Scent Marketing: The emotional key to branding

The sense of smell is the only one that goes directly to the brain. Pheromones are detected in a couple of seconds. Our sense of smell gives us pleasure when it is pleasant, and disgust when it is not. A single bad smell can provoke an immediate reaction...

This sense plays a fundamental role in Marketing, as it is the sense that lasts the longest in the consumer's memory.

Discover how to create memorable experiences thanks to emotional marketing.

Scent marketing as an emotional channel

When we talk about branding, it is not surprising that olfactory marketing is considered a powerful tool to stimulate emotions and give added value to brands.

According to a study conducted by Scent Marketing Science, 82% of consumers indicate that they have a direct preference for products associated with a pleasant smell. A company can even gain up to 33% more customers simply by adding a pleasant scent.

The sense of smell has the power to create an emotional bond with the consumer, beyond rational judgments or beliefs. Olfactory messages are transmitted in an instant, without intentionality. They are subliminal messages that evoke memories and feelings, which is very important for brands that want to strengthen their image.

The importance of branding

A strong brand image is the basis of a strategy to develop and strengthen your business. When we talk about branding, it is also important to communicate intangible benefits such as quality, innovation and development (intellectual property).

Therefore, when we develop strategies to reinforce and strengthen the branding of our brand, olfactory marketing becomes one of the keys to success within Neuromarketing.

The strength of olfactory branding is based on the ability to create an emotional connection between consumers and products, through memories and feelings.

How does olfactory marketing work?

A strong brand image can be achieved when companies are able to offer special experiences to customers through brands that are linked to their own history, culture, sensations and emotions.

Within the olfactory marketing we identify very important points to take into account such as:

• Odotype
• Location
• Diffusion

With this we want to represent that, behind all this olfactory experience there is a thoughtful strategy for specific objectives.

Experience as Strategy

Experiences, especially pleasant ones, are an ally of this business strategy. While it is true that everyone has their own personal tastes, the olfactory experience is common to all. This allows the brand image to be coherent and gives added value to the products by adding an emotional component to their communication.

Company identity, reputation and loyalty are key points in marketing, leading to consumer satisfaction.

A company's marketing is closely linked to the marketing of its products. However, creating an emotional connection between the consumer and the product can be very difficult for some brands. In this case, scent marketing can help to get closer to consumers by offering them a value that goes beyond the product itself.

Emotional marketing: more than feelings

Marketing is more than just the idea of trying to make consumers feel emotions.

Scent marketing is one of the tools that allow companies to achieve all this by stimulating different areas of the memory, often forgotten. This is why olfactory marketing is considered an emotional key.

As we have seen, it doesn't matter what you think as a consumer or as a brand. The sense of smell manages to create feelings and emotions that unite us as people, leading the way to other senses such as touch and taste. This completes our experience with each product.

How does scent influence sales?

Human beings, by nature, are irrational. We are guided by emotions rather than reason. The olfactory message is communicated in the limbic system of the brain. This is where memories and emotions are generated.

When we buy a product, up to 90% of our decision process is based on emotion. For example, when we feel good while shopping in a store. We get carried away on average we buy more products than we really wanted or needed.

If a brand manages to create an emotional connection between consumers and its product, it is much easier to make sales and generate loyalty: "We like it because it makes us feel good".

As we can see, olfactory marketing is very important as part of both branding and performance strategy.

Some success stories

We all want to buy, try and use products that provide us with a different experience, in this case olfactory. For example, the famous perfume brand Chanel No. 5 gave rise to a saying: "5 makes you fall in love".

For example, some experiments were made among more than 100 people to test different scents on them. After smelling each of them, they were asked whether they would buy the product or not. The results showed that after smelling lemon, peach and grapefruit (among others), people responded that they would not buy any of them.

When the same scents were tested on another group, their responses were completely different: after smelling lemon and grapefruit (among others) they said they wanted to try all of them.

This is why it is so important to have a well-defined strategy based on objectives, products/services and audience segment.

Conclusion

The key factor in a company's success lies in its ability to communicate. This will generate an emotional connection between consumers and products/services which, in turn, will increase sales and loyalty.

Scent marketing is one of the most widely used tools for this:

No matter what you think as a consumer or as a brand; Smell manages to create feelings and emotions that unite us as people, giving way to other senses such as touch and taste. This completes our experience with each product.

Scent marketing will help you build your brand by trying to connect it with good memories, feelings or emotions.

In short, for a company's marketing strategy to be successful, it must generate an emotional connection between brand and consumer.

Scent marketing is one of the most widely used tools for this. No matter what you think as a consumer or as a brand; the smell manages to create feelings and emotions that unite us as people, giving way to other subsequent senses.

At Inprofit, as a 360º marketing agency, we are specialized in offering unique olfactory solutions and experiences. If you want to know more information do not hesitate to contact us.