Differentiating your brand's marketing
I'm fascinated by how different stimuli affect people, and can be used to excite emotions in your brand's marketing.
Optical illusions, logos that hide emotive signals, that sorta thing.
I use all this research to inspire identities – see Grey Matter Coffee Roasters for an example.
But smells are a new avenue to explore.
Brand strategists are looking for ways to differentiate the brands they work with. Whether that's by affecting customer emotions or influencing their behaviours without intruding.
We're used to taglines, logos, identity systems, Canva templates. Yadda yadda.
We get bombarded by visual messages. They blend together, creating a stream of ordinary. That's why discovering a new way to do things or new ways to excite people will make a big difference.
Let's frame the content of this blog. Sparked by a vivid memory from San Francisco.
In 2008, we flew in from the UK, and my girlfriend had a bucket list of shops to hit. Clothes shop Abercrombie and Fitch was at the top. If you've ever been to one – you'll know what I mean – a thick wall of woody, citrusy smell smacks you right in the chops. You can't even see the shop. You might be 100m away.
Anyway, my wife sniffs it out like an Eastern Brown snake sniffs out a baby possum. Dragging me excitedly towards it. A topless, very tanned man, with muscles in places I didn't know you could have muscles, greets you! The shops were somehow dark and moody, yet they were still brightly lit.
Racks of pristine, high-quality clothes and that smell, it's intoxicating. Music is pumping, but yet it's not intrusive. You linger, find jeans, t-shirts and jumpers, and wait for a changing room to try it out. I came out to find my girlfriend with a clothes stack bigger than Everest. All I could see were two eyes peering over the top and a smile that lit up that dark shop.
Why businesses should look at Scent Marketing or Scent Branding?
First, it's unexplored and could give you an edge when connecting to customers.
Let's explain the science behind the nose. Smells get handled by the olfactory bulb, a structure right at the front of the brain. Which connects to the hippocampus for processing. It's more complex than this, but you're not here for a biology lesson.
Smells, memories and emotions are intertwined. Smells transport you to memories and connect you to emotions.
Choosing a simple scent aligns with the feelings you want customers to experience. Thereby enhancing the brand experience, delighting customers and building that all-important trust!
The Harvard Gazette put together a great article if you want to learn more.
You can influence consumer behaviour with a branded smell
Pleasant smells positively impact moods. Happier customers linger longer. And, spend more. According to the Sense of Smell Institute, we can recall scents with a 65% accuracy after a year. If we were looking at a visual, this would be 50%. Combining this with other senses makes it easy to see how this would increase the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
As Abercrombie and Fitch did (15 years ago). Creating a multi-sensory experience is the secret to making memories. Could you do the same?
I walk past a popular sandwich place on my way to the local shops weekly. You find them globally, near where people buy other food.
Your senses get attacked.
That bready, herby, sickly smell is thrust right into your nose, into your olfactory system. Your brain goes beep, boop, and tells you what awaits.
Soft pillowy bread, maybe meatballs, salads, cheese, jalapenos and the question, "Do you want that toasted?"
I don't even need to tell you the name of the sandwich place. The smell connects you right to their advertising.
Consider how luxury hotels use scents to enhance the customer experience. By creating a distinctive scent, these brands ensure their guests form lasting memories and stronger emotional connections. How could your brand use scent marketing to create a similarly memorable experience?
Challenges when using scents
Warning, scents should complement your brand values, audience and context. For instance, you wouldn't use a calming lavender scent in a high-intensity gym or sports shop.
You may find that some people with sensitive noses or allergies are repulsed. So it's best to keep the choice simple.
Scent marketing can be both subtle and aggressive. It's aggressive because you can shoot it out your doors and windows. Push yourselves on people outside of the confines of your business.
Get it right, though, and most people won't even know they are being targeted by your subtle scent.
How can your brand use scent marketing?
When it comes to your brand's marketing, understanding your customers and their preferences is key. By asking yourself a few questions, you can better understand how scent marketing can benefit your brand and your customers.
Ask yourself:
- What benefit are you targeting? Increased linger time, higher sales? Change of mood?
- What emotions do you want customers to feel?
- What scent could you use to trigger that emotion?
- Do you need more than one scent for different parts of the buying process?
- Do you need to update your brand guidelines?
Once you know those answers, you can start creating.
Example one: Psychologists/Therapists
A psychologist like EMDR Australia may hope to keep patients calm. They could use either lavender, basil, cinnamon or citrus scent to relax people. A parent coach uses limes straight off her tree to settle stressed parents. It works incredibly well. This is perfect for high-tension businesses.
Example two: Gyms/Offices
A gym is looking to increase energy and invigorate members. They could use a peppermint, thyme or rosemary aroma to do this. These could work well in an open-plan office, where you may need to boost staff energy or increase mood/productivity.
Example three: Travel agents/Breweries
Travel agents are looking to whisk customers away to exotic destinations. Using scents of charcoal cooking, pine trees or coconuts, they can increase sales and trigger memories of past trips. If you were a brewery, the smell of charcoal could increase hunger and lead to further sales of drinks, too. Pine and tropical scents are prominent beer aromas and could ramp up the mood of customers.
Example four: Bookshops/Libraries
You're a bookstore owner looking to increase linger time. Add an on-site coffee to create a warm, inviting environment. Aromas of coffee and cocoa would definitely evoke memories of cosy winter nights. Woody scents could also evoke a sagey, damp smell - as you get from old treasured books.
None of these examples are that audacious, and you could easily DIY them. Use an oil diffuser, and test out combinations of oils on staff. Or add a drop of essential oil to the packaging for a luxurious boujee feel.
How could we use scents in brand awareness campaigns?
Imagine you're creating a climate campaign to encourage people to cut their emissions. Say you want to bring attention to a sensitive topic like global warming. A simple smoke scent might amplify the marketing campaign enough to make people stop, take notice and act.
Differentiation is essential when you're creating a charismatic brand.
