I just returned from a 2-week trip to the South of France. My last visit was years ago, and I’d forgotten how remarkable that region is for the senses: the bluest blues, the chimiest chimes, the most lemony lemons, the freshest fresh-baked croissant.
It got me thinking about the senses and in particular, about the power of smell. You likely have a story to tell about smell and how it has brought you back to deeply buried memories in the blink of an eye.
For me, the smell of freshly picked tomatoes bring back childhood visits to the neighbour’s backyard garden and vanilla triggers memories of birthday parties and sparkled Duncan Hines cakes.
And studies show that smell does indeed evoke more emotional and evocative memories than other sensory cues. That nose is a teleportation machine, returning you to the original time and place of a particularly poignant memory.
Here are a few examples of brands using smell to sell (aka Scent Marketing):
Howard Schultz lamenting the breakfast sandwich -- “You can’t wake up and smell the coffee at Starbucks”. That led to the formation of an Aroma Taskforce with a mandate to bring back the romance of the barista experience, including the enveloping smell of freshly brewed coffee.
Cinnabon’s merciless strategy to hit you over the head with the smell of caramelized brown sugar, freshly baked buns and warm, fragrant cinnamon. According to the Wall Street Journal, the stores are located in environments where smells can linger (like airports and malls), and cinnamon buns are baked every 30 minutes at minimum. Ovens are placed near the front of the store so smells waft towards prospective buyers, weakening the will of even the most disciplined of dieters.
LUSH has that distinctive smell, detectable from even a good distance away. It’s maybe not remarkable that scent plays a key role in the LUSH experience but what is remarkable is their ownership of a smell that tells you a LUSH is nearby, well before your eyes catch up.
So, while scent plays a key role in driving sales for many businesses, there are many others that may be leaving smell behind. How might your business channel smell to drive more business? Could your brand further differentiate through the power of smell?
The answer might be right under your nose!
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