Who would ever believe that invisible molecules of scent can do more than just identify the things and bring out emotions? Recognizable odor of perfume makes you remember your mother singing lullabies over your cradle, the aroma of baked buns can spoil all your plans to keep to a low-carbonate diet, the smell of newly-printed pages is a forcible argument against e-books, and this list is infinite. If smelling something a person gets powerful feelings, isn’t it reasonable to use that in sales? Needless to say that marketing researchers have set sights on the amazing properties of smells, and no wonder that aroma marketing can easily turn into one of the most powerful tools of influence for the next generations.
What is Scent Marketing?
A present-day business environment with competition of unprecedented scale requires new approaches to the customers to connect with them on a deeper level, creating more memorable experience, and expanding recognition of the brand on a more emotional level. Scent marketing is an aroma market strategy based on sensory perceptions and instantaneous triggering of the consumers’ emotions to build sustainable brand loyalty and to win the increased spending.
Scent is another word for aroma or fragrance. It affects three-fourths of daily emotions and governs the memories. So, what is the expected result of the aroma diffusion in the store? First of all, it is creating comfort for the visitors. Secondly, it is reinforcement of the identity of a certain business. Lastly, it is differentiation of a particular brand from the similar competitive businesses.
What does aroma mean to a person? It can serve as a connecting link to a long-forgotten memory or as a transportation vehicle to a certain place and certain time. It makes a person happier at least for a while. Thus, customers will remember the brand better if it is associated with pleasant atmosphere in the store, comfortable environment, and a nice odor which makes them feel happier. Yes, it is that easy!
Scent Marketing Examples
The marketing strategy in the food and beverage industries aim to ensure the best service to the customers at the restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, hotels, takeaway places, airports, metros, schools, colleges, universities, and other premises. Which type of smell can make the atmosphere capturing and motivate the clients to buy? Remember going past the Starbucks coffee shot or Costa. How can you define scent that pushed you to getting a tall Latte at once? It is a strong smell of coffee which gives you an idea that you cannot survive without a short break with delicious hot drink. Is the smell always natural? No, it is not! It is one of the secrets of marketing scents: they can be fragranced by the shop to push you to buying! Boosting the sales in shops can be easily done with the help if an artificial scent machine or natural aroma of coffee, if you can afford it.
A scent is the key to another story of success which takes using fragrances on a different level. Kat Cole, the President of Cinnabon, decided to place the ovens in the front part of the retail stores at the airports and malls to attract the buyers with the aroma of fresh baked cinnamon buns. The sales boosted amazingly fast thanks to the ovens and specially organized ventilation systems that kept pleasant sweet scents inside.
What is a smell of famous M&M World store in London? They mostly sell the pre-packaged products, but a chocolate aroma is diffused across the large store and it makes it impossible to leave without buying at least a small bag of sweets. What does scented mean for supermarkets? They know how smell works and install the bread ovens so that the smell spreads everywhere. From the very entrance to the shop, the customers realize how hungry they are. And it is no longer a secret that hungry people buy more.
A successful good scents company always uses a combination of sound, decoration, and smell to create a desired atmosphere. The best smells in the world are very common ones: fresh bread, chocolate, and coffee, but they make wonders when used in marketing.
Smells and Their Meanings
Are you ready to reveal the genuine meanings of the most popular scents? Being aware of the implied senses, they feel a particular smell and they say they can smell your intentions. The power of aromas is not used to the fullest degree and the meaning of scenting is still disguised from common visitors of the stores.
Invoking the memories of the past, pleasant scents of cookies remind the grown-ups about their childhood and grannies who took care of them. If you want to know how to make your house smell like a bakery, ask an owner of any supermarket. They will advise you not only to have natural aromas of fresh buns and bread, but also some artificial custom scents they use in their stores.
Smell psychology says that there are certain gender-specific scents. So, a feminine scent is used in the ladies’ clothing store and it helps to create a purchase intention even in those women who come just to have a quick look. Knowing how the scent works, the owners avoid such aromas in sports goods stores as they scare the men away.
The aroma strategy should take into account the content of a specific store. Why is smell important for any store? Because a well-chosen scent that makes sense for a particular brand boosts sales immediately! A human brain does the scent processing subconsciously, so the conversion of a fresh coffee aroma into a buying intent cannot be realized by a customer. The importance of smell is so significant that even Nike applies the strategies of scent marketing in their retail stores to ensure the purchasing intent by 80%! You should not know the answer to the question, “What does it mean when you smell cinnamon?” if you are a customer, but if you are engaged in marketing, you definitely should!
Scents That Increase Sales
Ambiance is a number one priority when it comes to increasing retail sales. Oversaturated with visually pleasing effects, the customers can be easily attracted by good smells. A store makes much more money, using the benefits of smell marketing, if it has the right scents for the right target group of customers. A scent for retail stores should not be funky or stale!
The latest scent marketing reports prove the amazing characteristics of coffee and cinnamon aromas.
