Terry Jacobson interviewed in Sunday Times on the trend of Scent Marketing in Singapore’s Shopping Malls[/caption]
“Scents help with brand association and forge an intimate bond with shoppers,” reports the Times.
The Sunday Times speaks to yours truly about our work with various Shopping Mall clients in Singapore:“The decade-old industry has grown rapidly in recent years due to a growing body of research on the subject, better and more accessible technology and greater interest from businesses and individuals,” said Mr Terry Jacobson, the Business Development Director of scent provider AllSense. He said popular scents vary by country and culture, and are influenced by the weather and climate. Tea and citrus-based scents are particularly popular here, and can change with the seasons.
In another custom engineered project ScentAir has had the pleasure working on, McCormick spices up Digital Signage with scent-based game “Guess That Spice”.
The sense of smell is closely linked to memories and emotions, and scents have been shown to affect moods and influence behavior. Thanks to the intimate relationship between the brain’s olfactory bulb and amygdala, a simple scent can trigger an emotional reaction almost instantaneously — a connection that has not gone unnoticed by businesses and brands.
Retailers have dabbled with sensory triggers for some time, adding in-store scents that can lead to more lingering and ultimately more spending. But an interactive digital signage installation rolled out late last year by Intel, HP and 5thScreen Digital Services uses scent to take aim at providing a unique and memorable customer experience to engage consumers.
The McCormick World of Flavors, the McCormick spice company flagship store at the Baltimore Inner Harbour, features five interactive experiences, including the scent-based game “Guess That Spice” and “FlavorPrint,” which allows consumers to find spices to match their taste preferences. At Intel’s booth during the recent National Retail Federation BIG Show in New York City, attendees got a whiff of some of the new technology.
“Retailers are really trying to get you engaged in lots of different ways with their brands,” said Mary Murphy-Hoye, senior principal engineer for Intel. “So what McCormick has done is added a sensory aspect to their application where you can actually smell the different spices and learn about spices that you don’t know about. They are trying to introduce this idea of flavor and interest to the consumer in a new way, and to connect with [the consumer] in a more sensory way … a more personal way.”
Vodafone has launched a new cologne that smells of burnt rubber and gasoline to promote its TeamVodafone and involvement in the Sydney 500.
The ‘Eau de Engine’ cologne, which has been created by ideas agency Tongue, is aimed at men and carries the strapline, “Why smell like a man, when you can smell like a V8”.
At Vodafone, we believe there is nothing more enthralling than the pungent smell that froths from the underbelly of a V8 Supercar.
This intoxicating aroma of ethanol mixed with burnt rubber, just does it for us every time. As principal sponsor of TeamVodafone, we’re proud to announce the launch of Eau De Engine; a stunning new fragrance for men that embodies everything we love about racing- the heroism, the unihibited masculinity, the V8 power, and let’s not forget, the unforgettable scent of burnt rubber.
“Both Jamie and I have been fortunate enough to climb to the top of the V8 mountain and inhale the rarefied air usually reserved only for V8 motor racing winners,” explains Craig Lowndes, TeamVodafone driver. “This is a chance for all Australians, not just motor sport enthusiasts, to know exactly what that smells like.”
Jamie Whincup, brings further light to the philosophy behind Eau De Engine by explaining, “There is nothing like the sweet smell of success, mixed with grease and burnt rubber. Behold the scent of motorsport passion! May the true essence of this great sport ignite the nostrils, and unleash the zeal and passion of the Australian public.”
Why smell like a man, when you can smell like a V8.
In a marketing campaign for Unilever’s Shampoo Pinuk, ScentAir installed a custom fragrance delivery system to deliver the Shampoo Pinuk fragrance along the sidewalk beside the 394 foot long billboard. The billboard is located next to Ezriali Mall in the heart of Tel Aviv. The billboard is the largest outdoor fragrance project in the world with systems capable of covering over 110,000 square feet.
ScentAir was featured in the July issue of Stores magazine, the official publication of the National Retail Federation, which follows retail trends and consumer habits. Their observation of the success of scent marketing thrust ScentAir into the spotlight, with a great article focusing on ScentAir’s relationship with Bloomingdales.
At Bloomingdale’s, holiday planning starts in May, with Dennis Dunn (the store’s visual merchandising director) and his staff sitting around a conference room table sniffing scent samples. With the array narrowed down to about eight scents, the smells are then worked into the overall theme of visuals and, as each presentation is assembled, the ScentAir canisters are strategically hidden.
Dunn will change out the scents midway through the holiday season, “so it’s a constant, updated fresh scent which makes the whole experience different.” The Manhattan Bloomingdale’s is a tourist destination in its own right and there’s a need to “create theater,” Dunn says. “That’s what we’re known for. By the time customers get to the sixth floor where the Christmas shops are, they are mesmerized.” And, for many of them, they want to take it all home with them, including the scent. “We get asked so often…if they can buy it,” he says.
Customers wishing to purchase a form of marketing may be the highest praise. And that’s exactly why Conroy believes scent marketing is here for the long haul. “The adoption of scent as a legitimate form of communications has been proven and now accepted [and] I expect it to become more ubiquitous across retailing in the years to come.”
British Car Park operator NCP introduces novel scent strategy to engage parkers
In the aim for a better (read wackier) customer experience NCP are turning their previously pee scented stairwells into abmient scent zones. (http://www.ncp.co.uk/stairwellsmells)
“We’ve recently invested in some innovative technology that will allow us to make our stairwells smell,” says a wesbite spokesperson,
” however we want them to smell like roses, a bakery, roast chicken…. You name it – we can make a smell of it!”
And if thats not enough they are giving you the opportunity ( well you if you live in and frequent their car parks in London, Birmingham, Leeds and Cardiff) to vote for your favourite scent, claiming to roll it out nationwide if it “proves popular enough”
“So to vote for the smell you’d most like our car park stairwells to smell of, please vote below, and when the poll ends, we promise to make that car park smell of roses. Or freshly baked bread. Or fruit. Or bubblegum…. You get the idea.”
“In a recent poll we carried out to test the water for Britain’s favourite smell, people voted in their droves for flowers, but we want to give you – our customers – the final decision on which whiff will win.”
A team of supporters of [the now successful] presidential frontrunner Lee Myung-bak has been secretly spraying a perfume called “Great Korea” at his rallies.
Volunteers were also present at voting booths to ensure the same scent drifted through the air.
“It will remind people of the identity of Lee Myung-bak. The concept of the perfume is hope, victory and passion,” said Oh Chi-woo of the conservative Grand National Party’s culture and arts team.
“They’ll just smell it today. But when they cast their votes, they’ll remember,” he said in the central town of Jecheon, standing by an open vegetable market where any smell from mounds of garlic and onions was drowned out by the slightly cloying scent of “Great Korea.”
Also see: http://askthewhiffguys.com/index.php?s=stadium
No jokes! American men (and women?) can for a mere $US3.99 get it on, that is get the scent of flame grilled burger on.
According to their official website (http://www.firemeetsdesire.com) “The Whopper sandwich is America’s favourite burger, Flame by BK captures the essence of that love and gives it to you. Behold … now you can set the mood for whatever you’re in the mood for.”
Certainly an unusual campaign by the King but tapping right into that sense of desire which no sense does better than our sense of smell.
Not too sure what the reaction from vegeterians and vegans will be?
BK says eat your heart out David and Victoria Beckham
BrandChannel.com – Branding by the Nose in Brazil by Ana Paula Palombo Terzi
Smell is a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week sense. It is turned on all of the time, both when people are awake and sleeping. But does this olfactory fact present actual, viable and achievable branding opportunities and new areas for the branding industry to explore and benefit from? Absolutely.
Nevertheless, experts also speculate that the time for scent branding has arrived. Sales and marketing efforts no longer close deals—they start relationships. With this paradigm shift, business has become even more of a two-way street relationship, and strong relationships are based on emotional connections—which the human sense of smell is able to deliver like no other sense.
Scent marketing goes beyond creating an olfactive equivalent for a brand; it engages consumers to experience a brand on a deeper level and recall what the brand is offering them. Scent marketing aims to create emotional content and stir these emotions—not just on an olfactory level, but in a multi-sensorial context that exploits the complex inner workings of the human mind that bind physical sensation with emotions, attitudes and perceptions.
We think scent is a pretty exciting element of the whole guest experience - Senior Vice President, Westin Hotels
Customers notice and they comment about the fragrance as soon as they come in. It adds another interesting element to our stores - Store Manager, Lucky Brand Jeans
The fragrance completes the unique environment and our customer experience - Managing Director, Hugo Boss
Our signature scent creates a positive and memorable experience. Sony has been very pleased by the response from customers - Senior Creative Director, Sony Style
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