Why Brand Fragrance Works – and How to Use It
The Catholic Church has, effectively, used
brand fragrance on
its ‘customers’ – one in six of the world’s population – for the last 2,000
years. For many believers, the smells of incense and Holy Water are
intrinsically linked to attendance at Mass.
Now marketeers are starting to realise the importance of appealing to all five
senses and using brand fragrance, too. For while a picture can say a thousand
words, or 140 characters can make a Tweet, a whiff of scent is proven to be far
more powerful in terms of brand association and memory recall, and has a more
direct link to our emotions.
In one test, altering a shampoo’s fragrance had a huge effect on how people
rated its effectiveness, even though the product itself was otherwise unchanged.
In another, consumers were found to be far more likely to buy a pair of scented
trainers than one which had no smell.
Once a smell is embedded in a customer’s memory, visual clues are enough for the
odour, and its associated memory and emotions, to be reactivated. Research shows
that this recall is especially effective if there is a particular name
accompanying the scent. Equally, first-time exposure to a particular smell is
crucial in how that aroma will be recalled, and what it will be associated with.
While often ignored, environmental smells should be chosen with just as much
care as colours. What do your customers smell when they first walk in to your
premises? If you don’t put some thought into the aroma, they will simply smell
your ‘default scent’, pleasant or unpleasant.
So brand fragrance should be a part of any marketing toolkit. But how can you
make scent marketing work for you?
Make Scent Marketing Work for You
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Test your aromas on real customers and get feedback before making a firm
decision
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It’s important to remember not to overwhelm your customers with a particular
fragrance
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Make your brand scent as specific and original as possible, so there is a
unique association with your brand
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Scent marketing works best with just a single aroma – don’t go for competing
fragrances
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Think about what other smells might be nearby. For example, one chain of
petrol stations wanted to emit the aroma of newly brewed coffee at their pumps
to promote their hot drinks. But the whiff of fresh espresso may not smell so
good when combined with the odour of petrol …
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Brand fragrance can work best when there is already a particular association
with a product and a particular smell in people’s minds
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Don’t let the scent you select stray too far from the product being sold. When
California's Milk Processor Board launched a series of billboard advertisements
in San Francisco's bus shelters, accompanied by the smell of chocolate chip
cookies, in a bid to make people crave milk, city officials ordered the ads to
be removed, saying the scent had no business in a bus shelter.
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