Olfaction and its use in marketing

1. Summer Thompson
May 14, 2012
B3
The Use of Olfaction in
Marketing Techniques

2. Olfaction:
1. The sense of smell
2. The act or function of smelling
Scent-Marketing:
The use of smells in order to attract
customers to a product
Odotipo:
A pleasant smell that consumers relate to a
product

3. Scents and Moods
Different odors are sent to different areas of the brain,
causing different moods depending on the odor.
• Euphoric odors (ex: Jasmine) cause the release of natural
pain-killers and cause a sense of well-being.
• Scents such as lavender cause the release of serotonin which
causes a sense of relaxation.
• Scents like rosemary cause the release of noradrenaline,
which causes the body to "wake up".

4. Scents and Memories
The olfactory system is the sense
that is physically closest to the
limbic system, where memories
are processed. Therefore:
• Odor-evoked memories are
highly emotionally potent
• People remember more of
what they smell than what
they remember from any
other sense. (remembered:
35% smell, 5% sight, 2% hear,
1% touch)

5. Companies are Taking a Notice
"Brands are increasingly recognizing that in order to
wow consumers, they need to work on an emotional
basis. It's no longer enough to build a rational
proposition based on function, price, or convenience.
Banks, airlines, and the leisure industry are just a
few of the sectors getting really excited about the
prospect of incorporating smell into their brand." -
Simon Harrop, founder of the Aroma Company

6. Increase in Scent-marketing
Progression in technology, thus:
• Becoming quite simple for companies to incorporate
this technique into their marketing compaigns
• Odors can be cheaply added to any environments with
impressive results in terms of increased sales
Large increase in reasearch of the Olfactory System, leading
to advanced understanding of the sense of smell and how
to use it to a company's advantage.

7. Several Techniques Available in Scent-
marketing Campaigns:
• In the shops
o For a particular product
o For an entire store
• In shopping malls or
department stores
• Fragranced merchandising
• Fragranced packaging

8. In the shops:
Companies who use this technique are looking for an odor
that will increase the value of their brand, increase sales,
and bring customers back to their shops.
"Its purpose really is to keep customers in your store, to
create this welcoming environment - and it works; it
does keep people in your store longer. It helps people
feel better in their shopping, and in a lot of cases causes
them to spend more money." - Mike Gatti, Executive
director of marketing at the National Retail Federation

9. Net Cost Supermarkets in Brooklyn,
NY
• Uses artificial food aromas
throughout their store
• Pipes the smell into the air
by specially-designed
scent-machines
• For example, chocolate
smells are pushed into the
air next to the candy aisle,
fruit smells abound in the
produce aisle, and the
smell of freshly baked
bread is pumped into the
air next to the bakery.

10. M&M World Store in London's Leicester
Square:
• Have been pumping the scent of chocolate into the store
• Have used the scent directly outside of the store to attract
customers
• the goods come pre-packaged, so the store looked like it
should smell like chocolate, but didn't. Now it does
thanks to scent-marketing technology.

11. Other Shops:
Hamleys, a toy shop:
• Use the general scent of Pina Colada
• Believe the odor entices parents to linger in the store for
longer periods of times
Hotels, such as Holiday Inn:
• The focus is reception in common areas
• It's about creating a fresh, airy, and welcoming
environment that reflects the brand
Casinos:
• Use "musky, masculine scents"
• Believe it makes men remain on the premises for longer
periods of time

12. Outside of shops:
• Think outside of the box
• Used to create an even more well-known
brand
• A technique that allows the company's
fragrance to be taken home and become
more likely to be remembered by the
consumer (Odotipo)

13. Merchandising:
• Scented candles, soaps, incense, perfumes, etc.
o can be used to ensure the fragrance is abundant in
the consumer's home
• Printed fliers and forms
o Companies can advertise in two senses at once
o Incorporate the sense of sight by using their logo,
and utilise the sense of smell by attaching a
fragrance to the fliers
• Merchandising can increase the likelihood of a
fragrance becoming fully associated with a product

14. Packaging:
• Some companies are putting their fragrance inside
packaging
• By doing this, the company ensures that the fragrance
becomes part of the consumer's home
Direct Mail is one company utilising this
technique
• Have seen an instant success
• "In one door drop for a laundry product,
putting a fragrance on brand literature
doubled the response rate compared to
the non-scented equivalent. It's made
us realize there are opportunities
around smell."

15. Scentair:
• Aids companies through the process of beginning a
scent-marketing compaign
• Scentair creates the scents for companies
o "shelf" scents which are premade and cheaper
o Custom scents for companies that want the perfect
scent to represent their company ($5000)
• Provides the "full Service" package once the scent is
created
o Supplies, installs, and replenishes fragrances for the
companies

16. Future of Scent-Marketing:
• Increasingly large amounts of companies are beginning
to use scent-marketing
• Scentair has reported that they currently have 600
clients, with a large increase of clients within the last 6
months.
• Appears to be a bright, full future where scent-
marketing will become a common phenomenon

17. Works-Cited:
• http://media.merchantcircle.com/35477419/scentair_logo_bubbles_full.jpeg
• http://www.wavscents.com/wp-content/themes/wavscents/thumb.php?src=http://www.wavscents.com/wp-
content/woo_custom/6-wave.jpg&h=250&w=390&zc=1&q=90
• http://www.advantageprintgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/directmail.jpg
• http://images01.olx.com/ui/9/89/03/1287452934_129948603_1-Pictures-of--PERFUMES-AL-MAYOREO-
WHOLESALE-PERFUMES-1287452934.jpg
• http://www.estudio-rf.es/photos/Otros%20Servicios/marketing-olfativo.jpg
• http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5263/5846555827_7acb2c0368_z.jpg
• http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/4e258d3f49e2aebb2d1f0000-399-300/scent-machine.jpg
• http://www.aromaco.co.uk/
• http://www.inhale-away.com/iaimages/brain3.jpg
• http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/hegermati/hegermati1106/hegermati110600008/9808382-aromatherapy-
jasmine-with-bottle-isolated-on-white-background.jpg
• http://cdn.babble.com/babble-voices/megan-jordan-threadbare-theory/files/2011/09/lavender-aromatherapy-oil.jpg
• http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/marilyna/marilyna1010/marilyna101000079/8090224-rosemary-herb-leaf-and-
flower-sprigs-with-aromatherapy-essential-oil-glass-bottle-isolated-over-whit.jpg
• http://www.georgeretseck.com/medical_files/olfaction.jpg