The right smells can evoke positive memories or feelings for us all. The cliché is home-baked cookies, the kind your mum supposedly made when you were young. Estate agents pump that smell into show homes to evoke memories that create a saleable nostalgia using scent marketing.
Although it’s a classic, scent designer and property developer Ainslie Walker claims that this standard scent has been worn out from overuse.
Speaking to Australia’s Daily Telegraph, Walker claims, “There was a time when you bought a house and mum was going to stay at home and bake so that would appeal to families. But nowadays we’re so much busier. The smell of baking cookies is probably rarer.
“But everyone is more aware of gourmet cooking, so you could do something like slow-roast some tomatoes.”
Walker is one of many people who’s looking to the future for scent marketing. In the past decade, the importance of olfactory sensations for consumers has become clear to large businesses.
Makings scents for major companies
In the US, brands like Cinnabon, Lush Cosmetics and Panera Bread regulate smells specifically to empty your wallet.
Along with lighting and layout, scent marketing has become a major player when it comes to creating ambience in a retail outlet. Cinnamon bun makers Cinnabon, for example, place their ovens closer to shopfronts in an attempt to lure customers in and make a purchase.
For some companies, subtlety is key. Lush Cosmetics, which sells fragrant products, uses ventilation systems to pump out some of its headier smells, stopping its perfumed scents from overbearing customers.
The Starbucks conundrum
The Wall Street Journal has described how the clash of conflicting food smells has led to problems for food chains. It’s an issue that led major coffee chain Starbucks to set up an aroma taskforce to balance the smell of breakfast foods with the aroma of coffee.
Breakfast sandwiches were temporarily removed from menus in 2008, before the situation was rectified by using higher-quality ham and cheese, and cooking the sandwiches at 300 degrees or below.
Our helping hand
The thought that major brands place in the way their business smells should act as a perfect example to your business. Without guidance on premium scenting, you’ll suffer numerous conflicting scents on your shop floor.
We can offer you brand scenting services that are tailored to suit your business environment. For more information, get in touch.
