New Technology Delivers Scent at POS and Beyond

Scentevents has come out with a new computer controlled technology to deliver multiple scents on cue, activated by motion sensor or requested by the user. The patent pending device, which is commercially available now, is called the 4D scent media player.

The 4D scent player can work with scent diffusion devices provided by ScentEvents or with third party diffusers. The idea is that large brands can integrate the power of scent into their other marketing communications. For example, a company can set up a free standing kiosk in a mall or other public area that runs an ad or video or even a series of them for different products. The scent can be timed to coincide with the image on the screen to emphasize the visual and audio marketing message. Another option is to allow the user to interactively choose the scent they want to smell. Or, depending on the location and application of the system, the scents can be placed on a loop so that they are released on a timer. Different smells can be combined to create a large range of fragrances in the same device.

The natural product for this device is perfumes and scented personal products, since it would allow customers to sample the scents before buying, and thereby spur more sales. However, its uses are limited only by the imagination.

We know that scent is uniquely effective in provoking memories and emotion. Travel companies like cruise lines, resorts and airlines can incorporate the smell of seasonal destinations (pina colada, salt air, refreshing cold air for ski resorts, etc.). Hotels can use their signature scents, reminding previous guests of their stays and inducing a feeling in keeping with the hotel's ambiance and branding. Restaurants can make patrons hungry using tempting food smells, and malls can increase holiday spending with pine and other seasonal scents.

You can contact Scentevents for more information and pricing.

May Winner of "Love Is in the Air" Giveaway Chosen

The Independent Aroma Group is happy to announce our Love Is in the Air Giveaway winner for May! Of all of the people who showed us the love in May, Danyel Gafsou, of Via Scent in Israel is the lucky winner. Congratulations, Danyel!

Danyel has won a Scentevents Kit, valued at $147 US, or 495.32 shekels. Perfect for your special event, the Scent Event Kit is eco-friendly, portable and economical. It uses natural ceramic scent orb beads so there is nothing wet to deal with and no residue. It comes with three packets of beads. One scent sleeve will scent an area of 500-1000 sq.ft. (46 to 93 sq. meters) and two sleeves will scent spaces up to 2000 sq. ft. (186 sq. meters), indoors or out. Thank you to ScentEvents for providing this great prize!

Don’t forget, the Love Is in the Air Giveaway is still going on, and we have many other fabulous prizes to give away. Simply enter here. You can increase your chance of winning each time you show us the love by following us on Twitter, liking us on Facebook, connecting with us on LinkedIn, or commenting on our blog. Show us the love, and you could be our next winner!

Nightclub Scenting Replaces Cigarette Smell

Clubs worldwide are faced with a smelly dilemma. In the old days, nightclubs smelled like cigarette smoke, but in many entertainment venues, smoking has been banned. You might think this is a good thing, since most people agree that cigarette smoke smells bad. However, without the strong masking odor of smoke, a lot of other even less pleasant odors are noticeable including body odor, stale beer and vomit.

Researchers in the Netherlands decided to test how people would respond to ambient scenting in nightclubs since club owners are looking for a solution to their smelly situation. They infused three different scents into separate dance clubs: orange, peppermint and seawater, and compared results to the same clubs in an unscented condition. About 850 young club goers were given short questionnaires asking them to rate the quality of the evening, the music, the club and their feelings.

Consistently, those in the scented environment reported that the music was better, the club was more fun, and their mood was more cheerful than in the unscented clubs. Scent also increased the dancing activity in the clubs. The researchers were surprised to see that there was no significant difference between reactions to the different scents; all of the scents had roughly the same effect.

The scientists concluded that ambient scenting is somthing that nightclub owners can use to differentiate themselves from competitors, increase visitor return rate and boost revenue. Scents should correlate with the lights and music, so that high arousal music is paired with stimulating scent. Some innovative clubs are now using "aroma jockeys" who generate and disperse multiple smells throughout the evening that are congruent with the music that is playing.

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

Can Fragrance Make Us Better People?

A four-week study in the Netherlands found that the scent of oranges calmed violent criminals, and resulted in less aggression and fewer fights.

The head of police social services in Rotterdam, Herma Heester, said: "It's amazing, fighting in the cells has been dramatically reduced and we are using 10 per cent fewer sedation drugs". ("Violent Criminals Calmed by Scent of Oranges" The Telegraph, Feb. 23, 2011)

Another study found that people in scented environments are more likely to help a stranger. When exposed to pleasant odors, such as baking cookies or roasting coffee, people in a large shopping mall were more likely to help someone by retrieving a dropped pen or providing change for a dollar than in an unscented environment. Participants also reported being in a better mood in the presence of scent. (Study: "The Sweet Smell of...Helping: Effects of Pleasant Ambient Fragrance on Prosocial Behavior in Shopping Malls" by Robert A. Baron, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)


The use of scent for social reasons has almost unlimited applications. Imagine using a pleasant scent in preschools to encourage cooperation, in airports to reduce anxiety, and at charity functions to boost fundraising. Scent...it's not just for selling anymore!

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.

Scent Marketing Primer

Newly laundered clothes hanging on a clothes lines, chocolate chip cookies that just got out of the oven, vanilla, grass cut just a few hours ago, a pine forest, a rose garden, freshly baked bread, the salty tang of an ocean breeze, cool fresh air on a spring morning... Speaking of all those, are they starting to trigger some sort of pleasant memory or feeling when you smell them?

It's important that you know that smell is a chemical sense that is tied to the emotional center of the brain. One of the most powerful senses, able to not only to make us salivate, attract us to someone or stir our memories, but it can also change our heart rate and other physiological measures. But that's not all - it can also make us open our wallets to buy something.

Using the senses of sight and hearing, businesses all over the world spend millions every year trying to attract new customers via print ads and TV. However, the real savvy businesses out there are also using the sense of smell to persuade their customers to stop, smell and buy the roses, cars, and houses.

One of the fastest growing trends in advertising is scent marketing. And even though it's not fully understood yet by the majority of businesses, the power of scent has already been successfully applied and can be applied to almost every type of product. Real estate agents know that baking bread or chocolate chip cookies during an open house is going to help sell it. And also, chances are that the sudden spike in home sales during the spring is due to the delicious smells of the blooming hyacinths and daffodils.

Many studies from all over the world have shown that a scented environment makes consumer spend more time and money in that location. A recent study in Las Vegas showed that people spent more time more and spent 45% more money in a scented environment than in an unscented one. In another study, consumers rated a product more favorably and were willing to spend more money for it in a scented room, versus the same exact product in an unscented room.

The secret behind scent is that it creates a "flow state" that leads people to temporarily lose their normal sense of time and become totally consumed in the occurring event. It can last up to several minutes.

So how are major companies out there using fragrance to increase sales? Some use scents that are naturally present in the environment like a bakery funneling the scent of baking bread from the oven area to the front of the shop. Those establishments that are not able to capitalize on their innate smells can create an environment with any fragrance their heart desires, through introducing ambient scent.

A pleasant smell puts the customer in a pleasant, buying mood and increases the chance that of becoming a repeat customer. For instance, Omni Hotels pumps a lemongrass and green tea scent into its lobbies and public places. Rolls Royce was seeing a drop off in customer perception of its cars, even though mechanically, they were the same or better. After investigating, they found the source of the dissatisfaction: the smell! Customers associated the smell of the classic 1965 Silver Cloud with quality, and when the Rolls Royces stopped smelling like this, the satisfaction dropped. Now, Rolls Royce has reproduced the smell of the Silver Cloud and they spray it under the seats in all of their new cars to protect their brand.

Similarly, Singapore Airlines has consistently gotten high marks from consumers in part because they use sensorial marketing to immerse passengers in the smell of a bamboo forest as well as lotus flowers. The fragrance is worn by flight attendants and put on hot towels that are handed to passengers before takeoff.

If your business involves any kind of location, whether retail, hospitality, healthcare, or entertainment, it just makes "scents" to incorporate our most powerful sense: the sense of smell.

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

Dos and Don'ts of Selling a Scent Solution

Although research has shown over and over again that scent, used correctly, produces a marked increase in sales, the use of scent for branding and enhancing the retail experience is not yet commonplace. The general lack of knowledge about scent marketing makes it important for scent solutions companies to approach prospects in the right way, or risk turning them away from using scent in their marketing at all. Here are some tips.

Do listen to the client. What kind of experience is the client trying to create for its customers? Ask questions about the client’s positioning like “ Is X Company firmly established in its market or is it a newcomer?” and “When your customers think about X Company, what emotions do they experience?” “Do you want them to continue to think of X Company in this way, or are you looking to arouse different emotions and experience in the customer?” “Do you want to use scent to brand X Company or to instigate certain behaviors such as buying more, relaxing or becoming more alert?”

Do consider the capabilities of the person operating the equipment. The last thing you want is for the equipment to break because of user error, so find out who will be using it and make sure that the operation and care of the equipment is in line with that person’s technical ability and position. Provide training if necessary.

Do educate the client about the optimum intensity of the scent for their space. Abercrombie & Fitch, one of the most well-known companies using scent marketing, was picketed by consumers angry about the high intensity of aroma in their stores, which they claimed made customers and employees sick and dizzy. One sure way for a scent marketing program to fail is by having either too intense or too faint a smell.

Don’t fall in love with one solution. Every client is different, and they have different needs. Even if you believe that one equipment line is the best, be open to the client’s budget and specific requirements, and give them the solution that works best for them.

Don’t ignore the other players. The company paying for the solution is not the only people who have to be on board with your proposal. Right up front, ask your contact at the client company who else should be involved and include them in your pitch from the beginning. There may be an advertising agency that wields significant input into marketing decisions, or with product companies, there may be retail chains that you should invite to your presentations. First, present the available research on the effectiveness of scent marketing to establish that scent should be used, and then engage them in choosing the scent. This will make them feel like they have a voice in the process and turn them into your advocates instead of your adversaries.