Hear the Interview: CES Asks the Whiff Guys!

Does your brand have sense appeal?
Find out in Episode 4 of the CES Coundown as Keith Newman interviews Whiff-Guy C. Russell Brumfield just prior to 2008’s annual International Consumer Electronics Show.

Olfactory Fact #61: Dogs Smell 40 Times Better Than Humans

While humans have an astonishing 5 million olfactory receptors, some breeds of dogs actually have over 200 million!

Olfactory Fact #12: You Smell Better Than You Look

Humans are able to recall aromas with 65% accuracy after a full year, while visual recall of photographs drops to 50% after only three months.

What the Nose Knows

Congratulations to Dr. Avery Gilbert on the June 24 launch of his first book, What The Nose Knows: The Science of Scent in Everyday Life, an entertaining and enlightening journey through the world of aroma from a man who has seen–and smelled–it all. As Chief Scientist at the Scent Marketing Institute, Dr. Gilbert’s groundbreaking studies in odor perception have been published in numerous scientific journals, and he has had a hand in the research and design of commercial scents for everything from perfume to kitty litter. And, throughout the course of this fascinating career, his lectures on the Science of Smell have delighted and educated scores of audiences.

Be sure and catch Avery Gilbert at The Scent World Conference & Expo 2008 where he will join Whiff-Guys C. Russell Brumfield and James Goldney to speak on “The Amazing Powers of Scent!”

Recording of June 24th Teleconference - Now Available

Listen to What You Missed! Here’s the recording of the fifth Teleconference from Tuesday, June24th: “Designing Scented-Spaces - Innovative scent-strategies for Interior and Architectural design in branding the Guest Experience.”

Listen >

Lemurs are Double-Dealing Little Stinkers

Considering the important role of scent in nature, it’s no surprise that many species have evolved some downright sneaky tactics to disguise, diminish, or enhance their odor footprints. Male pandas will urinate onto a tree while performing a handstand so as to leave the highest (thus most dominant) mark. Dogs, to the horror of their owners, tend to mask their scent by enthusiastically rolling in some of the most foul-smelling substances imaginable. Humans shell out millions to eliminate the natural odors of our bodies in favor of odors we consider more attractive.

Lemurs, though, distant primate cousins of ours who split from the family tree before the monkeys and apes parted ways, may well have cornered the market on sophisticated scent-treachery. According to a new study conducted by Leonardo Dapporto at Florence University, each of these bi-scentual little guys produces two completely separate scents–one from each hand–and these scents are as distinct from one another as that of two separate lemurs.

It’s a discovery unprecedented in scent research, and the question is still open as to why dual-odors would evolve in a single individual. One answer is offered by Ron Swaisgood, a behavioral ecologist at the Zoological Society of San Diego, who suggests the opposing scents may enable lemurs to mislead neighboring groups and predators as to the size of their colony. An even more intriguing possibility is that having two scents might allow the lemur to communicate through scent with a sophistication previously undreamed of, weaving complex tapestries of odor as varied as the shades an artist might create from two colors of paint.

A Whale of a Profit!

Sean Kane and Ian Foster hit the motherlode on a beach in South Wales when they stumbled across a gargantuan lump of “ambergris,” one of the most coveted–and pricey–ingredients in the scent marketing industry. Weighing in at 110 pounds, their discovery has caught the attention of fragrance manufacturers in a big way.

So, what exactly is this stuff? Put simply, it’s Whale Vomit.

Also called “grey amber” or “floating gold,” ambergris is actually bile secreted by sperm whales. Fresh ambergris smells absolutely horrible, but, after a few years’ exposure to the elements, the substance develops a sweet, musky and alluring smell that leading fragrance makers say adds a distinct and highly appealing character. “We just came across this white, waxy lump,” said Kane. “I said to Ian, ‘It looks a bit like whale sick’. He had never heard of anything like it.”

Kane and Foster face a couple of stumbling blocks in converting the upchuck to big bucks: Recent years have seen a massive shift away from expensive natural ingredients by fragrance producers toward less pricey and more readily-available synthetic substitutes. Currently, only one facility exists in all the world which is even capable of processing ambergris.

Still, a number of fragrance designers continue to incorporate ambergris into their formulations, including Kenneth Cole and Christian Dior, and the lucky beachcombers have high hopes. How much do they stand to realize if they find the right buyer for their hefty chunk of whale vomit? Leading supplier Ambergris.co.nz currently markets ambergris at $20 a gram, which places the market value of 110 pounds at $997,900.00.

You read it right: Nearly one million dollars. Not a bad haul, just because a big fish ate a bad squid and suffered a bout of indigestion.

When a Glade Plug-In Just Won’t Cut It…

What do you do if you’ve planned your city’s largest Summer Food Festival around the perimeter of a lagoon which, due to an unfortunately timed renovation to the local solid waste treatment plant, smells distinctly unappetizing?

Well, if you’re Agent Maxwell Smart, you buy this gigantic fan to blow away the stench of raw sewage and replace it with the sweetness of vanilla. If you’re David Henderson, the wastewater treatment utility director of West Lafayette, Indiana, well…you buy this gigantic fan to blow away the stench of raw sewage and replace it with the sweetness of vanilla. “It’s like a big fan with a tank on it that you put a mixture of water and a vanilla-scented masking agent in,” Henderson said of the $1700 XE ORSM Aquafog system.

And how did the unconventional plan to remedy the smelly situation work out? Beautifully, according to Henderson, who gave the device a real acid test by attending Saturday’s Taste of Tippecanoe Festival downwind of the treatment plant. “I did catch a whiff of vanilla, so the wind was blowing toward us,” he said. So successful was the Aquafog, in fact, that the city will continue firing it up “as needed” until the plant’s repairs are completed sometime in this autumn.

Hollywood Nose Jobs Available

Reality Wanted is looking for a few good schnozes. The online “single source for Reality TV Casting Call information” is currently scouting for “open-minded participants” to appear in season 2 of the Veria network’s aromatherapy show, Everybody Nose.

The reality-documentary TV show examines the fascinating world of aromatherapy and essential oils, explain the producers, but goes far beyond the stereotype of just smelling pretty. “This show is all about exploring new ways to incorporate essential oils into our everyday lives to help keep us healthy and happy.”

Auditions continue through July 2 for less-edgy edge-dwellers who would prefer to break into reality television show business with a day at the spa than by eating bugs or plunging from cliffs.

Olfactory Fact #85: Mosquitoes Are Picky Eaters

Mosquitoes sniff out carbon dioxide and a complex variety of the 300+ odorants present in human sweat to choose the tastiest victims from up to 100 feet away.

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