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.