Scent marketing is on the rise, recognizing a special place to the consumers with its scent.

Did you know that our first impression of a space is created by scent before visual? According to a sense of smell research lab, the sense of smell is most sensitive among all five senses of people, and it determines 75% of the emotions of your day. Recently the marketing industry has taken this into consideration and is carrying out ‘scent marketing’; it’s a type of marketing that exudes certain scent appropriate for a service space or brand image to have the consumers remember it in a certain way.

The function of bringing back memories

Smelling something will bring back memories and feelings related to the scent at the same time. Psychologists call this the Proust effect.

A strongly recognized scent is remembered by 65% after a year whereas a visual image is only remembered by 50%. Information sensed by the smell sensory cell is connected to the limbic system in our brain. Limbic system is in charge of people’s feelings and memories. Thus, smelling a certain scent will bring back the memories and feelings related to the scent immediately. Just like the main character in Marcel Proust’s novel, where he bites into a madeleine and starts to remember an old memory. Psychologists call this the Proust effect.

There’s also a research on smell and the desire to make a purchase. According to Samsung’s research report which quotes an U.S. Army research, consumers exposed to scent felt that their shopping time was shorter than actual time by 26%, when they had been around the store that was about three times the size of their average shopping place. Abercrombie and Fitch, the first fashion brand to bring in scent marketing in the industry, got a similar result. After they sprayed their signature perfume ‘Fierce’, consumers stayed in the stores 15.9% longer with 14.8% greater will to purchase.

Scent marketing, used in various industries

British cosmetics brand ‘Lush’ displays bath products in front of the store and embeds brand identity to the consumers.

Scent marketing is utilized in many industries. Have you ever gone by a British cosmetics brand ‘Lush’ store? Lush does not have any ads with famous people nor does it have fancy packaging. Ever since its launch, the brand maintains the strategy of promoting brand with ‘scent.’ Staff will be in front of the store, putting a bath ball into water to demonstrate how it works. As the bath balls exude scent all around, people will recognize that there is a Lush store nearby even when they don’t see one.

KFC season tickets that smell like fried chicken were sold out in 2 hours (Photography source. KFC official Youtube video).

The food industry is also making use of scent. Recently KFC sold chicken regular delivery tickets that smell like friend chicken, and they were sold out in just 2 hours. The tickets were produced and delivered by mail so that the consumers would be able to smell KFC fried chicken. They made note of the fact that fried wings are most popular during football season and had the ticket usage period be around the end of American football season. This promotion will make sure that the ticket users think of KFC when they think about fried chicken and will stimulate them to go for KFC when they want snacks while watching football matches in the future.

Kyobo Books has developed and commercialized their signature scent, ‘The Scent of PAGE’ (Photography source. Kyobo Books official homepage).

Bookstores are also doing scent related marketing. Kyobo Books has been carrying out scent marketing since 2015. They created the Kyobo Books smell, ‘The Scent of PAGE.’ It’s the scent you smell when you visit Kyobo Books. This was first commercialized when the Kyobo Books Bundang store opened in 2017 as an opening event and since then is sold in some Kyobo Books stores and online website. Plays and exhibitions also utilize scent as well. , which is a photography exhibition currently on display in the Seoul Arts Center, has placed scent suitable for the exhibition, so that the visitors would discover another side of the exhibition through scent.

A special house remembered for its scent

Hyundai Engineering & Construction developed a unique, original scent for tits premium apartment, THE H.

Luxurious, high end hotels are developing their original scent to strengthen brand value and induce revisits. Wouldn’t your place feel more special if there was a special scent of the place and others would remember it?

A construction company has used scent marketing for the first time. Hyundai Engineering & Construction launched The H brand scent, THE H PLACE. It contains the will of The H which wishes to be remembered specially by the consumers. THE H PLACE was developed with the concept of the great nature of Jungfrau, Switzerland. With citrus herb scent as the main ingredient, tangerine, bergamot, rosemary, and many more scents were added for a mellow harmony. Hyundai Engineering & Construction uses this in The H Honor Hills’s community space, ‘Cullinan’ to go beyond the one-dimensional plan of creating a physical space but to apply differentiated technology and service onto the space, satisfying all five senses of the consumers.

THE H PLACE was applied to THE H HONORHILLS community space.

The undisclosed diffusing device automatically adjusts amount of spray and time through the ceiling HVAC duct. It maintains optimum balance so that the customers will naturally experience the scent. A monthly regular inspection service is also carried out to adjust the level of scent according to season, temperature, and humidity.

As people make purchases for individual satisfaction more and more, consumption that allows consumers to feel products and brands with all five senses is getting more attention. Scent marketing, where brand is recognized by its scent, will continue to be used as an effective marketing strategy as it provides a visual stimulation and a new experience to the consumers as well.