Using Good Scents

Cityfile New York correctly quotes Whiff-Guy C. Russell Brumfield’s statement that “…specific scents can increase sales from 20 to over 90 percent in some studies” and, for this particular story, we’d like to place a little added emphasis on Brumfield’s choice of the word specific.

The marketing display of a new Hollister store in the Big Apple includes some buff surfer-dude models outside its doors and the wafting scent of its signature fragrance - both good ideas and certainly in keeping with the innovative and often-sexy advertising strategies of its parent franchise Abercrombie & Fitch. There’s just one problem: The Hollister signature fragrance, according to neighboring businesses, well…stinks.

So unlovely is the fragrance, according to today’s New York Post, that one frustrated protester reportedly set off a stink bomb outside the 40,000-square-foot emporium…a tactic which may have backfired as “…it smells better than the Hollister scent.”

Of course, there’s always the chance that it’s sour grapes rather than sour smells which has the Hollister storefront’s neighboring competitors’ noses bent out of shape. A Hollister spokesman who identified himself only as Chris stands behind the effectiveness of the scent campaign and told the Post, “We don’t spray any fragrance outside the store, only inside.” He also denied any knowledge of stink bomb counter attacks.