Olfactory Branding

Quite contrary to the common belief, verbal and visual brand identities are not the only effective branding alternatives. Scent is an intrinsic memory trigger. Even those who claim to be ignorant of olfactory branding are constantly exposed to it and experience it insentiently.

Scent marketing is typically used either to fill the space with a targeted smell (ambient scenting) or as a brand signature (scent branding). Since people sense smell first and send that information to the very primitive brain centers of emotion and memory, olfactory branding works well for marketers trying to connect emotionally with customers. It differentiates your brand and helps customers remember your brand distinctively. In one of his studies, Martin Lindstorm, branding’s most original and innovative thinker, analyzed that Play-Doh’s fragrance was not only easily identified by the young individuals.

Olfactory branding is the heart of marketing strategy of brands like Abercrombie & Fitch, Bloomingdale's, Jimmy Choo, Ashley Furniture, Williams-Sonoma, Volvo, Lexus and Hugo Boss. Although some brands choose to make their scent consistent throughout their stores around the world, other brands such as hotels and restaurant chains choose to alter their olfactory campaign per the geographic location. Yet, some chose to differ – William-Sonoma for one is identified by it's signature vanilla and clove. Majority of the hotels have been using scent branding for the better part of the last decade. Just about every hotel chain has a signature program – Westin Hotels has its signature White Tea fragrance. St. Regis uses an elegant blend of rose, sweet pea and pipe tobacco. Hotel Monaco in downtown Baltimore has a soft citrus and green tea, the spiciness of black pepper and cloves wrapped in musk. Studies have shown that retail and hospitality sectors experience the most positive results with olfactory branding. However, products like Play-Doh are well associated with a consistent odor throughout the world.

ELLE magazine featured an article titled “Fragrance by Design” where they investigated olfactory branding within the fashion industry. Like music, fashion shows also use scent to establish a connection between the brand and audience. Abercrombie and Fitch was one of the first brands to use olfactory branding as part of their marketing campaign. Needless to say, no one across the United States and Europe can miss identifying an A&F store.

From Roosters Men's Grooming Centers in Northern California to San Diego’s real estate agency Brett Bastello at Dannecker & Associates, Canadian book publisher Oblonsky Editions, every possible business is moving to this next big marketing technique. But it’s not all that glittery. Olfactory Branding comes with it own set of problems. Some scents could be too dangerous for the population suffering from asthma or allergies. It could trigger throat closure, burning eyes, headaches or other discomforting reactions. At times, the smell you chose can not only distract your customers, but you might also end up losing them if you chose the wrong scent.

ENDORSEMENT MARKETING

In business, you don't get what you deserve... you get what you negotiate. How many times do we go to the movie theater or a restaurant or even buy a book without hearing about it from anyone – known, unknown? Probably once in ten times – which is far lower a percentage when it comes to going for a Shahrukh Khan or Angelina Jolie Movie or Harry Potter or Twilight Series. Similarly, sales hike can be noticed when endorser changes from June Lindsay to Brad Pitt (btw, who is June Lindsay? And are they even worth comparing??). This could be attributed to the fact that consumers normally trust a person they know, are fond of or someone who is not related to that particular product’s manufacturing, rather than believing you or me!

We are constantly inundated by the promotional marketing messages on cell phones, e-mails, and anywhere and everywhere possible. I have christened these messages as ‘Irritatingly Interruptive Messages’ (IIMs) because they irritate me (and every common man, I believe) by interrupting at busy and wee hours of the day. And to top it all, I am denied the access to the important article I want to read on-line, unless I click the ‘accept’ button to read some arbitrary endorsement. People no more entertain such promotional messages any more – thanks to IIMs! So, to emphasis on marketing today, the message needs to be endorsed authentically and by REAL people, preferably, the customers or the trusted third party experts. Something like Dove (Soap) started practicing quite some time back and so followed Harpic and Vanish.

The most decisive task here, in endorsement marketing is to get people to talk about the product. Half of the task becomes easy if the product speaks for itself. It needs to be made sure that the people talk about the product – no matter good or bad, because as they say “Bad publicity is also a Good publicity”. So to facilitate and fuel the talks about the product, initiative can be taken to loop in the best of the existing customers by taking their opinion, suggestions and making them feel as the part of the company. Something like Apple do by making it s customers a part of MacWorld, San Francisco in January.

The four A-zones of the Endorsement Marketing funnel are:

Awareness – Endorsement is the best paraphernalia for creating awareness.

Acquisition – Endorsements increase the share or percentage of acquisition by converting customer’s other acquisition efforts more effective.

Activation – Endorsements inspire people for activation of their products.

Activity – Endorsements inspire existing users.

Endorsements high-speed the sales and give credibility to the product. And the bona fide success is the resultant of exponential growth which in turn is the consequence of endorsement marketing, which is the viral marketing with just some nuances. While viral marketing is simply a conception of something growing on its own and growing exponentially, it is imperative to discern the derivative responsible for this virus. And this, friends, is ENDORSEMENT MARKETING!