Scent Marketing: love is in the air

https://youtu.be/MQg5EiNgNVg

Did you know that…

• We can remember 35% of what we smell. According to studies by the Rockefeller University, the evocative “power” of each of our senses is as follows: smell (35%), taste (15%), sight (5%), hearing (2%) and touch (1%).
• The human sense of smell affects 75% of our daily emotions, mood, and desires.

Today’s consumers have unlimited choices and are paying less and less interest in the efforts of some companies that try hard to get their attention. Companies need to deliver messages that stay in consumer’s minds so, they try to use reliable ways to connect with consumers, being one emotional marketing (if you would like to read more about this topic, you are more than welcome to take a look on my previous blog) and the other is sensory marketing, which evokes to the senses more diversely and completely.

One of the senses that achieves better results is the sense of smell. This is because it has an incredible capacity to associate aromas and emotions, some of these aromas have the power to make us happy or nostalgic and eventually drive us to buy things.

A few important studies have shown customers would spend 40% more time in an area of a retail store scented with a distinct scent over an odor-free area. (Martin Lindstrom)

Why does scent marketing work so well?

The sense of smell is directly linked to the limbic system, which automatically unlocks a series of evocations and memories associated with the fragrance.  It also allows us to associate these aromas with the perception that we have of a brand, which also strengthens our relationship with the company and its products.

What memories come to mind if you feel the fragrance of talc?
Surely your thoughts are associated with childhood… perhaps directly to newborn babies, right?
or, if you go to the supermarket and feel citrus aromas, you know how close the cleaning section is.

People process smells unconsciously, the associations we make are fast and uncontrollable. Science has helped companies learn how scents can evoke consumer reactions and behaviors. This is the reason why some companies are careful to choose an aroma that represents them, but most importantly, that has an impact on consumers.

How some brands apply this scent marketing?

Packing with smell: most of us shop online nowadays and some companies add a special aroma to these delivered packages, to reinforce the consumer’s shopping experience and also to reinforce their branding.

Aromatization at the point of sale: as a clear example I will mention the cosmetic store LUSH, who hasn’t passed by any of these stores and by smelling so many fragrances in a millisecond put a step inside…. maybe we do it more often than men, but the fact is that the aromas of this store are incredible as well as the products and those amazing designs, that will make you feel like going to the last corner of the store.

Diverse formats:

• DUNKIN’ DONUTS: after an experiment they carried out in Korea, they managed to increase visits to their stores by 16% and coffee consumption by 29%. Commuter buses in the city were outfitted with devices that released the aroma of fresh coffee whenever the Dunkin’ Donuts jingle played over the radio. At the end of the jingle, the buses would stop close to a Dunkin’ Donuts store.

Source:  American Inno

• ROLLS ROYCE: This luxury car brand uses the smell of leather and wood to perfume their cars every time a customer takes his car to an official maintenance store, thus living the experience as if it were the first purchase.
• SINGAPORE AIRLINES :uses the scent of lotus flowers and bamboo forests that is worn by flight attendants and put on hot towels handed to passengers before take-off.

Brands understand the influence that fragrances have in generating ideas and identification. That’s why some fragrances work as a seal of a specific brand.

For fragrance newcomers, you should keep this in mind…

Vanilla and floral essences work for women and woody essence for men. Basically, studies show classic scents are better than complex. A shortlist first.

• Cinnamon: mental stimulant, reduces fatigue.
• Lavender: undoubtedly has a calming and sedative effect on clients and is highly recommended for reducing nervousness and depression.
• Lemon: this aroma gives off freshness and cleanliness.
• Mint: mint stimulates brain activity and facilitates concentration.
• Orange: is considered an antidepressant.
• Vanilla: finally, it is one of the smells that consumers remember the most and, among its effects, the one that stands out is that it reduces stress.