Scent Marketing
Does scent play an impeccable role in the success of a brand?
How would anybody relate to their favorite bakery if they couldn’t smell fresh cinnamon buns drifting through the air? Human’s posses five senses (six if you’re born in a town full of radioactive pollution), these senses include: sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. Are marketers aware of the power their brand can have by utilizing one of these senses to stimulate a response from their product?
I’m a 3rd year student studying Integrated Marketing Communications in Kingston, Ontario. Located in the main hallway of my school is a very popular Pizza store. Many students flock to this location on a daily basis to devour their daily intake of grease (a great substance known among students to fight the dreaded hangover). Just a couple of months ago the Pizza store began baking garlic bread sticks; within days there was not enough supply to reach the demand. Why did these breadsticks become such a hit so quickly—and without any advertising? In a hundred foot radius the air was embraced with such a thick smell of garlic the temptation was impossible to resist.
There is a famous slogan in the advertising world by Toucan Sam, “Just follow your nose”. It is amazing how many times people are drawn to products because of the smell. Some may not be aware of this; their drive toward a product could be completely buried in the subconscious.
A person might choose one car over another because of the way it smells on the inside—perhaps, as a child; they remember what their parent’s brand new car smelled like. So how can a business use scent in order to reach company objectives? First, it depends on what product you are selling. Second, it is important to decide on what medium to use, and no, television and radio cannot permit smell. Lets take a look at the folks who sell hot dogs on the streets. Usually, they will cook onions on a side burner to draw consumers to their stand by the smell of onions. Every fast food chain has a different smell inside their stores. I bet if you were blind folded you could instantly smell the difference between a Subway and A&W. We must all remember that the power of scent can make, or break an establishment.
If you walked into a restaurant and the place smelled like a farm; my guess is that you'd probably leave, never return, and tell all your peers about the experience.
I can guarantee that readers of this blog have been attracted to somebody by their scent. In the world of marketing, we must be conscience about what our brand, location and products smell like.
By Eli Nicholson, a student at St. Lawrence College in Kingston, ON.
