Smells are closely linked to emotions, they can express feelings and evoke emotions. The smell of cinnamon transports you straight to your grandmother's kitchen, between gingerbread and cinnamon stars. Damp socks - at best - conjure up images of the last ski tour, and the smell of leather reminds us of the heavy armchair in our father's office where Mikesch the cat used to curl up. The sense of smell was the first sense to be developed during evolution, and it is the only human sense that is fully developed at birth. Every human being can store and recognize around 10,000 smells, and 90 percent of taste perception is based on the sense of smell. "Smells are the only sensory impression that reaches the brain unfiltered," says Hans Rudolf Keller*, neuromarketing expert, mental trainer and owner of Mental.ch. This is what makes them so powerful. Smells influence us even when we are not consciously aware of them. They control our subconscious and determine sympathy and antipathy. The subtle influences of scents go so far that we feel comfortable in a room or like a person without realizing that it is scents that make us feel this way. Bad feelings can also be caused by smells: "I can't smell him" is much more than a metaphor. Scents control our social and sexual behavior, and they influence our hormone balance. The nose also has more to do with our choice of partner than most of us realize.
Purchasing decisions are a matter of emotion
When choosing a brand, our decisions are as intuitive as when choosing a partner. Why do you wear Boss and not Hilfiger? Is it really because of the better fit and the more elegant colors? Why do you drive an Audi and not a Hyundai? More sophisticated technology? In short: brands mobilize emotions. Either a brand suits you and you feel comfortable with it, or not. What could be more obvious than using fragrances to steer this relationship building in the desired direction? Caroline Demeulemeester** has written exactly that on her fragrant flags. The marketing consultant and qualified aromatologist has been creating perfumes and room fragrances for private individuals and companies from natural essences since 2006: "I translate the values of a brand into fragrance," she explains. "Patchouli, for example, suits a classic brand, while lotus flower is more suitable for a fresh, young brand."
Demeulemeester combines such fragrances to create a brand scent that can then be used to scent the headquarters of a company, its branches, flagship stores, trade fair stands, sales rooms, the POS and even products. The trick is the dosage: the fragrances must not be an olfactory slap in the face that immediately kills off the sense of smell and the ability to think in the style of "perfumery just before Christmas" or "vanilla aroma on the toilet". Brand fragrances are dispersed in the air via a fragrance column or air conditioning system in such fine doses that they are not even perceptible if you smell very carefully. They subtly meander through our nose into our bloodstream and create a good feeling - which is subconsciously linked to the brand and stored in our memory. "BMW and Mercedes started scenting their cars 30 years ago," reports Demeulemeester. "At first, it was just about using leather scents, for example, to dispel unwanted glue and plastic odors." Mercedes now has its own fragrance concept for rooms and products, which is used throughout the Group. The fashion-conscious Italians show how things could go on: Anyone who bought a Lancia Ypsilon in Italy last year could choose between three scents for their vehicle.
Vanilla against wet dogs
But it's not just automotive companies that rely on subtle scents. Manor, Globus and Migros also use fragrances in all departments, not just for meat and baked goods. Children's clothing, stationery and household appliances also have their own scent. In this way, retailers subtly put their consumers in the mood to buy. Siemens, the Geneva Motor Show, Singapore Airlines, Zurich Airport and the Omega watch brand all have a scent tailored to their brand. Since introducing its new fragrance concept, Siemens has even recorded 30 percent fewer sick days among its workforce. Because it smells good? Exactly. One positive side effect of room scenting is that it cleans the air, not only of unpleasant odors, but also of bacteria and germs. The company Air Creative from Rheinfelden, for example, offers a scenting system that first filters the dirt out of the air, eliminates unpleasant odors such as smoke or sweat in a second step and only then releases the fragrant essences into the clean air. "Wet dog", "old sports shoes" and "sweaty shirt" are therefore first neutralized with corn starch before a gentle vanilla or grapefruit fragrance creates a feel-good effect. Anything else would result in an almost unbearable olfactory cacophony.
The Swissôtel and Hyatt hotel chains have long recognized how well they can differentiate themselves from their competitors with fragrances. Swissôtel hotels have the same "corporate scent" at all locations, while the Hyatt hotels in Paris, Dubai, Washington and Zurich have their own individual scent - each matching the city. For the Zurich Hyatt, Parisian perfumer Blaise Mautin was inspired by Bellevue, Grossmünster and the Limmat and created a fresh, young and dynamic fragrance from bergamot, grapefruit, ylang-ylang, thyme and patchouli. This is how Zurich smells - at least to Hyatt guests. They experience the city not only outside the door, but also in room spray, candles, body lotion, shower gel, soaps and bath salts. And hopefully come back again.
Atmosphere makes the difference
Good smells are nice - but do they really have an impact on brand image and sales? "Yes," says fragrance expert Demeulemeester and backs up her conviction with an example: Beiersdorf conducted an experiment for Nivea in two movie theaters. In both theaters, a commercial for a Nivea product was shown before the film, and Nivea fragrance was also sprayed in one of the theaters. After the film, moviegoers were asked whether they could remember the Nivea commercial. In the scented movie theater, 37 percent did, in the unscented theater far fewer. In another test, 45 test subjects watched the same pair of sports shoes in two identical rooms. One room was fragrance-free, the other was immersed in a light floral fragrance. Even though the scent of flowers and sports shoes hardly go together in everyday life: 84 percent of the test subjects liked the shoes in the scented room better than in the unscented room. A sporting achievement.
"There is still considerable potential for development in scent branding and scent marketing," says Demeulemeester. "Discotheques and pubs will have to find an effective way to combat the smell of sweat in the smoke-free future, for example. In streetcars, post offices and SBB ticket offices, you often have to wait and put up with unpleasant odors. Why is that? Doctors could reduce the stress of their patients with targeted scenting, and I can also imagine scented exhibitions. The scent can enhance the experience." The development of a fragrance concept with one fragrance costs 2,000 francs at Demeulemeester, and the same amount is added for each additional fragrance. In addition, the fragrance column must be purchased, which costs between 200 and 3,000 francs at Air Creative, for example, depending on the type of device and room size.
Of course, if you wrap your salesrooms in a pleasant, barely perceptible fragrance, you shouldn't expect your sales to skyrocket. However, the fragrance can certainly make customers feel more comfortable in the scented store and prefer to spend more time there than in another store. They stay there longer, are more likely to come back and may end up buying more. Today, you can buy anything anywhere. Atmosphere makes a small but decisive difference.
Anne-Friederike Wilhelm
This article appeared in the current print edition of Werbewoche. You can find further articles here.
