Graphic Scents Direct
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Graphic Scents Direct |
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Fragrance is a critical tool to drive sales. |
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Graphic Scent Direct
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`This text was extracted from a Time Magazine cover story (VOL. 154,
Attention All Shoppers You may not be aware of it, but the air around you is filled with subtle advertisements and marketers are watching every move you make REPORTED BY DESMOND BUTLER, HELEN GIBSON AND KATE You have just disembarked from a long and exhausting flight, and are still waiting for your onward connection, so the smell of freshly cut grass and the tangy scent of the sea are invigorating. But you're not reclining on some tropical beach sipping a strawberry daiquiri. In fact, you haven't even left the airport. You're in the British Airways business class lounge at Heathrow, and the fragrances you're savouring have been specially created to enhance your comfort. "It's all about making people feel refreshed and uplifted," says Jamie Bowden, BA's media relations manager, of the designer aromas wafting around the room. And, of course, it's all about encouraging you to book your next flight with BA, too. While the customized olfactory environment in the BA lounge is not an advertisement in the traditional sense, it is one of the new ways that advertising agencies and corporations are trying to influence purchasing decisions. The average person is bombarded by thousands of ads each day: on walls, on floors, above urinals, on baggage carousels and the backs of ticket stubs, at cinemas and ATM machines. Given this surfeit of marketing messages, consumers have become adept at editing out those ads that don't immediately grab their interest. For companies eager to establish a brand or promote a product, the customer's attention is becoming an increasingly scarce, and therefore increasingly valuable, commodity. Marketers are responding by employing science and technology as the new hidden persuaders, invisible levers that can be used to track spending habits, target advertisements and build customer relationships. The result: advances in fields as diverse as biology and computing are enabling advertisers to get up our noses, inside our heads and under our skins. There are about 400,000 odours in the world, each one of which can influence mood and behaviour. It has been shown, for example, that extracts from male sweat can affect the regularity of a woman's menstrual cycle. But aromas can also help induce consumers to spend money, and many companies are experimenting with the new science of smell to create optimal shopping environments. "When the air quality is pleasant, so is the shopping experience," says Diotima von Kempski. Brewed from roots, herbs, flowers and fruit. Fragrances entice customers to linger, giving the retailer a larger window of opportunity in which to make a sale. "It has to be natural, not artificial," Von Kempski explains. "The strongest effect comes when the fragrance is barely discernible." Bernd Bleicher, manager of Walz Modehaus, a posh clothing chain based in Ulm, is convinced that smell sells. "There's a prickly freshness in the store that puts customers in the mood to browse," Bleicher says. "The scents create conditions conducive to serious shopping."Robbert A. Korenhof, Robbert Korenhof
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| SYMPHONY OF NATURAL AROMAS FOR YOUR BUSINESS | |||
