Scent Marketing and Branding: What You Should Know

Scent Marketing and Branding: What You Should Know

Scent marketing is, at this point, an open secret among competitive businesses and retailers. While consumers are the target of this technique, they remain the group of people least likely to understand the details of what is happening and why. Many businesses, especially in recent years, have recognized the value of this branch of marketing and sought to capitalize on it.

The Existing Market and What’s Been Done Before

Businesses around the world use this technique to their advantage in various ways. There are three primary areas that exhibit scent marketing put to good use: incidental scents, customer-targeted scents, and employee-targeted scents.

Incidental scents are those that first developed naturally out of how the business was operating. Over time, these scents came to be identified with the brand, and ultimately, they became more refined. Examples of scents with this origin (which have since become manufactured and used intentionally) are the distinct coffee scent of Starbucks, the French fry scent at McDonald’s, and the chemical smell of the cards in collectible card games such as Magic: The Gathering. While these scents all came about incidentally, they eventually became so familiar with the brand that new locations deliberately recreated the old scents even if ingredients or manufacturers had changed in the meantime.

Customer-targeted scents are those which are geared to produce a positive association in the customer. In many cases, they started with incidental scents. In other situations, like the new car smell, they were engineered to stand out from other scents. The positive association with buying a new car made the scent itself something that customers sought. In less conscious cases, such as with the new shoe scent that Nike uses, it has been used to dramatically increase the intent and willingness of customers to buy a product.

Finally, employee-targeted scents are those which help to create a specific association and feeling among employees. These are used less in retail environments and more for offices and other settings where employees will be interacting without much public engagement. Companies will pay for scents that are associated with positive emotional responses to encourage improved morale and productivity. Diffusing essential oils throughout the air is an excellent way to apply these scents.

How You Can Use It to Your Advantage

There are numerous ways you can use scent branding. For practical considerations, businesses such as gyms, studios, and other places that host many people performing physical activities can be overwhelmed by the combination of sweat, body odor, and the odd mixture of colognes and deodorants that the public brings with it. This environment can create a strong negative response and turn off potential new customers. Scent marketing is essential to combat the odd scents that arise and instead create a pleasant atmosphere that sets your clients at ease and reminds them that you run a clean, modern facility.

For the proactive side of scent marketing, you may also want to develop a scent that plays on a mixture of associated scents. For example, a men’s clothing store may want to blend scents like pipe tobacco, musk, and leather to suggest vintage manliness subtly. Another approach is to use relaxing scents for places such as spas, libraries, and banks where you would not want your customers to be needlessly agitated. Regardless of the specific sensation you seek to evoke; there are essential oils that will work for you.

How We Can Help

We specialize in producing distinct scents by blending a variety of essential oils. These oils can be spread throughout your business using HVAC-capable diffusers or sleekly-designed AromaPro diffusers. As each aroma has its unique associations and effects on your customers and employees, you may want to take some time to develop the perfect scent combination. We have worked with many businesses to find the ideal scents suited to their clientele, so you may find creative solutions to what you’re looking for are only a call or email away.