I must spend hundreds of dollars every summer on the boardwalk at various food vendors selling hot dogs, funnel cakes, pizza and candy. I don't buy their items necessarily because I'm necessarily hungry. Usually I'm not, since I bring a cooler full of food. I buy because it's hard to say no to the alluring scent after hours of fun in the sun.
Smell has been an overlooked medium in the advertising industry but marketers are now making use of it, as the competition to catch audiences grows more competitive. Many marketers are dabbling with scents to influence buyer impulses--a tactic that fragrance companies have long employed. CNNMoney.com reported last week on several campaigns that are integrating smell into their ads (the most unusual are the handful of gas stations in California adding a coffee scent to their gasoline at the pumps in an attempt to attract customers).
Now while this concept is a cool idea (think how awesome it would be to smell the ocean when watching a Pirates of the Caribbean DVD, courtesy of Wal-Mart’s experimental electronic scenting technology), I don’t see any lasting power here for the industry—and many possible snafus.
First of all, scented ads fade, much like those scratch ‘n’ sniff stickers we had as kids. It’s a lot of money wasted on production for a fleeting product.
Also, marketers were attracted to using scents because smell elicits moods and emotions more than any other sense (think aromatherapy—feel-good scents to encourage buying). But smell is also the sense closest connected to our memory. Who’s to know what emotions and memories a certain smell will trigger for someone. If negative, it could hurt more than sell.
Marketers need to keep in mind that certain smells, even pleasant ones, can make people sick as well. A good friend of mine can’t wear perfume without becoming nauseous because her sense of smell is so sensitive. Do marketers really want to take a chance on their brand’s ad making someone sick to their stomach?
Also, not all ads should smell. Clear Channel is experimenting with scented billboards, but who can smell an ad that is 50 feet high when you’re driving by on the highway? The Wall Street Journal is getting ready to sell “rub and sniff” ads. But doesn’t ink bleed if you rub newspaper? And who can forget the cookie-scented “Got Milk?” bus shelter ads in San Francisco back in December that induced an allergic reaction for many commuters?
If you ask me, “smell-to-sell” campaigns may seem ingenious and new, but they really are a waste of time and money on a short-lived fad. It’s time to wake up and not smell the coffee.
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