Sustainability is a key issue in every company today. Also in marketing. With the Marketing we also show extensive approaches here. How, for example, when using haptic advertising, the products that can be used are manufactured ecologically, socially and economically. Be it with new materials such as R-Pet or with “Cradle to Cradle”, which will be shown by the respective exhibitors.

Die Marketing will take place on March 7, 2023 in the Kongresshaus Zurich.