Biotful: bridging the sensory gap for better brand experiences online.
COVID-19 has accelerated people’s preference to source groceries online but in the longer term, this could inhibit the trial of new products as well as impulse purchases.
How do you persuade someone to try your product for the first time online? There is a growing consensus that the lack of physicality in digital channels (the sensory gap) can raise levels of perceived risk for consumers in buying situations.
The sensory gap:
Consumer-packaged goods companies have said that sales via e-commerce channels have jumped forward by as much as ten years in as many weeks as a result of COVID-19. But as we move forward, capacity isn’t the only issue that brands and retailers must address. To compete harder in a digital environment, manufacturers must acknowledge that they are asking people to make buying decisions with only a fraction of the usual influences available in an in-store environment.
Biotiful Kefir
Kefir, Biotiful explains, is a 2,000-year-old cultured milk drink originating from the Caucasus Mountains, containing billions of gut-friendly bacteria, packed with protein, and no sugar added. It may be 2,000 years old, but the company faced unusually high levels of consumer resistance in the UK which boiled down to a lack of true understanding of the product experience.
To improve matters, The brand set out to build comprehension and trigger impulsive desire with a new sensory-led product description and sensory-charged video for deployment across the brand’s website, social media and e-commerce representation. This was to be a new application for the company’s sensory expertise – normally reserved for the development of new products.
To deliver an authentic representation of the product experience, the project tapped into a trained sensory panel and highly articulate consumers to illuminate the kefir category, and the Biotiful proposition within it.
There was a desire to distance the result from a typical TV commercial and aim for something that stood up as a brand experience. In the words of Biotiful Digital Marketing Manager, Katie Poole: “Sensory-led video will help to explain the experience of kefir in the most engaging way.” The final cut of the Biotiful video is here.



