Image courtesy of Brandarama
As it would seem, there is a new fad going around called ‘Scent Marketing.’ What is this you ask? Well, I am here to tell you, and yes, this is a real thing.
As humans, we have our five senses and the marketing geniuses out there have figured out how to capitalize on just about every one of them. Even smells, as hard as that may be to believe. Creating a “multi-sensory” experience linked to a brand message is where the future of marketing is heading.
Really, this is a genius concept and I don’t know why nobody has thought of this before! When a scent sticks with you and makes an impression, you will remember it forever. Ten years down the road you may smell something familiar and think to yourself, “Oh yeah, I forgot about that brand until now.” See, I told you it was genius!
Some more prominent examples of scent marketing include things both natural and created. Take coffee, for example. If you are like me, when you smell coffee, you instantly want some. You can’t help it, the smell makes you desire that which you enjoy. Well, the marketing experts of this world have caught on and now scent marketing has become the wave of the future.
I know what you’re thinking, “What does Nike smell like?” Honestly, I have no idea, however, if there were one smell that stuck with you and was present in every Nike store in the world, that would be what Nike smelled like. It is really all a subconscious way to make certain brands stick in your mind for good, and an effective one at that.
If you still think that this is a hoax, let me give you a real example. Bloomingdales has invested in this form of mass marketing, however, I do not completely understand the logic behind their “scent.” It is baby powder. Perhaps it is to make you think, perhaps it is because the CEO likes baby powder…I do believe that it is to make you think, to make you remember. They have chosen (or should I say curated) this particular scent because it best suits their brand.
Another great example is the Abercrombie & Fitch stores, who have spent thousand on developing their own “very unique”: scent that is universally used in all their stores. If you have stepped into one of their stores you will instantly be transported into their world… their branded world. Besides their apparel line, their scent collection is a HUGE seller – no surprises there!
The way that this works, scientifically speaking, is through the proven theory that pleasant scents improve peoples mood by approximately 40%. Not only that, but smells stick with you and I don’t know about you, but I’d rather visit a store that smelled like roses than one that smelled like dirty socks, but that’s me.