The Smell of White

Combine everything and you get a unique sensory outcome we call "white." With light, all colors together create white light. With sound, all different frequencies combine to make white sound. Now, scientists have created olfactory white.

To create this indescribable smell, they chose 86 different odor molecules and diluted them to the same intensity. Then they combined them in different configurations. They found that when the mixtures included 30 or more of the compounds, they began to smell alike, regardless of which odor molecules were in the mixture and even if they shared no odor molecules in common.

The neutralization comes about because no one odor is dominant and the smells range over the range of scents humans can detect, effectively canceling each other out. This even distribution of smells is highly unlikely to occur in nature, but scientists are hoping that like white noise and white light, olfactory white can be used in the study of olfaction.

Scientists Restore Sense of Smell Using Gene Therapy

Can you imagine what it would be like to never have had a sense of smell? Those born with congenital anosmia have never smelled a rose, or freshly popped popcorn, chocolate, or any of the smells that inform and enrich our lives. Now, for the first time, scientists have discovered a way to possibly give this missing sense to those without a sense of smell.

Scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School, working with colleagues at other schools, were able to restore the ability to smell to mice. The mice had a genetic defect which negatively impacted the cilia throughout their bodies. Cilia are instrumental in smelling and also affect other body parts and their functions, like the eyes and kidneys. The researchers used gene therapy to spur the olfactory neurons to regrow the cilia.

The mice were injected with the virus that causes the common cold that had the normal IFT88 genes loaded in it. When the mice got the virus, the gene loaded into their DNA. Within 2 weeks, they had a 60% increase in their body weight, an indication that they were eating more which is linked to a better sense of smell.

The therapy, which will not be available to humans for years, only addresses anosmia caused by cilia dysfunction, not that caused by head trauma, aging or chronic sinus problems. Because cilia dysfunction also causes other, more serious diseases, the therapy could be used to treat a host of other problems. Smells promising!

Happy Smells

The universal search for happiness is evident from the sales of anti-depressants hitting new highs, but maybe happiness is just a sniff away. Here are some happy smells that might make you skip that next prescription refill.

Roses or jasmine flowers - "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet..." Flower smells have been used for centuries in aromatherapy, and research at Rutgers University's Human Emotions Laboratory has confirmed that floral scents can triple the number of people's immediate happy thoughts. They can also promote more social interaction.

Lemon - The bright scent of lemon oil has been shown to improve mood, give a boost of energy and reduce anxiety. In as study at Le Moyne College, researchers found that in the presence of a lemon scent, people are perceived more positively. (Lemony perfume for the job interview might not be a bad idea.)

Lavender - In aromatherapy, lavender is one of the most used essential oils. Scientists at the University of Miami School of Medicine found that smelling it improved mood, made people feel more relaxed and actually helped them solve math problems faster. Lavender is also used to reduce anxiety and even increase sexual arousal.

Liquorice - A study at the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation showed that the smell of liquorice makes people happier, and also is the #1 smell (combined with doughnuts) that makes men more physically aroused. Liquorice has been found to increase the availability of serotonin in the brain, helping to fight depression.

Sony Comes Out with Scent Capturing Printer

Chinese designer Li Jingxuan has created a scent capturing printer for Sony as part of a student workshop sponsored by the company to identify innovative technical ideas. The printer actually uses an electronic nose sensor which detects and captures smells and then uses pattern recognition to reproduce them. It uses aroma-based inks on special postcard sized photo paper with a clear film. When the film is peeled back, the scent is released. 

Great for vacationers and foodies, the printer easily can fit in a purse or backpack. The company hasn't yet said when the scent printer will be available.

Experiential Marketing Trumps Digital

If you are in the marketing field, all the buzz in the last five years or so revolves around digital marketing: web, SEO, social media, and mobile marketing. Yes, certainly these are all relatively new ways of reaching people and of course marketers are going to try to take advantage of them. However, as data has come in it appears that these may not be all they are cracked up to be, particularly in social media. Social media is a very personal medium and when companies use people's profile information to micro-target ads to them, they are regarded as "creepy." Another downside of digital marketing is that it is the ultimate hyper-crowded information overload setting, making any kind of brand attention and decision difficult at best.

The new buzz, as we in the scent and sensory marketing field have been saying for quite a while, is experiential marketing. The new science of neuromarketing has proven that the vast majority of buying decisions are made with the primitive reptilian part of the brain, where emotion rules supreme.

Marketers define experiential marketing as sensory experiences felt in relation to a product or brand. These sensory inputs are then paired in the customers' brains to an idea or value. For example, a common linkage is heavy = valuable. That is why men will frequently buy heavy jewelry for their wives and are flummoxed when the recipient doesn't like it. Another example was cited by Zev Auerbach in his presentation at ScentWorld, where high-end stereo manufacturer Bang & Olufsen intentionally weighted down their remote control unit to convey the tactile idea that it was expensive and well-built.

Scent also plays very easily into this strategy, as it is the only sense that is processed in that non-cognitive part of the brain. In a research study, people in two rooms were asked what they were planning to do that weekend. One room was scented with a lemon fragrance, while the other room was unscented. In the scented room, nearly half of the people said they were planning to clean, compared to 15% in the unscented room.

Similarly, we know that different fragrances can make people perceive a room as being either bigger or smaller than it actually is, and can even make people think that an individual is more slender than he or she is perceived to be without the scent.

The point of experiential marketing is to tap into these common associations, and also to create a pleasant environment for the customer so that this idea of pleasantness will subsequently be associated with Brand X.

Some conspiracy minded people are spooked by the whole idea of neuromarketing, pegging it as manipulative, or mind control. As far as manipulative, isn't all marketing and in fact, all persuasion of any kind in essence manipulative? The point is to persuade or influence the customer to take some kind of action, such as voting for a candidate, buying a product or making a donation. On the subject of mind control, experiential marketing and neuromarketing are more akin to mind reading than mind control. As with any kind of mind study, neuromarketing seeks to understand how people think rather than make them think a certain way. Although many decisions do take place in that reptilian brain, we still always have the option to use our higher cognitive processes to make buying decisions.

Australian Bank Banishes Stuffy Atmosphere

National Australia Bank has opened a new branch location featuring free Wi-fi, iPad stations, a children's area and olfactory branding. They are planning to open another four similar locations in the first half of 2012.

Scent, and indeed, most sensory strategies are slow to come to the mostly conservative banking and financial industry, but NAB is one of a few who are proactively improving their customers' sensory experience in their branch locations.

The company worked with designer Warren and Mahoney, who worked with them to do an analysis of the best retailers worldwide and incorporate research on the science of shopping. The idea was that the bank needed to compete effectively not only with other banks but also with other retail stores for the customers' time.

NAB has chosen a Persian lime and grapefruit scent," and was chosen to align with the brand's personality. According to Steve Mott with BetterBuyDesign consulting firm, "only a small number of U.S. banks have the kind of customer-centric retail approach for which a multi-sensory strategy wouldn't feel out of place."

Maybe that is why they are having such trouble...

Vanderbilt Emergency Room Uses Ambient Scenting to Reduce Stress

This small diffuser is available through Air Esscentials.

IAG on the Road to a Successful 2012

Happy new year! This year is going to be a great year for the members of the Independent Aroma Group.

We are back in action, following our very successful participation in ScentWorld Expo in December. We had a lot of interested people come up to our booth and as a result of the show, are in the process of adding three new vendor members and three new distributor members.

With the addition of these new members, we will now have expanded coverage throughout Asia, Oceania, Latin America, North America and Europe, as well as exciting new products. If you are an IAG member, please check your email and our LinkedIn group for new member introductions. If you are not yet a member, start the new year off right by joining the only global scent marketing buying group.