The three most common mistakes of scent marketing

The scent marketing is becoming increasingly important in the companies’ marketing plans. Smell has a strong association with memory and is the most evocative of all the senses.

Scent diffusion in establishments requires of knowledge and experience in the sector in order to offer the right professional service and obtain the appropriate result. Often, this service is offered by non-professionals who make common mistakes both during the scent design process and the scent diffusion.

As experts in designing olfactory experiences for more than 10 years, we can explain the three most common mistakes in the implementation of olfactory marketing strategies:

1. Any fragrance works: in olfactory marketing you can not use a fragrance because it smells good or because it reminds the CEO of his Caribbean holidays. Not all fragrances will match with your store or your brand. Each person has his own olfactory footprint, so brands must also have a unique one. We need a fragrance that identifies and distinguishes us from the rest and we have to be congruent with the sector to create an appropriate environment.
2. Same store, same space = Same machine, same intensity: to scent a space we must take into account its physiognomy and its architecture.Furthermore, we have to take into account that there could be differences of scent perception, even if we are comparing two similar stores with the same cubic meters and the same structure. So, the building is important and also the weather humidity. It is not the same to scent a store in a coastal city than an inland store, although they share the same characteristics of space. Besides, fragrances also behave differently when temperature changes, so we must play with all possible factors to maintain the same quality and the same olfactory level, adapting equipment and intensity to each space.
3. No matter the diffusion system, all systems work: evaporation, spraying, nebulization, etc. these are some of the methods of fragrance diffusion. First of all, we have to be clear about what space we want to scent and what we want to achieve with it. Depending on these two points, we opt for different systems taking into account what we want to achieve and the cubic meters of the establishment. It is not the same to carry out an olfactory marketing campaign in the street, where we will have adverse elements like weather, than in a shopping centre or an office.

It is not the same to carry out an olfactory marketing campaign in the street, where we will have adverse elements like weather, than in a shopping centre or an office.

The scent diffusion can be extended to almost every imaginable support, from a simple perfumed paper, to scent large surfaces, out-of-home advertising, etc. Also, olfactory marketing can strengthen branding with olfactory merchandising such as candles, mikados, colognes, soaps, etc.

These are the three most common mistakes in any olfactory marketing strategy. We must create the right scent, at the right time and in the right place to match it with the other elements of the business. The scent marketing is not about to spray with an air freshener, but to create a sensory experience where the customer feels comfortable and wants to repeat.