A Whiff of Victorian Charm

With an eye toward the Victorian “vinaigrette” of smelling salts popular among fragile ladies prone to the “vapors” or simply adverse to unpleasant aromas, Erica Weiner Jewelry has recycled an old fashioned favorite for the new fashioned woman. The Perfume Locket Necklace is a gunmetal-plated perforated locket on a stainless steel chain which houses your choice of DS and Durga’s custom essential oil blends, Foxhunt or Empress Jingu.

The Great Pumpkin Scent

Research at the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation which found that a pumpkin pie-based mixture increased male sexual arousal by 40% appears to not have been lost on Tilda Swinton. The unconventional Scottish beauty has just launched her signature fragrance, Like This, and it smells just like Thanksgiving!

It was not the sexual side effects, however, but the longing to carry a reminder of her Scotland home while traveling which inspired the fragrance, according to the actress. “I thought about how great it would be if I could have a smell that would keep me at home wherever I was. So I started to think about my home smells, and the principal ingredients became ginger, baby carrot, pumpkin,” Swinton told New York Magazine. “I’m a November child—a pumpkin child—so this whole idea of orange is there.”

SMI Launches Scent Marketing Digest!

Congratulations to our friends at the Scent Marketing Institute on the official launch of the Scent Marketing Digest, the essential blog for scent marketing resources, industry experts, scent developers and scent solution providers!

“We are glad to be able to offer an additional platform for the exchange of opinions and information and to further contribute to building a solid, educated Scent Marketing community,” says founder and chief marketer Harald Vogt. “We invite you to participate, to make your thoughts and opinions known and to engage in a fruitful conversation that will bring the subject of Scent Marketing forward.”

Shape the Future at Shopper Insights in Action 2010!

Registration is open for this year’s Shoppers Insights In Action Conference on July 11 - 14 in Chicago, which will feature over 50 educational sessions and 75 speakers from such best-in-class brand and retail leaders as Procter & Gamble, Walgreens, JCPenney, Staples, Home Depot, Kraft Foods, The Coca-Cola Company and many more! Tracy Pepe, Founder & CEO of Nose Knows Consulting will kick things off with an interactive keynote session in which attendees will learn how a scent trail - or “silage” - drastically impacts shoppers’ behavior!

For more information or to register for this exciting event, just follow your nose to the conference website at www.shopperinsightsevent.com.

Forget the GPS, just Follow Your Nose

North Carolina’s Bloom grocery chain must’ve been paying attention when author and Whiff-Guy-Extrordanaire C. Russell Brumfield stated in his bestselling book, Whiff! The Revolution of Scent Communication in the Information Age, “You can undoubtedly attract more attention to your billboards, posters, banners, and outdoor signage if you add aroma to them.” The chain was perhaps slightly less attentive to Brumfield’s next sentence, which advised that “…roadside billboards are neither a cost effective, nor efficient way to deliver scent messages to drivers,” but, hey…if less is more, just think how much more more will be!

Bloom’s gigantic new billboard on Route 150 in Mooresville aims to visually tantalize passing motorists with a towering fork piercing a juicy chunk of steak to visually tantalize passing motorists while an accompanying scent of charcoal-grilled pepper steak snares them by the nose as well. The scent is emitted by a high-powered fan at the bottom of the billboard that blows air over cartridges loaded with fragrance oil, according to Murray Dameron, marketing director for Charlotte-based ScentAir, for whom the billboard represents a whole new venture into scent marketing. “It smells like grilled meat with a nice pepper rub on it.”

The billboard, which Bloom lit up on May 28, will emit scents six hours per day through June 18. “In terms of being creative, with all of the advertising around, you want to be able to jump out and grab the consumer’s attention,” says Angie Hunter, the manager of marketing for Bloom.

So, how is the campaign working out for Bloom? Early reports from locals suggest that it is indeed falling a tad short of the mark of a 30′ field of smellability. “If nobody tells, you don’t know,” said Mahesh Shah, owner of the gas station next door, who didn’t realize the billboard was supposed to smell until the media began to arrive. Then again, Shah may have inadvertently hit the nail on the head. The media blitz surrounding Bloom’s scented billboard has been nothing short of astounding, drawing attention from virtually every major publication and news agency in the nation.

Congratulations to Air Aroma and GPP!

June 2nd is a banner day for our friends at Air Aroma! During a press conference at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo, CEO John van Roemburg will welcome Global Product Planning (GPP) as their new exclusive distributor in Japan.

GPP is a powerful player in the Japanese market with many connections in the corporate sector, and well-known for their strength in scenting products. Due to the growing demand for scent marketing in Japan, particularly for multinational clients, it’s clear that Air Aroma and Global Product Planning are going to be the perfect match. The companies will work closely together on projects and new product development for Japan and the entire global market.

A Landmark in Endorphin Branding™

New York City’s elegant Plaza Hotel has thrown its iconic hat into the scent branding ring with a striking new signature collection, exclusively available for purchase at “>The Plaza Beauty located on the concourse level of The Shops at The Plaza.

The Plaza eau de parfum includes notes of bergamot, amber, iris, leather, and grapefruit, and will be available in two sizes, 1.7 ounces for $95.00 and 3.4 ounces for $140.00.

Guests Love the Fresh Scent of Omni

In 2006, Omni Hotels & Resorts was a pioneer in offering sensory branding as part of their public space amenities with the use of a green tea and lemongrass infused scent in their lobbies and cappuccino and mochaccino-infused scenting in their Morsels coffee cafes. During the summer of 2009, Omni Hotels & Resorts selected Ambius to be their new scent branding partner, effective December 2009. It’s turned out to be a partnership heaven-scent, according to Stephen Rosenstock, Senior Vice President of Brand Standards for Omni Hotel & Resorts.

“Of the five senses, smell is the most powerful trigger of emotions and memories,” says Rosenstock. “Since the implementation of the Ambius Microfresh scent branding program at our hotels, we have received positive feedback from our guests. Guests continually comment on the cleanliness and freshness of our lobbies, hallways and meeting rooms. While most guests cannot put their finger on the origin of the scent, some guests attribute the fresh aroma in our lobby areas to the lush foliage.”

“Our ambient scenting system results in a holistic, inspiring and memorable atmosphere which complements and reinforces Omni’s mission to exceed the expectations of guests,” says Jeff Mariola, Ambius divisional managing director. “We’re extremely pleased to partner with like-minded companies who understand the role that scent can play in creating a unique experience.”

Forget the Steroids - Pass the Peppermint!

Can scent affect physical performance? Of course it can. Scent, as Whiff-fans know by now, can affect virtually everything. When psychologists at West Virginia’s Wheeling Jesuit University administered peppermint odors to weightlifters as they trained, the subjects were able to carry out increased numbers of repetitions and had better endurance. Other studies have produced similar results. When assessing performance on specific athletic tasks, athletes exposed to peppermint odor were able to complete a 400-metre dash more quickly, perform more push-ups, and demonstrate increased grip strength.

The implications of these findings were not lost on Dr. Bryan Raudenbush, who led the weightlifting study, and is now marketing an “endurance enhancing” peppermint nasal spray, Scentology, a “time-released, fully invigorating, fresh scent cue scientifically demonstrated to increase physical energy and performance” which “can be used to gain a competitive edge in athletics, or optimize your performance in the workplace.”

Pharmaceutical Scents

With the time to develop a drug taking 10 to 15 years, and the cost to create it soaring more than 300 percent since 1987, the pharmaceutical industry is a competitive landscape. According to Exhibitor Online, that’s why Purdue Pharma L.P., manufacturer of analgesics and other drugs, likes to create a sense of ease in its trade show exhibits and capture attendees’ attention by prescribing a bit of aromatherapy. For years, the pharmaceutical company baked cookies in its booth. But, with the 2002 tightening of the health-care industry’s “Pharma Code” that governs pharmaceutical companies’ marketing efforts and activities, Purdue decided to discontinue serving cookies. When it started looking to reintroduce scent back into the booth, it wanted an approach that would be soothing, comforting, and warm.

A small in-house group tested 20 various scents, such as fresh-cut grass and lavender, on staff and customers. The favorite that emerged was a spa-like scent that suggested the ocean, orchids, and aloe vera.

Purdue introduced the scent into its 30-by-40-foot booth at the American Academy of Pain Medicine annual meeting. Evoking thoughts of azure seas and exquisite flowers, the scent helped put visitors at ease. Staff also used it as an icebreaker, asking visitors to tell them what they thought of the scent, and how they reacted to it. The scent strategy proved so successful, Purdue has continued using the balmy bouquet in its exhibits to this day.

Natural scents like the one Purdue used can extend dwell time by as much as 40 percent, according to Whiff-Guy C. Russell Brumfield, especially since the older demographic among the show’s audience — specifically attendees age 40 and older — are most likely to find such organic scents appealing. It’s likely that the average American has visited the ocean at some point and therefore may have formed pleasant associations about it when young — a key component in scent marketing.

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