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.

The Smell of New Zealand

According to a survey conducted for Ambi Pur, the smell of salt air epitomizes New Zealand the best. Runners up included the smell of sheep and dairy farming, fish and chips and a hangi cooking (this is a native New Zealand method of cooking food by burying it in the ground with hot rocks).

Kiwis typically spend their holidays at the beach, so the smell is usually associated with pleasant memories.

Over three quarters of those surveyed use air freshening products, and the preferred scent for them is vanilla.

Pleasant Fragrances Enhance Guest Stays at Hotels

Here's a great article we found about using scent marketing for hospitality. It's from the Miami Herald. Enjoy!

South Florida Hotels Discover Scents Make Sense

Sniff Your Way to Profits

I am delighted to be writing my first blog for Scent Marketing Today, and thank Tony for this opportunity.

At my recent presentations for the Luxury Marketing Council in Tampa, West Palm Beach and Miami, I showcased Environmental Scenting Technology, and my focus was all about "Celebrating the Senses". I was delighted to see Spence Levy from Air Esscentials and his colleagues at my Miami presentation.

Many people from all industries are fascinated about the subject of fragrance, but some are a little leery about it because they don't really know much about it or understand it. Today, Scent Marketing is the new branding frontier, and it is a growing industry!

Our sense of smell is the strongest sense that we have after sight and yet it is the most ignored! Without our sense of smell we can’t enjoy food because scent and taste are so intertwined, and as a result people get depressed and their lifestyle becomes severely impacted.

Many Fortune 500 companies are now recognizing the power of scent, and as a result are ‘scent-branding’ their properties to create a memorable experience for their guests, and to ensure return visits to their casinos, hotels, spas, and retail stores. Even corporate event planners are utilizing scent to create a multi-sensory experience for their guests, and are incorporating ambient aromas for themed weddings, events, and special occasions.

Supermarkets are now enticing customers to buy food by incorporating environmental scent in the air.. and much like the Pavlovian response....when you smell the tantalizing aromas of coffee, delicious roast chickens and scrumptious deserts, the cash registers reflect that craving and start to ring as consumers purchase those items.

Today, ambient scenting can be programmed into individual hotel rooms! By selecting your desired scent when you check in at the front desk of an hotel, you can let them know what fragrance you like, and it can be controlled and activated from the front desk so that when you walk into your room, your favorite scent is already wafting in the room! This is an initiative that has already begun in Paris and we are bringing it to the USA. Talk about customization and establishing a home-away-from home ambience!

This particular technology was developed in France by whiz guru Yvan Regeard of Exhalia and Scenterprises Ltd is the USA partner. Our environmental scent presentation is compelling and the product is amazing. We can deliver fragrance though computers, DVD’s, videos and television. Yes! We have Scent-o-Vision in a delivery system that offers amazing aromas for all kinds of interactive, multi-sensory video games, computer programs and TV cooking shows. We have interest from every major fragrance company and also from national Television shows for this application.

We offer 3 product lines to diffuse perfume interactively in association with multimedia contents:

• Scent Marketing products- for fragrance sampling; point of purchase programs, and store events;

• Hospitality Systems product line - Systems for olfactory marketing professionals and for air treatment,

• Home Systems product line-- wonderful ambient home systems

Today there are many wonderful delivery systems from a range of companies for all types of spaces: small, large and medium areas. There are nebulizers which diffuse liquid into vapor which is barely discernible; diffusion through scented pellets with fans; saturated pads that are placed in scent cubes where the air flow draws in the air and then diffuses it through the fan; scented gels which are diffused through digital scent technology through which the scent is synchronized with software and activated via the sound and images in videos and TV television.

The digital world is realizing that the use of fragrance for interactive video games such as “World of Warcraft”, TV cooking channels and flower and garden shows are much more experiential if the viewer can actually smell the wonderful aromas from their computers, DVD’s, videos and television.

Read my articles on environmental scenting in the following magazines:

GLOW BEAUTY MAGAZINE
http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5f7fa368#/5f7fa368/124

VUVUZELA MAGAZINE
http://www.vuvuzelamagazine.com/magazine/index.html
see page 26

SCENT MARKETING HAPPI MAGAZINE
http://www.happi.com/expertsopinion/2011/03/03/scent_marketing

My recent interview on blog talk radio by Karen Krymski from “Women Power Up” discussed the world of scenting. It was broadcast live on April 12 and can be downloaded and listened to at your leisure at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/womenpowerup. Log onto Scent Branding Discussion with Sue Phillips.

Fragrance, aroma, scent, perfume….. Whichever name you give it, it is the new marketing frontier for branding, and goes beyond just applying it to a lady’s wrists or pulse-points! It is the most powerful sense we have that triggers memories and emotions. Today, fragrance can seduce us personally and environmentally!

Inhale, apply, enjoy and you and your clients will also sniff their way to profits!!!


Scentfully,
Sue
President, Scenterprises
http://www.scenterprises.com/
sue@scenterprises.com

Are Popular Scents Too Feminine?

The top scents used in scent marketing are vanilla, lavender, citrus and florals, and they do work to increase sales. But are they too feminine? Research shows that men and women have different preferences when it comes to scents. Women's sense of smell is also better than that of men.

Scentsy, a flameless candle company, has a line that it markets to men on the premise that men prefer more woodsy, rich aromas instead of lighter floral and fruit smells. The most popular of their men's line is Hemingway, which includes ripe apples, spice, sandlewood and cedar. Their other men's scents are Embers (amber, bergamot and cedar), Route 66 (citrus, herbs and musk), Echo (spice notes, Mediterranean citrus, blood orange and herbs) and Sharp Dressed Man (grapefruit, lemon, eucalyptus and basil).

An American teen has taken it one step further, with a line of candles for men he has created called ManCans. The thirteen-year-old discovered that he couldn't stand the "girly" scents of the candles his sister was sellling for a school fundraiser, so he decided to make his own with manly smells. His scents include bacon, freshly cut grass, and buttered popcorn. He launched his company in November 2010, and so far, has sold 675 candles for $5 each. Keep an eye out for his upcoming scents: pizza, money to burn, cracker jack and dirt.

Study Identifies Women's Scent Preferences by Region

Axe, a manufacturer of men's cologne and highly fragranced body products, sponsored a study by Dr. Alan Hirsch to identify what scents "turn girls on." The study found that the scents preferred varies widely by what region within the US.

Here are the findings:

Girls’ Scent Preferences by City
1. New York City – Coffee
2. Los Angeles – Lavender
3. Chicago – Vanilla
4. Houston – Barbeque
5. Atlanta – Cherry
6. Phoenix – Eucalyptus
7. Philadelphia – Clean Laundry
8. Dallas – Smoke/Fireplace
9. San Diego – Suntan Lotion/Ocean
10. Minneapolis-St. Paul – Cut Grass

For single guys outside of these metro areas, there are some scents that a popular across regions, and across the country.

Girls’ Scent Preferences Nationwide
1. Vanilla
2. Coffee
3. Lavender
4. Fresh Air/Rain

Girls’ Scent Preferences Regionally
• East Coast – Coffee
• South – Fire/Smoke
• Midwest – Cut Grass
• West Coast – Baked Goods

In another study commissioned by Axe, researchers asked young women about their ideas on scent and attraction. Here are some of the highlights:

• Dirty little secret: One in four girls will wait anywhere from two weeks to a month before washing their sheets in order to keep their guy’s scent close

• Father doesn’t know best: 56 percent of girls say they won’t date a guy who smells like their dad

• Guard your belongings: One out of two girls admits that she has committed theft by stealing an article of clothing from a guy to smell when he’s gone and nearly 60 percent of girls sleep in their guy’s clothes because they like his lingering aroma

• Need proof of how scent and memory are intertwined? 60 percent of girls still remember the smell of their ex’s cologne

Something Stinks in Portland

City Council members in the city of Portland, Oregon are considering and are expected to approve a fragrance-free policy for city workers. City employees would be banned from using perfume, aftershave, and strongly scented powder, deodorant and other personal hygiene products at work. If the measure is passed, workers could be penalized for wearing too much scent. It is not clear how much is “too much.”

The reason is to protect employees who are sensitive to perfumes as well as those who suffer from asthma. However, perfume allergies are primarily skin contact allergies. The chemicals in fragranced products seep into the skin and can cause eczema, characterized by itchy rash, dry skin and redness. People who have perfume allergies are advised to scrutinize their perfumes and body products for the specific chemicals that trigger their symptoms and avoid them or to spray perfume on their clothes, rather than directly on their skin. However, other people’s perfume typically does not affect them.[1]

Those with asthma, however, are a different story. Although it is not clear which of the multiple compounds within perfume are responsible for aggravation of their symptoms, the fact is that perfume does affect them negatively.

Perhaps, instead of banning fragrances for everyone outright, Portland could make decisions on a case-to-case basis where there is a legitimate health issue. And if you are a perfume wearer, and you know a co-worker is sensitive to fragrances, you should have compassion and save your fragrance for the weekend.

If Portland does pass the measure, let’s hope that city employees don’t start complaining about their co-workers’ au natural body smells.

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[1] The Relationship Between Perfumes and Allergies, http://www.brighthub.com/health/allergies-asthma/articles/90680.aspx

Scent-Releasing Shirt Combats Body Odor

A Japanese company has created a shirt with micro capsules that release a rose fragrance when the collar rubs against the skin. The shirt is called the Otoko Kaoru, which translates as “the good smelling man.”

The scent is released slowly, and only when the shirt is worn. The company says that the scent will last up to 10 washes. Sold for around 3000 yen, or the equivalent of $35 US, it is affordable enough for men to stay fragrant on a regular basis.

If the shirt sells well, expect to see pajamas and polo shirts with the same technology. For now, the Otoko Kaoru is only available in Asia.

The shirt is a follow up to a product released in Japan with great success in 2007 with the same name: a scented chewing gum. But all gum has a smell, you say? While all gum has some amount of breath freshening capability, the Otoko Kaoru gum actually has a scent (again, rose) that is absorbed into the body and emitted by the pores.

Now, thanks to the Otoko Kaoru, noses across Japan have some relief from overly smelly men.

Love Is in the Air

With Valentine’s Day approaching, the topic of love is something on everyone’s mind. And since scent is the only sense that directly is tied to the emotional center of the brain, it makes “scents” to talk about the fragrance of love.

Pheromones are chemical scents released in order to attract the opposite sex. They are not smelled in the same way as a fragrance, but with specialized receptors inside the nose. Pheromones are well known to work among various species of animals, however, their effectiveness in human sexual attraction is somewhat controversial. Some scientists say that human beings have “outgrown” the need for such chemical markers in choosing a mate through evolution, while others maintain their continued relevance.

Science has confirmed that people do sniff out potential love interests by gravitating to those with opposite natural immunities within our genetic makeup. The reason is that the resulting offspring will be stronger because of the combination of immunities. A Brazilian study found that, when women were given unwashed t-shirts worn by men, they rated the smell more pleasant for those men who had opposite MHC.[1]

Interestingly, when people marry those with differing MHC, (major histocompatibilty complex, which transmits information about immunities), they tend to have better, more loving and longer lasting relationships than those with similar MHC.

However, when women are on birth control pills, they tend to choose partners with the same MHC as theirs. The reason, scientists say, is that the pill tricks the body into thinking that it is pregnant, and for a pregnant woman, it is safer to surround herself with males who are family members. Women who form relationships with MHC similar men are more likely to feel sexually unsatisfied and cheat on their partners.[2]

So, assuming that you have found your perfect match, what scents can rev up the romance? Traditional romantic fragrances include roses, musk and chocolate. A study confirmed that people are, indeed, sexually/romantically stimulated by scent. However, the kinds of scents that work may surprise you. The top scent for male stimulation was a combination of pumpkin pie and lavender, followed by a licorice/doughnut blend. Women like to wear sexy perfumes with musk, but tend to be aroused more by the musk than the men.

Aromatherapy identifies a number of scents that act as an aphrodisiac, including basil, jasmine, neroli, ylang ylang, bergamot and sandalwood. So try one of these scents to infuse a little extra romance this Valentine's Day. Your partner will love it!

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[1] “New Evidence That The MHC Influences Odor Perception In Humans: A Study With 58 Southern Brazilian Students”, Pablo Sandro Carvalho Santos, Juliano Augusto Schinemann, Juarez Gabardo and Maria da Graça Bicalho, LIGH—Laboratório de Imunogenética e Histocompatibilidade, Departamento de Genética, Paraná, Brazil, February 2004

[2] “Birth Control Pills Affect Women’s Taste in Men,” Melinda Wenner, Scientific American, December 2008

Fascinating Scents

In her book, “Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation,” famed brand consultant and author Sally Hogshead lets us in on a little branding secret. She says that successful brands “fascinate” people, meaning that they appeal to them on an non-logical, purely emotional level, by activating one or more of the following triggers: lust, mystique, alarm, prestige, power, vice, and trust.

Depending on how a company wants to position itself, it focuses its marketing message on arousing one primary emotional trigger, which may be supported by a few more. As scent marketers, we are all familiar with appealing to the emotional, limbic side of prospects through the only sense that directly affects emotions and memory: scent. In order to for our solutions to be successful for our clients, the scents must match the emotions that the client is triggering in their overall marketing.

Lust – Lust isn’t just sexual arousal; it is anything involved in the anticipation of pleasure, including things that are beautiful, delicious or cool. Companies that use lust as their main trigger include Apple, Sharper Image, Godiva, and all jewelry stores.

Because lust focuses on the senses, it is the emotion that is easiest to express in scent. Lustful scents include florals like rose, ylang ylang and jasmine and with woodsy base notes like sandalwood, Spanish moss and white amber. Yummy fragrances like vanilla and chocolate also stimulate lust, as does the warm and sexy smell of musk.

Mystique – Mystique is an emotion that attracts because of what is left unrevealed, inciting curiosity. It pairs well with lust, just as a negligee both conceals and reveals. Any company that uses a secret formula or rare or exotic ingredient, like Coca Cola and many skincare lines, is using mystique.

Spicy, exotic smells evoke the feeling of mystique, such as exotic florals, cinnamon, musk, tobacco, ginger, pepper and woodsy smells like balsam and cedar. Also, any scents in which the individual elements are hard for a person to identify work for mystique.

Alarm – Alarm is the most difficult emotional trigger to express in scent. It is the emotion that people experience when they become aware of the negative consequences of inaction, like one time offers and buying identity theft protection.

The closest scent to the alarm trigger would be alert, sharp scents such as rosemary and bitter orange.

Prestige - Companies that use prestige appeal to customers’ desire to be members of an elite group and to enjoy the rank and respect that go with it. High quality and high price distinguish these brands. All luxury brands use this trigger.

Prestigious smells tend to be complex, with florals balanced with subtle spices and wood scents.

Power – Power and prestige often go hand in hand. Companies play the power card by either controlling the environment and making customers give up control, or by giving them the feeling of having power and confidence.

Power invoking scents include cool greens, herbals and citrus.

Vice - Vice is our attraction to the forbidden or dangerous, and works well in combination with lust. Any company that uses the concept of rule breaking or overindulgence in its marketing is using the vice trigger. Harley Davidson and all liquor companies fall into this category.

Smells that inspire vice as part of a branding strategy include very sweet smells like cotton candy, chocolate and juicy fruit scents.

Trust – Trust is the last and one of the most powerful emotional triggers. It is the hardest to establish, but it also creates a long term and loyal relationship with customers. Banks, universities and most established market leaders regardless of industry use this trigger to advantage.

Scents that foster trust include any kind of baked good smell like chocolate chip cookies, bread and apple pie as well as vanilla and cinnamon.

Choosing the Right Scent

You wowed them with your sales presentation and convinced them of the effectiveness of scent marketing by showing them the relevant research. Your prices are within budget and the client is ready to implement a scent strategy. One of the key factors in the success of their program is the implementation.

Pleasant - Research has shown that people react positively to scents that they find pleasant, and negatively to unpleasant smells. So, look for smells that are widely accepted as pleasant such as vanilla, citrus, freshly cut grass, linen, ocean and lavender. Think about doing a small “sniff test” to determine if your customers like the suggested scent.

Nostalgic – Because the sense of smell is connected directly to the memory center of the brain, smells evoke certain memories. In a study comparing recall related to the senses, researchers found that smell brought forth the subjects’ strongest memories, more positive emotional association with the memories and earlier memories than either sight or hearing. Nostalgic scents might include pipe tobacco, leather, freshly cut grass, baking bread, and the perfume of a loved one. Nostalgic scents make people feel comfortable and happy.

Gender specific – In a much-cited study on the use of scent to boost retail sales, researchers diffused a vanilla scent in the women’s department of a clothing store and rose maroc into the men’s department. Sales on the scented days almost doubled compared to unscented days, but when the scents were switched, sales actually decreased.

Cultural – Different cultures have different scent preferences, many of them related to the smells of their natural surroundings and foods. For example, Indonesians tend to prefer fragrances with adehydic notes, which are present in spices used in the area’s food. Americans associate musk with sexuality, but in France, it is a common scent in baby products. Cultural differences also affect group’s affinity with fragrance in general. A study by Yankelovich Partners for Heart & Soul found that African American women are more than twice as likely as those of other races to buy fragrance, and 75% of them buy muliple scents to be worn on different occasions. Hispanic women are also big fragrance buyers, as wearing perfume is considered to contribute to both their cleanliness and femininity.[1]

Congruent – In a study of scent use in a grocery store, scents that customers perceived as “going with” the product increased sales (baked bread smell in the bakery section, strawberries in the produce section), but incongruent scents depressed sales.

Intensity – Many marketers consciously choose a low intensity for their scent because they want the effects to be subliminal. A study done in a shopping center with a low intensity citrus scent noted that while the scent was noticed by very few shoppers, the average amount of money spent increase by $55 per person on scented days versus unscented. Others are concerned about triggering backlash such as pickets of Abercrombie & Fitch saying that their scent dispersal was too intense and “unhealthy” for the employees.

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[1] “Marketing Fragrance to Minorities is Lucrative But Not Specialized”, Minority Markets Alert, October 1998

Breathe Deeply and Relax

Between work and family obligations, traffic, difficult people, relationship challenges and environmental stresses, is it any wonder that people are anxious and stressed out? If your company provides a break from life’s hectic schedule, why not take it one step further and help your customers relax by infusing calming scents in your environment? Great places for relaxing fragrance include hotel lobbies and guest rooms, spas and salons, doctor’s offices, dentist’s offices, hospitals and retail stores. Here are some of the top scents for calming and relaxation:

Lavender – The scent of this purple flower has been used for centuries to calm anxiety, fight depression and enable restful sleep.

Bergamot – Derived from citrus fruit rind, this lovely scent is refreshing and uplifting.

Sandalwood – This woodsy scent comes from sandalwood trees that are at least 40 years old. It calms, relieves nervous tension and helps you relax.

Mandarin – Another citrus like the bergamot, mandarin is gentle and can help with sleep difficulties and lift your mood. Children, especially enjoy and benefit from this scent.

Jasmine – The heady scent of this white flower has been shown by German scientists to be just as effective in inducing sleep as prescription medications.

Use these scent alone or in combinations to create an atmosphere of calm and refreshed spirit.