@Aroma Japan releases “USB Aroma Time”

admin — Sun, 31 May 2009 05:10:45 +0000

@Aroma in Japan releases “USB Aroma Time”. A USB based aroma diffuser that simply plugs into a your computer. USB Aroma time comes in 2 different fragrances “ON time” and “OFF time”. Designed for the workplace environment “ON time” can help you concentrate, whilst “OFF time” you guessed it helps you relax.

Follow the Link: www.at-aroma.com

Making Dollars with Scents

admin — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:07:27 +0000

Making Dollars with Scents – A new frontier in branding. Coming to grips with the link between Scent, Emotions and Memory, Marketers are now investigating the effect on consumer behaviour.

Scent sells. Baristas, bakers and real estate agents all have something in their bag of tricks based on this knowledge. Baristas have mastered the art of seducing passers by with the aromatic allure of freshly ground coffee. Bakers, understanding that smell can tantalise the taste buds, blast their oven fans with the anticipation of stimulating appetites and mesmerising consumers into a short detour from their frantic shopping routine. There is also an old trick in real estate – bake fresh bread or cookies just before a home is open for inspection. The theory is that it will increase the property’s saleability more than a fresh lick of paint or its proximity to the local shops.

Based on the idea that the right scent can put consumers in a frame of mind to buy, a new frontier in marketing is also emerging. Scent Marketing is predicted to be one of the top ten marketing trends of 2007 and retailers are jumping onboard. In a bid to win the consumer dollar, some retailers are going to great lengths to develop and diffuse concoctions that are both enticing and one of a kind.
The potential of scent marketing shouldn’t be underestimated. Air Aroma, the largest supplier of scent diffusion technology in the world, has a worldwide turnover of $20 million a year with forecasts predicting 50 percent to 75 percent growth a year. Martin Lindstrom – author of Brand Sense: Build powerful brands through touch, taste, smell, sight and sound – says that 75 percent of all emotions are due to smell rather than what we see, yet 83 percent of commercial communication presently revolves around visual stimuli.

According to Donald A. Wilson, a neurobiologist who studies olfaction at the University of Oklahoma in the United States, using scent is clever marketing. The olfactory gland, which registers smell, is linked to the limbic system in the middle part of the brain. The limbic system is important for memory and emotions and it has been suggested that smell can influence mood, memory, emotions, mate choice, the immune system and hormones.

Coming to grips with the link between scent, emotions and memory, marketers are now investigating the effect aromas have on consumer behaviour in a retail environment. Marketing Professor Mimi Morrin from Rutgers University in the US conducted research on consumers in a scented environment and found they actually looked at a product for longer which increased the likelihood of them buying it.

“A pleasant ambient scent increased the amount of money spent by a certain type of shopper, a more contemplative shopper or a more cognitively oriented shopper.”
Not only can the right scent subtly prompt consumers to spend more time in a retail environment, but a pleasurable scent could also create a “flow state” where a person loses the normal sense of time and is totally consumed by the event. This flow state can last up to several minutes.
A study conducted at a Las Vegas casino on slot machine players revealed that gambling revenue increased by 48% when scent was introduced into the test area. Another trial conducted at a jeweller in 1989 revealed that customers spent more time browsing when a scent was introduced into the store.

For some retailers, the use of scent has been an effective means of drawing people into their store. US ice cream chain Emack & Bolio’s had been suffering floundering sales at its hard to find ice cream parlour in the basement of the Hard Rock Hotel in Orlando. After exhausting a number of strategies to increase sales, the company decided to install a diffusion system that emanated the aroma of waffle cones. The installation of its “aroma billboard” led to a 50 percent increase in sales.
The aroma billboard, which highlights the wares of the retailer, is based on the same concept as bakers opening up their ovens to attract clientele or cafés grinding coffee to seduce consumers into their premises. Bloomingdales has been using aroma billboards in several departments of its stores. In its infant department it used the scent of baby powder and around its intimate apparel and swimsuit displays it used hints of lilac and coconut. According to David van Epps, CEO of US scent diffusion supplier, Scent Air, a number of toy retailers have expressed interest in developing the Play Doh scent, a smell that is closely tied to many childhoods.
Used the right way, the aroma billboard can be a powerful marketing tool that can accelerate sales markedly. When a Californian based scent marketing company Scent Andrea added a chocolate aroma to vending machines, sales jumped 300 percent. In another instance, when the aroma of baked bread was released into a US supermarket, sales in its bakery section also increased threefold.

Although the aroma billboard can effectively highlight products such as candles, coffee, or flowers, an unrelated aroma creating an ambient scent can also win over customers.
Avery N. Gilbert, chief scientist of the Scent Marketing Institute of New York told The Washington Times that scents humanise shopping environments that would otherwise seem sterile. Though this might be true, anecdotal evidence suggests that the right scent is vital if you want to see your cash register go into overdrive. When a subtle vanilla scent was placed in the women’s department of a US clothing store and rose maroc – a heavy spicy scent that men tend to like – in the men’s department, sales nearly doubled. When the scents were swapped, sales fell.
Some retailers have taken the idea of selecting the right scent a step further. In Japan, Matsuzakaya Department Store releases different scents into the air at various times of the day to match the natural highs and lows of the body. State of the art diffusion technology releases scents to uplift and invigorate shoppers earlier in the day and soothing scents for weary shoppers later in the day.
A number of companies are even incorporating scent into their branding strategies. The theory is that scent is closely associated with memory, so associating a unique scent with a particular brand will enhance brand recall.

With so much effort going into creating signature scents, some companies are attempting to trademark their smells. In the EU, a Dutch company trademarked the scent of fresh grass for use on tennis balls, another company trademarked rose scented tyres and, oddly, one company applied the scent of bitter beer to its darts.

Scent marketing is still in its embryonic stages in Australia, but is set to follow in the footsteps of the US, EU and Japan. A number of gyms are diffusing peppermint to disguise body odours and invigorate members, hotels are emanating signature scents through its lobbies and hallways and now some retailers are starting to adopt the practice.

Pilgrim Clothing employed Air Aroma to develop a signature scent for its stores. The aroma is described as an “earthy, soft and feminine fragrance to reflect its feminine brand”. Owner of the twelve store chain, Grant Olver, was amazed with the immediate response from customers. He believes the introduction of scent has enhanced the shopper’s experience, which might give his stores a unique edge over the competition.

The cost of indulging customers with an olfactory experience to gain an edge in the marketplace varies widely. Smaller retailers can buy simple smells off the shelf for little over $100 a month including diffuser rental. On the other hand, larger retailers might use more sophisticated systems that entail motion detectors or timers, and if they devise signature smells the price could escalate into the tens of thousands to get up and running.

For retailers who want to make their mark on consumers, scent marketing carries a lot of potential. It is a new frontier in marketing that could represent a real opportunity for those willing to take a risk. The brave might just find that if they get it right, there are real rewards. After all, research has revealed that people can recall smell with up to 64 percent accuracy. This, coupled with the fact that it can play on our heart strings is where its appeal lies.

Article courtesy of Australian Retailers Association

Scent Marketing Blog » Japan

@Aroma Japan releases “USB Aroma Time”

Making Dollars with Scents