Marketers next hit?
Right at your nose

By Keith McArthur
The Globe and Mail
December 26, 2006

Faced with consumers who are bombarded by visual and aural advertising, marketers are using smell to sell. In 2006, marketers used scent to sell everything from milk to mobile phones to Play-Doh.

Advertising Age, the influential U.S. magazine, has named scent marketing a trend to watch in 2007.

The Scent Marketing Institute, based in Scarsdale, N.Y., estimates the industry will be worth $500-million (U.S.) to $1-billion in 2016, up from $40-million to $60-million today. "It's the only avenue left for marketers to explore," says institute founder Harald Vogt.

"There's visuals up the wazoo... People are walking around with their iPods trying to block out sound. Fragrance is the only thing left. You cannot turn off your nose. You have to breathe."

David Van Epps, CEO of Charlotte, N.C.-based ScentAir Inc., says scent marketing is as old as telling people to stick a pie in the oven when selling a home.

"Scent is linked to your memory, emotions and mood in a way that people are really starting to be able to understand and harness," Mr. Van Epps says.

His company scents large Las Vegas casinos and Sony Style stores. Its scent machines permeate U.S. Bloomingdale's stores, pushing baby sleepers with the smell of baby powder, lingerie with lilac and bikinis with coconut. ScentAir machines also pump out the smell of Play-Doh in toy stores, trying to trigger nostalgic memories for parents and grandparents.

Marketers who aren't selling food can also use scent. For example, Verizon Communications Inc. used chocolate machines to sell LG Chocolate cell phones in the United States.

Tony Chapman, CEO of Capital C, a Toronto-based promotional marketing firm, says that when scent marketing is done right, it creates an immediate appetite for a product. "You've got to be careful where you do it. Consumers are rebelling so much against advertising... Scent's just another way where we've got to be careful not to cross the line," he says.

ScentAir Technologies Inc, founded in 2000, is the leading provider of aroma marketing solutions for brands and retailers. ScentAir enables businesses to create a unique in-store experience by engaging memory and emotions through patented scent delivery systems. Proven to enhance the appeal of any environment, these pioneering scent machines can be customized to reflect even the most challenging environment or brand. ScentAir is a privately held company located in Charlotte, NC.

For additional information contact Murray Dameron at 704-504-2320.