Perfume is Pleasure

As a professional fragrance educator and coach in a world that says: “You’re a what?!” I must infuse cyberspace with my presence. The mission: Paint my solution to the big problem - Consumers Lack The Language of Scent - on the canvas of the Internet. Normally, I would contain myself to perfume, home fragrance, scent marketing and the like.

Social networking (code for online marketing, but in a friendly, personal way) is new to me, but my future depends on it, I am told. In a prior corporate incarnation, I looked with disdain on “reply to all” and other mass broadcasts of information that could and should have been delivered discreetly from one individual to another.

Now, compelled by the advice of people who know, as well as by the gut sense that I can no more successfully resist this than I did voicemail, I am nominally “on” Linked-in and Facebook, but not yet “up” on either.

For the record, I’ll twitter over my own dead body. Maybe I take myself too seriously. “What are you doing now?” they ask me. A fabulous woman and new Facebook friend reports that she just had oatmeal for breakfast and I cheer. High fiber. Filling. Great protein in a carbohydrate. Astounding cholesterol-lowering properties. I write a private e-mail to commend her and offer my exhortations to carry on in her pursuit of a healthy diet. Would no sooner post this on her Facebook wall than report my plans to head for the bathroom. That was a week ago. Today another new Facebook friend and respected real friend announced to the world that she was off to make a batch of granola. What a coincidence. I, too, made granola today! But is it news? Two oatmeal posts in a week? This seem to be a thing.

I am having a change of heart. Oatmeal is important.

But Oatmeal’s importance is as a grain of sand on the beach when compared to that of coffee. Perfume is pleasure and coffee is the best smell in the world. Some of you have heard me profess oakmoss to be my very favorite smell, maybe even on TV.  Either I’m lying or I have more than one very favorite smell. Please comment on your very favorite smell(s).

Bois de Jasmin, great perfume blog, lists Givenchy Very Irresistible for Men as a fragrance with a coffee note, well, mocha, actually, but don’t hold a little chocolate against them.

I remember when it was enough to do sheetrock, add paint, furniture, rugs and drapes. At that point, you considered your building to be fully dressed. I also remember typewriters and telephones that didn’t take messages for you. Come to think of it, I remember when you couldn’t type any old string of words into Google and…

But I stray from the topic of indecent exposure in public spaces. This isn’t about naked people, it’s about naked spaces. Go downtown, to your favorite resort, casino or theme park and smell the chocolate or fresh laundry. So you thought it came from the merchandise or the goodies grandma was cooking in the back? Uhn, uhn.

Avery Gilbert, psychologist, smell scientist and entrepreneur devotes the Zombies at the Mall chapter of his new book, What the Nose Knows - The Science of Scent in Everyday Life to this issue: “Nasal persuasion is happening everywhere.” MGM Grand in Las Vegas has up to nine scents going around the property all at once. At its own peril, Starbucks switched from fresh-ground to vacuum-sealed coffee. Something was missing from the consumer experience and sales slumped. Another Classic Coke story - Starbucks reversed course.

Marketers know that smells are a direct route to emotional connection with consumers. But is it true that all good smells will promote commerce? Gilbert explains “the congruency problem.” Female students purchased more satin sleepwear in a lily of the valley scented experimental setting than they did when a sea mist spray was deployed. We want to connect what we see with what we smell. Scent must convey meaning related to the product or service for sale. The success of scent campaigns to encourage people to stay in a store longer, perceive the goods as trendier, or try a new product, according to Gilbert, depends on style, taste and culture. He comments that “marketers need a Nielsen rating for the nostrils.”

What The Nose Knows is chock-full of cultural, psychological, and smell-ogical insights conveyed in zesty, flowing prose. Avery Gilbert’s style is erudite yet warm and friendly as your favorite uncle. Enjoy a great read extending far beyond the topic of this post!

Other good books dealing in scent marketing are: Whiff! The Revolution of Scent Communication in the Information Age, by C. Russell Brumfield and Brand Sense: Build Powerful Brands Through Touch, Taste, Smell, Sight and Sound by Martin Lindstrom. Raise your hand if you remember The Hidden Persuaders, by Vance Packard.

Oh, you want to know the notes? In her address to Fragrance Business, 2008, Sue Phillips, President of Scenterprises, Ltd. reported that hotels, casinos and retailers are using these notes and blends to delight their patrons and brand the experience: linden, green tea, geranium and cedar, ginger and white tea, bergamot and jasmine, lavender and sage, and hyacinth.

Sue suggests that businesses consider building materials, archictecture, colors and geography when considering a scent theme. Most importantly, she adds, the target customer mood must drive fragrance development.