Retail brands can no longer rely on sterile design and clean corporate vibes. In this case, we show how we reimagined our own branding through multisensory design, blending playfulness and raw emotion to inspire a new era of brand connection.
For years, branding has played it safe. Clean, minimal, corporate styles promised clarity but delivered sameness. The result is a sea of brands that look polished but fail to make people feel anything. Consumers, however, are no longer satisfied with cold aesthetics. They crave joy, connection and experiences that surprise them.
65% of consumers want brands to wow and excite them with unexpected campaigns, and 49% say they are more likely to buy from brands that spark joy (WGSN).
In a climate where attention is scarce and loyalty is fragile, safe branding is no longer a strategy, it is a risk.
Branding that makes you feel something
The future of branding lies in being raw and human. Instead of asking politely for attention, these brands demand it. Instead of staying sterile, they feel alive. This is where multisensory design plays its part, because true connection rarely happens through visuals alone.
Touch, sound, texture, even humour, create experiences that linger. Jacquemus with surreal pop-ups, Coperni turning a fashion show into a LAN party, tactile packaging and playful installations that invite consumers to become part of the story.
These are not gimmicks, they are strategies that build loyalty and lasting emotional bonds.
Our case: adding a sensory layer to our own brand
Practice what you preach. When we looked at our own brand, we saw an opportunity to bring this vision to life. We did not throw away our existing guidelines, but built on top of them. Especially within our creative services pillar, we created space to experiment and to show what playful branding can really mean.
We designed a dedicated cluster, not just to house information, but to demonstrate creativity in action. Think AI-generated letters that feel tactile: soft, jelly, hairy. Surreal 3D elements that create surprise. Images that do more than look good, they spark a real feeling. This is branding that moves beyond the screen and into the senses.
Proof that branding can be playful and powerful
Through this process, we proved to ourselves (and to our clients) that branding does not have to be sterile to be professional. By layering playfulness on top of structure, we made our brand feel more alive and more human, while staying true to who we are.
For B2B and retail brands, the takeaway is simple. Safe, ‘pretty’, corporate design does not connect. The brands that thrive will be the ones that dare to play, to create multisensory experiences and to build emotional connections that last.
