Perfume has long been the secret ingredient in a woman’s arsenal of seduction. She could be visually stunning, with the perfect dress and accessories, but without perfume, her outfit wasn’t complete. “A woman who doesn’t wear perfume has no future,” said Coco Chanel. Hyperbolic, but her declaration spoke to the power of scent.
A cultural shift has taken place, and now brands are on to the consumer-seducing effects of scenting spaces and building brand identities through scent.
And consumers are responding. They’re now more educated about scent, and their desire for and expectation of scented spaces is at an all-time high. A space may feature beautiful designs, lighting, music and other sensory pleasures — perhaps sales associates or hotel staff offer guests champagne and cookies — but without scent, the consumer will notice something is missing. And the brand will have missed an opportunity to create an experience the consumer would associate with them in an enduring way.
In other words, it could be said that a brand with no scent has no future.
THE POWER OF SCENT
If you want to create an impression or idea in someone’s mind, there is no quicker or impactful way than through scent.
Our sense of smell is the most primitive, emotional and visceral of all our senses. Unlike sight and sound, which get rerouted to other parts of the brain for processing, scent molecules enter our nose, go straight to the olfactory bulb, which extends from the brain, and creates instantaneous emotional responses.
That’s because our sense of smell is connected to the limbic system, the most primitive part of our brain that processes emotion and influences instinctual behavior, mood and memory.
Although we respond instantaneously to scent, its effects are long-term. Once someone smells something, it gets lodged in long-term memory, which accounts for an emotion-drenched experience almost everyone has had, of suddenly smelling something they hadn’t smelled in years and being transported back to the experience in which they smelled that thing for the first time.
All of these qualities of scent create huge opportunities for brands to connect with consumers and to create positive sense experiences and brand loyalty. It’s been 10 years since innovative brands have used scent as part of their branding, and the data and research are in: Scent marketing works.
SCENT MARKETING AND BRANDING
Imagine going into a retail space or hotel without any interesting visual displays or music. It’s hard to imagine, but soon, it will be just as hard to imagine a space without scent.
Research has shown that scent marketing improves customer perception and increases brand awareness. Retailers have shown that with the right scent, a customer will stay longer, buy more, and return. Some will even think your sales associates are smarter!
Innovative brands have become more savvy about what scent brings to a space. From retail space, to fashion runways, hotels, and even apartment buildings, brands know that layering scent onto an experience is the final touch that could clinch the deal of consumer loyalty.
Studies show what aromatherapists and perfumers have known for centuries: like the language of color, certain scents produce certain effects, project certain moods and feelings and ultimately, brand identities.
Depending on what your aim is, the right scent can make people feel comfortable (hotels), project a luxury identity (retail), improve performance (gym), or impart a sense of comfort and tradition or relaxation. Whatever the effect, scent will make you memorable.
HOW PROLITEC CAN HELP YOUR BRAND CREATE A SCENT EXPERIENCE
Do you want to create a particular mood or atmosphere in your space, connected to your brand identity? Or do you want a signature scent for your brand, one that is as recognizable as a logo?
We’ve come a long way from the 1970s when ambient scenting technology was clunky. Scented oils were placed in soaked cartridges and diffused in spaces, but it wasn’t a controlled process. Scent would come on strong and dissipate quickly. Even less appealing, objects in the space would be coated with a residue of oil long after the scent waned.
At Prolitec, not only have we developed the most sophisticated ambient scenting system on the market, but our expert advisors can sit with you to determine what your scent marketing needs might be. From helping you choose which scent to disperse for the effect you’re aiming for, to working closely with renowned perfumers and perfume houses should you want to develop custom scents for your own branded fragrance, we provide a custom experience.
As for our patented AirQ technology, it’s a precise, computer-controlled system that creates droplets of scented molecules 50 times smaller than the traditional aerosol, extending 2500 times the surface area. When the eco-friendly fragrance is dispensed from the AirQ system, it behaves like a dry vapor with no residue, and you smell the fragrance uniformly across the space. Think of it as the highest-end sound system you can get — for fragrance.
It’s been said that scent marketing is the final frontier of branding. Subtle, powerful, and invisible — it creates an emotional aura over your brand that consumers will respond to. Scent marketing is happening now — let us make it part of your brand’s future.
