London Free Press: Smells Like Good Business

By Ian Gillespie
London Free Press
October 4, 2006

You can smell it as soon as you enter the lobby: Fresh-baked apple pie.

And no, it's not your imagination.

The smell is coming from an innocuous little black box mounted just inside the front door of the Four Points Sheraton Hotel on Wellington Road south.

The machine, manufactured by a U.S. company called ScentAir Technologies, squirts the aroma of apple pie into the air every 15 minutes -- or whenever somebody walks by and triggers its motion sensor.

"It smells so wonderful -- we do get a lot of comments," says Susan Truppe, assistant general manager of the Four Points Sheraton. "Some people say they're getting hungry all of a sudden."

The aroma, says Truppe, is part of the hotel's attempt to focus on the simple pleasures of home -- such as a comfortable bed, a great cup of coffee or a slice of home-made apple pie.

But this little machine is far from an isolated curiosity. It's actually part of a fast-growing trend called "scent branding," which uses fragrance as a marketing tool.

Terry Molnar is executive director of the Sense of Smell Institute in New York City. The institute is a leading source of information on smell and its role in enhancing quality of life. Just a few months ago, for instance, it awarded its Science of Fragrance Award to two Australian scientists for their research into the analgesic effect of sweet-smelling odours.

Scientists have long recognized the powerful associative powers of scents. In fact, our olfactory receptors -- the estimated 10 million or so receptors sensitive to odour molecules travelling through the air - are directly connected to the limbic system, which is widely regarded as the seat of emotion.

"Researchers have found that scents can elevate your mood," says Molnar. "And they tend to have emotional qualities too, as memories."

Of course, many marketers know this, too.

Molnar says some automobile manufacturers, including Volvo, are currently trying to develop their own distinctive "new car scents." And she says a DeBoers diamond store on Fifth Avenue in New York city has scented the store "with what they envision diamonds smelling like."

"A lot of non-fragrance companies are now using fragrance as a selling tool to brand their image," says Molnar.

A recent Forbes magazine article reported some U.S. Sony stores are now spritzed with a vanilla-and-mandarin aroma "to put gadget gawkers in the mood to spend." And some Doubletree Hotels are now pumping their lobby with the smell of chocolate chip cookies.

"The whole idea behind this scent branding is that if you go to the Four Points Sheraton Hotel and you really like it, you'll remember the smell," says Molnar. "And so every time you smell apple pie scent, you're going to remember the Sheraton and you'll want to go back there."

Molnar says marketers usually choose something subtle that works in the background to create a positive mood.

"It's kind of like Muzak," she says. "And usually it's not something you can name, like apple pie. Because the whole idea is they want something that's distinctive to their brand."

Of course, scents are subjective and it's possible the strategy can backfire. Molnar says that while the smell of roses might trigger pleasant memories of a garden in one person, another individual might associate it with a funeral.

Still, she says, most of the sweet scents -- like vanilla -- have been deemed to be almost universally pleasant.

I figure it's only a matter of time before somebody creates the sweet smell of success.

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.