Scent Marketing

Scent Marketing: Introduction

Marketers are eager to bridge and profit from the advertising gap between sell, memory, and mood. Scent marketing is a strategy used to draw in consumers based on the subtle scents of a particular space or environment. Developers have been careful to create scents that will lure consumers into the store whilst creating an open sense of well-being. The scents placed in store spaces are subtle and almost undetectable. All industries, ranging from hotels to car manufacturers, have caught onto this strategy and its implementation. Firms have also been able to establish a “brand scent” for themselves that will allow consumers to associate certain smells with a specific brand.

Scenting companies offer four major scent triggers that are able to lure the customer inside or are able to highlight a special promotion.

                                  A Warm Welcome: developers scent the entrance of the designated space with a selected scent that relates to the target audience

                                 A Warm Welcome Plus: developers scent both the entrance and center zones of the designated space
                                     A Memorable Signature: developers scent all areas of the shop to create a warm welcome for customers

                                               Product or Zone Scenting: developers scent specified areas (i.e. departments, product areas) to attract consumers that specific promotional area

-          Sandy

Scent Marketing – Retailers 

      The primary goal of any retailer is to get customers in its doors and keep them inside for as long as possible. The longer they stay inside, the higher the chances of them purchasing the particular goods and services that the store has to offer. Hence, retailers have begun venturing into a new frontier of scent marketing, wherein firms utilize the immense power of smell to influence consumer behavior. Brands that use scent diffusion technology have a singular aim: to put people in the mood to spend. Pleasant and subtle scents have been found to lift moods and enhance consumer behavior. Given that smell is the most powerful and emotional of all the senses, scents trigger poignant responses and help build an emotional connection with the brand.

     Why does scent marketing work in the world of retail? The impact of the “right” smell can lead to a host of positive consumer effects:

  

·         Improves brand perception

·         Enhances perceptions of product quality

·         Increases positive shopping behavior (consumers buy more)

·         Express more positive intentions to return

      Discriminating consumers respond to retail spaces that are fun, exciting, and inviting. As a response, retailers are now utilizing the power of smell to create the ultimate customer experience. Not only is every aspect of the consumer experience mapped out and created with a great deal of attention, most of the techniques used are extensively researched, tested, and optimized.

      Aside from stimulating purchase behaviors, retailers use scent marketing in order to distinguish themselves from other brands. Let’s examine some notable examples of how big-name brands have employed this strategy:

Abercrombie & Fitch

      A&F pumps its “Fierce” fragrance in healthy doses throughout its stores, with the goal of exuding a lifestyle packed with confidence and a bold, masculine attitude. This strategy aims to associate the scent with its array of good-looking models and staff, essentially creating an aspiration within consumers to attain this level of “beauty.”

Victoria’s Secret

      VS stores waft the brand’s signature scent in the air to increase the sensory and emotive connection with its customers.

Hugo Boss 

      Hugo Boss, one of the earliest retail adopters of scent marketing, spent two months tweaking the formula of its signature scent before finding the right fit. The rich tamboti wood scent pumping through its stores aims to create an atmosphere of luxury and sophistication, traits that characterize the brand.

- Leo

Scent Marketing: Influencing Supermarket Purchases

Scent marketing is becoming an increasingly popular marketing strategy. Nicknamed “The Smell That Sells,” retailers are now going through your nose to get into your wallet. I am sure you have all heard the saying, “don’t go to the grocery store when you are hungry,” marketers are now using that to their advantage. Scent Marketing is a technique being used throughout grocery stores to influence consumers to purchase more than they intended. Many people go to the grocery store with a list intending to stick to purchasing only the items on their list, but seriously when does that ever happen. To encourage the consumer to buy even more, supermarkets have been installing specialized scent machines to mount on the walls that fill the air with artificial food aromas enticing consumers to buy. Scent Air, the company responsible for these machines offer 350 different kinds of smells to choose from.

- Chelsea

Scent Marketing: Hotels

The hotel industry has quickly adopted the concept of scent marketing by infusing certain scents into their properties. This unique concept allows patrons to develop an emotional connection to the hotel’s scent and eventually make you link a certain hotel with positive memories and emotions.

“The hotel industry is capitalizing on smell’s ability to instantly cue memories and conjure up certain emotions, and turning that moment into a branding opportunity.” Scent marketing strengthens brand loyalty and produces repeated guests.

While scenting today is limited to a hotel’s public areas, its expansion to guest rooms is in the near future. According to Harold Vogt, founder of the Scent Marketing Institute, “…soon you’ll check in and select a scent, and by the time you open the door your room will smell the way you want it to: fresh citrus or spring lilac or light winter wood. Or, of course, no scent at all. There are delivery systems in development that will give you up to five scent possibilities. And the remote control in your room will allow you to trigger your wake-up scent wirelessly.”

Major hotel chains like the Holiday Inn, Marriott, and Ritz-Carlton diffused their unique aromas throughout their properties and are capitalizing on this concept by producing custom scents and candles to sell to patrons.

Some examples of hotels using scent marketing are: 

The Westin: Offers a light and refreshing white tea scent

The Refinery Hotel: Relies on a stress-relieving lemongrass and jasmine fragrance to sooth weary travelers.

Thompson hotels: Custom-designed scent, Velvet, which conveys the deepness of aubergine, hints of black leather, fresh tobacco, and smoky cedar wood. The custom scent is designed to portray the aesthetic of casual luxury. 

 

- Vanessa  

Scent Marketing: Cinnabon

It’s been proven that the use of scent increases sales, builds brand loyalty and improves customer experience. I’m sure many of us have walked through a mall and some how ended up in a Cinnabon or a Wetzel’s Pretzels or even a Potato Corner. Believe it or not, it’s not because we spontaneously had a craving for a cinnamon bun or pretzel or French fries, it’s because of the intoxicating aromas that lure us to those food court stands.

For example, Cinnabon stores and kiosks have ovens placed at the front so that just baked smell drifts towards potential customers. Cinnamon buns are also baked every 30 minutes to ensure the air is constantly perfumed with the scent. In some cases, operators even bake sheets of just brown sugar and cinnamon to get that signature, mouthwatering Cinnabon scent.

- Ashley

Cause Marketing

Introduction: Cause Marketing

Cause marketing refers to the strategy that aligns a company with a cause to generate business and societal benefits. Cause marketing is a potentially profiting initiative by a company or brand to raise awareness, money, and/or consumer engagement for a social or environmental issue.

Purpose: To raise money and awareness for a company and the cause thus increasing engagement with the company’s brand or product.

Three characteristics of Cause Marketing:

(1.)         A product, a tangible item that can be bought and sold

(2.)         A partnership between a company (for the product they are marketing) and a non-profit or cause based organization

(3.)         A way to generate a profit

Research shows that 3 out of every 5 consumers bought a product or service in the previous year because of its association with a cause. Cause marketing is increasing in popularity and many companies now use cause marketing as part of their marketing strategy.

Types of Cause Marketing include transactional, events, code/coupon redemption, pledge drives, consumer engagements, etc.

61% of Americans say they would be willing to try a new brand or one that is unfamiliar to them when it supports a cause.

The leading issues consumers think companies should address:

·       Equal rights/ Diversity

·       Crime / Violence

·       Homelessness / Housing

·       Environment / Disaster Relief

·       Access to clean water

·       Education Diversity

·       Hunger

·       Economic Development/ Health & Disease

Source: http://www.modernmarketingpartners.com/blog/cause-marketing-101-infographic 

DOVE CAMPAIGN FOR REAL BEAUTY

 The Campaign for Real Beauty launched in September 2004 with a much talked-about ad campaign featuring real women whose appearances are outside the stereotypical norms of beauty. The ads asked viewers to judge the women’s looks (oversized or outstanding? and wrinkled or wonderful?), and invited them to cast their votes at campaignforrealbeauty.com. Over the years, Dove has created variations of its original ads with one goal in mind, to empower women and broaden the definition of "real beauty".  

By owning an issue relevant to their customer base, Dove has created an authentic cause marketing campaign that resonates and creates an emotional connection with their customers

Dove Real Sketch Campaign: This campaign employed an FBI sketch artist who asked individual women to either describe themselves or a stranger seated next to them earlier in the day. The results showed very different images, revealing the women's insecurities int the portrait they described of themselves. The clip juxtaposed the two descriptions to highlight the distorted-- inaccurate and less attractive -- verbal pictures women painted of themselves.

The campaign empowers women to recognize their own beauty and not compare themselves to others, especially the traditional airbrushed and photo-shopped models. This is the “why” behind their brand—to empower women—and showing people why a company does what it does, not what it makes or how it makes it, is what causes us as consumers to stop and take notice.

In 2010, the campaign name was changed to The Dove Movement for Self Esteem.

- Vanessa

                    PROCTER & GAMBLE

Procter & Gamble Co., also known as P&G, is an American multinational consumer goods company. Renowned for its marketing focus on social issues, P&G has dedicated itself to the needs of society by providing people with goods and services for their health and well-being. In 2012, the company received the Cause Marketing Golden Halo Award, the highest honor for companies and causes that collaborate to produce business and social dividends. According to P&G’s global marketing and brand building officer Jim Stengel, the company’s thrust towards social responsibility is driven by a desire to change from “marketing to consumers to serving our consumers.”

P&G’s focus on ethical marketing aims to realize substantial gains by incorporating social issues into their advertising campaigns. In today’s rapidly evolving consumerist society, it is necessary for firms to positions themselves as corporate citizens in order to enhance their brand image. Cause marketing is a critical secondary factor for modern consumers – a company or brand that successfully positions a product at the right price will only be enhanced by a social responsibility or sustainability position. Moreover, P&G adheres to the values set of young and dynamic marketers. Values of the new generation revolve around a positive view on the global environment; hence, social responsibility is a very attractive proposition because it develops a great amount of motivational impact in both marketers and consumers.

At least eight P&G brands have active campaigns that publicize an array of environmental or philanthropic efforts. Each of these brands is now defined by a purpose that transcends its brand attributes. Here are some of the company’s most notable campaigns:

PUR Water Filters – P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program

Seeks to improve the health of children in less developed countries by providing them with clean drinking water

P&G’s Give Hope Campaign; in collaboration with The National Breast Cancer Foundation

Seeks to raise awareness concerning early detection in the fight against breast cancer

P&G’s “1 Pack = 1 Vaccine” Campaign; in collaboration with UNICEF’s Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus Elimination Program

Seeks to provide vaccinations in 47 countries to eradicate neonatal tetanus in poor countries

Tide’s Loads of Hope Program

Seeks to bring clothes to areas around the globe that have been affected by natural disasters

Dawn Dishwashing Liquid – Dawn Saves Wildlife Campaign

Seeks to rescue and release more than 75,000 animals affected by oil pollution

References:

http://adage.com/article/news/unilever-p-g-war-ethical/125460/

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120531006440/en/Procter-Gamble-Receives-Golden-Halo-Award-2012#.VBOOfi5dXqo

 TOM'S

Everyone should be familiar with TOMS Shoes by now, unless you've been living under a rock. It’s a company that was established in 2006 by Blake Mycoskie. Mycoskie explained the meaning behind the name in an interview saying, "There is no TOM. We like to say that everyone is TOM, because what TOMS stands for, it's a derivative of the word 'tomorrow' and the idea that we have a better tomorrow. When we started the project, it was called the Shoes for Tomorrow Project. Then it was just Shoes for Tomorrow. Then that didn't fit on the label, so I just named it TOMS. You buy a pair today, we give a pair away tomorrow. And collectively, everyone who buys a pair, everyone who works here, everyone who's an intern, we all are TOMS. So that's who TOM is." Basically, like Mycoskie has mentioned, the company’s promise is: when TOMS sells a pair of shoes, then a pair of shoes will be given to an impoverished child. 

They have also branched out and started selling TOMS glasses and coffee (known as TOMS Roasting Co.) According to the official TOMS website, for every bag of coffee that's purchased, TOMS will give one week of clean water to a person in need. The same also goes for their eye-wear line. With each pair of glasses sold, people in the developing world, who have just as bad as vision as we do but little access to ophthalmologists, will get free glasses, medical treatment or surgery. Each product follow the company’s “One for One” business model. 

- Ashley

Source: TOMS Official Website

THE GIVING KEYS

The Giving Keys originated from a simple idea that was not meant to become anything else. Caitlin Crosby, the founder, started off on this journey by simply collecting photos of your flaws. Those images went on to inspire her to write songs, which then led to her songwriting a whole album. From there, she went on to tour the country and found herself in New York City where she would simply use her necklace to keep her hotel key safe and would then venture on to ask a locksmith if he would be able to engrave inspiring words on this key. She then began selling these keys at her shows but found that they were being more successful than her actual albums. She went on to tie the message of the keys into her shows and encourage people to purchase a key that would symbolize their uniqueness and help them pay it forward. She could’ve created a website based on this simple following but she found herself longing for something more. She wanted to give back to a charity but did not know what to do exactly. After six months of waiting, Caitlin found her missing link on Hollywood Blvd. It was a homeless couple, Rob and Cera. Caitlin was drawn to them due to their sign and they went to dinner where she discovered that Cera loved to make jewelry. They started making necklaces the next day.

As business started to grow, The Giving Keys partnered with transitional homes in LA, such as United Way and PATH. These organizations had a screening process to ensure that those hired were serious about turning their lives around and settling down.

Today, The Giving Keys are retailed in over 500 stores both nationally and internationally including stores like: Anthropologie, Fred Segal, Henri Bendel and Kitson.

In March of 2013, The Giving Keys began partnering with Chrysalis to help find more employees. Chrysalis is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to providing homeless or low-income individuals with the resources and support they need to become self-sufficient and maintain a stable job. 

In June 2013, they were able to move to a larger location in the Los Angeles' neighborhood of Lincoln Heights where they are able to expand in general.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBjlJ1tVxtM

                                                                              - Sandy

Advergaming

Introduction to Advergaming 

Advergaming, the combination of advertising and gaming, is the use of interactive gaming technology to deliver embedded advertising messages to consumers. Brands and advertisements are embedded into digital games allowing brands to connect with users for a longer period of time. There are three types of advergaming and each type interacts with the user in different ways :

1. Associative: This type of advergaming drives brand awareness by associating the product with the lifestyle or activity featured in the game. For example, Jack Daniels created a game for user to play pool with others. On the walls behind the pool table are advertisements of Jack Daniels drinks. This associates the brand with the activity being featured.

2. Illustrative: This type of advergaming features the product prominently in the game.

 

3. Demonstrative: This type of advergaming is fully interactive and allows the consumer to experience the product within the virtual confines of the gaming world. One example is Nike's basketball advergame, Nike Shox. In this game, users perform in a slam dunk contest and have the ability to customize his/her nike shoes.

-Vanessa

The Implementation of Advergaming: Chipotle

Around this time last year, Chipotle launched “The Scarecrow,” an arcade-style adventure game for smartphones and tablet devices such as the iPhone and iPad. An animated short film also premiered alongside the game. Both the game and the film raise awareness on the domination of processed food around the world as it follows the scarecrow’s journey to bring wholesome food back to the people. The film and game were designed to educate people about industrial food production that supplies much of what they eat today. The film/game is set in a dystopian fantasy world where food production is controlled by industrial giant Crow Foods. Crow Foods employs scarecrows who have been displaced from their traditional farmer jobs and are relegated to working for the crows. The scarecrows are forced to help maintain the company’s unsustainable processed food system. The game allows players to visit the dystopian world and correct the wrongs committed by Crow Foods. - Ashley

Sources: YouTube & Chipotle

The Implementation of Advergaming: Burger King’s King Games series

An Xbox game for $3.99? You’re kidding, right?

Think again. In 2006, Burger King partnered with England-based Blitz Games and Xbox in creating a series of advergames known as King Games. Originally crafted as downloadable games for Xbox Live, the games were considered to be of such high quality that they modified them into “box products” that were directly distributed at Burger King outlets. Available for $3.99 each with a value meal, the series consisted of Sneak King, PocketBike Racer, and Big Bumpin’. The promotion was a smashing success – with more than 3.2 million copies sold in Northern America alone, King Games was attributed as the driving force behind the company’s 40% quarterly sales increase during that holiday period.

Considered to be the pioneer of modern advergaming, the King Games series is an ingenious mode of advertising. The games take place within the Burger King universe - famous company characters such as The King and the Subservient Chicken are playable characters within Burger King-themed levels. While distinctly low budget and relatively shallow in scope, the games are fun, humorous, and appealing to consumers of all ages. The in-game advertising wasn’t overly pushy or annoying; in fact, the developers were able to create a seamless integration between the game’s dynamics and the company’s marketing agenda. The thrust of the promotion was clearly defined: fun first, sales pitch second.

 Let’s have a peek into the King Games series:

·         Sneak King – A stealth food-delivery game where players take control of The King. The objective of the game is to sneak up on hungry strangers and surprise them with Burger King products. The best game of the series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnh-6d2oi1k

  

·         PocketBike Racer – A multiplayer pocketbike racing game with customizable bikes/drivers (including celebrity endorser Brooke Burke) and Burger King-themed levels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk7bRYGRFVI 

·         Big Bumpin’ – A multiplayer bumper car game featuring Burger King characters; also features a battle royale mode with an array of weapons, obstacles, and levels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3QUb30sFos 

 The untapped potential of advergaming is immense; the successful integration of advertising in video games has become one of the most powerful marketing tools today. As with other forms of advertising, advergaming subconsciously creates feelings, connotations, and linkages between the consumer and the product. For instance, players of these games may subconsciously connect the concept of fun to Burger King, making them want to purchase more Burger King products. However, consumers tend to develop negative feelings towards good or services that are overtly advertised to them in-game. The solution is to eliminate recognition – develop seamless advertising experiences that gamers won’t notice, such as those featured in the King Games series. 

References:

http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-10-11/advergaming-you-got-itbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/gdc-08-advergames-on-the-rise/1100-6186468/\

Combating Advergaming with the Use of Anti-Advergaming 

La Mollenindustria released The McDonald’s Video Game in the year 2006 as an “anti-advergaming” campaign where certain companies are satires to their own specific business tactics. Since there are many aspects of the game that can be domineering and demolishing the image of McDonald’s, McDonald’s released a statement saying the game “has no association with McDonald’s, and is therefore a complete misinterpretation of our people and our values”.

The game has four sectors users must manage: agriculture, feedlot, fast food, and headquarters.

            The agriculture sector deals with conquering foreign land to creature pasture, soy cultures, and breed cattle. The video game alludes to McDonald’s destroying villages in order to complete these tasks.

The feedlot sector manages the health, weight, and “slaughtering” of cows, as they put it. There are a few satirical hints throughout this section pertaining to the fodder, industrial waste, the hormones, and the slaughtering of cows.

The fast food sector manages employees and customers. The objective is to serve customers as fast and effectively as possible while being mindful of your employees. You also want to ensure that you have enough supplies. 

The headquarters sector manages marketing, public relations, and the board of directors. They ensure that the overall business is running smoothly. Satirical hints in this sector included: bribing public officials and overcompensating to nutritionists. 

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald's_Videogame

Negative Impact of Advergaming

Advergaming is a new form of advertising that companies are now using to interject their brand into video games and market their products. Advergaming has received a great deal of attention lately, and the effects have generated both positive and negative reviews. The advantage to Advergaming is that unlike Television, there are no restrictions to the amount of advertising that can be shown during the program; therefore there are no limits to the amount of time children spend interacting with advergames. The problem is, these websites encourage repetitive use and entice children to invite their friends to play as well. While Advergaming seems to be a good marketing strategy for brands to sell their products and services, Advergaming has resulted in negatively impacting children and their eating habits. Studies have shown that kids who play games with unhealthy advergames are more likely to eat unhealthy. Thus, having a negative impact on children. Children are completely unaware of the effects of Advergaming and do not suspect a thing, when in reality brands know exactly what they are doing. By Advergaming brands are integrating their brand in a way that enforces brand loyalty. Therefore, if the brand is McDonalds, children become brand loyal, always wanting McDonalds, which subsequently results in unhealthy eating habits. Ways to control children’s Advergaming usage would be for parents to really educate themselves about the content in the games they are letting their children play, monitor all online activity, block certain websites, and educate them about the difference about advergaming. -Chelsea

Negative Impact

Positive Impact

Source: http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2011/06/02/Advergames-and-Kids.aspx