Scents and the City
What would you say is the best way to promote a city and the numerous activities and experiences that can be enjoyed during a visit there?
What would you say is the best way to promote a city and the numerous activities and experiences that can be enjoyed during a visit there?
We recently came across a great article by Kurt Frenier, regarding experience branding. You can read the full article here
Experience branding is the art (and science) of personalising your brand promise by creating emotionally satisfying brand experiences, at all customer touch points.
Research has shown that having a unique experience with a brand is important in determining purchase and that many consumers would pay more for unique brand experiences (Jack Morton Worldwide, Sept 2011).
Frenier lists six reasons why experience branding is so important.
Interestingly, these six reasons are easily interchangeable with grounds for incorporating the sense of smell, and scent marketing, into your experience branding!
1. Bring the brand promise to life: A highly important task – creating touch points that allow your target market to understand the brand values in both a rational and emotional way. If a unique selling point (USP) of your brand is its aroma or its flavour, make sure you are utilising this at every possible touch point.
2. Create a personal experience: Personal experiences are more emotional, and more often than not, win out over rational reasoning for purchase decisions.
“Consumers use all of their senses to experience a brand. The sense of smell emotionally effects humans up to 75% more than any other sense” – Martin Lindstrom; Brand Sense
3. Differentiate against competitors – The more frequently and consistently a brand can connect with a consumer on an emotional level, the strong and deeper the brand engagement, verses competitor brands. Our own European study showed 72% of consumers said the ability to smell the product was a real advantage when making a decision to purchase. Using the sense of smell is really powerful – especially if your competitors are not utilising this power.
4. People remember experiences – Emotional engagement develops with a brand over time. Smell is captured in the oldest part of the brain, the limbic system, which is responsible for memories, and triggers an emotional rather than rational response (memories of aromas, over time, gain an emotional attachment).
5. Consumer experiences influence consumer choice. Memorable experiences allow easier decision making, in favour of your brand.
“People recall aromas with a 65% accuracy after a year, while the visual recall of photos sinks to about 50% after only three months” – The Sense of Smell Institute.
6. It is a way to set premium prices . People want to pay more for something special, and for something that totally fits their life(style). Aromas create very personal experiences and help to reflect who a person is, or wants to portray. If you don’t offer (the right) experiences, consumers may get disappointed in your brand and switch to a competitor.
So in summary, every brand can be an experience brand by understanding the drivers that influence customers and optimising these drivers to have the greatest impact.
The sense of smell is incredibly powerful at creating memorable experiences. Therefore, ensure you incorporate the sense of smell into your marketing mix.
To ensure the best utilisation of aromas, involve us from your planning stage. We can offer advice for the best possible aromatic solutions, within your given time-frames.
We offer a wide range of solutions for creating memorable touch points. For an example, please view our great video on our YouTube page (Bold 2in1-Scented Experiential Marketing).
Bold2in1 Infusions roadshowWe have a library of aromas to draw upon, we can work with your own fragrances/flavours or we can create a bespoke aroma using our aroma sourcing service.
Don’t hesitate to just pick up the phone and talk to us. We’re here to be your aromatic partners!
The September issue of Sainsbury’s magazine featured a launch advertisement for new Velvet Almond Milk toilet tissue.
A key attribute of this new Velvet, is the almond milk aroma. This product feature is demonstrated using a tip-on (which is a separate fragranced card that is adhered to the magazine page) scented using Aroma Co’s “Touch to Smell” technology (an advanced version of scratch and sniff; just gently rubbing the scented area releases a generous amount of aroma to sample).
Scented magazine tip-on for Velvet Almond milk toilet tissue.Why advertise in magazines?
There are a number of well researched benefits to general magazine advertising including (source of the following):
• The targeting of specific consumer demographics
• Magazines are kept for a longer period of time than e.g. newspapers or direct mail.
• There is a high reader involvement in the magazine especially as magazines are so tactile.
• Readers give commitment to their magazines. Substantial time is spent thoroughly reading them. Copies tend to be read repeatedly, often picked up more than once during a day and on multiple days.
• TV campaigns can be enhanced by combining with magazine advertising. Magazine adverts can convey information that is not possible during the TV commercial.
• A print advertisement can be studied for as long as the reader wants, and repeatedly too.
Why does the inclusion of aroma, enhance magazine advertising?
Smell is captured in the oldest part of the brain, the limbic system, which is responsible for memories, and triggers an emotional rather than rational response (memories of aromas, over time, gain an emotional attachment).
The sense of smell is also intrinsically linked to the sense of taste. According to Dr Alan Hirsch of the Taste Treatment & Research Foundation, 90% of what is perceived as taste is actually the sense of smell.
Whilst perfume adverts are the most common form of scented magazine ads, any brand where a key attribute is the smell or taste can use Touch to Smell to showcase it’s aroma within an advertisement.
For instance, in the same Sainsbury’s magazine there are thirteen other advertisements that could have been enhanced through the use of The Aroma Co’s print solutions (obvious adverts that could have used Touch to Smell include a washing powder, chocolate products, a fruit brand, body washes, various flavoured beverages, ice-cream etc).
So, how could scented magazine advertising enhance your magazine creative?
The benefits of enhancing magazine adverts with a scent:
• Printed smells attract additional attention to the advertisement (one study indicated 78% weighting for a print ad with fragrance sample, compared with 9% and 10% for straight print ad and TV ad respectively.)
• Providing the opportunity to sample an aroma in a consumer’s own home often affords a more considered analysis of the aroma, and their views of it.
• The call to action of e.g. rub to release the aroma is an invitation to encourage interaction; something tactile that just has to be touched.
• TV advertising often provides information on the aroma or taste of a product, but until smell-o-vision is available, touch to smell in magazines offers a simple and effective way of demonstrating the aroma in the consumers own home!
• Touch to smell provides immediate sensory gratification and the sampling opportunity draws the reader closer to the advertiser
• Touch to Smell technology has the benefit of allowing multiple sampling opportunities; it is the action of rubbing the scented area that releases the aroma. The scented area can therefore be rubbed multiple times over a period of time, before the aroma is completely removed.
• There are various creative ways that Touch to Smell can be used; the whole or part of the actual magazine page can be scented, tip-ons adhered to the magazine page (square or die-cut to shape), scented inserts and onserts and magazine wrap-arounds (belly bands). Multiple aromas can also be demonstrated e.g. if there is more than one aroma in a product range.
• The brand’s own fragrance or flavouring can be used. A suitable smell from our library can be chosen or we can create a bespoke aroma that matches your product.
So what are you waiting for? We offer a full printing service, so give us a call to discuss how your brands can be enhanced through scent marketing +44 (0)1491 835510.