What if marketing was a nose thing…?
Although the sense of smell is probably the most mysterious of our five senses, it seems to be the less requ
ested in our consumption environment.
However, the development of olfactory marketing tends these last years to significantly increase. Part of the five pillars of sensory marketing, it goes from the smell of popcorn in cinemas, of hot sand in travel agencies or bread from the oven bakeries… This stimulates our nostrils and arouses our desire subtly.
One of olfactory marketing pillars, sometimes called “logolf” (from the junction between “logo” and “olfactory”), is a new concept which defines the olfactory signature of a brand.
It is well-known that human brain can remember thousands of smells, and that these “olfactory memories” are the most effective in terms of evocative power. Moreover, smelling brings to emotions. For marketing purpose, calling emotional memories is better than stimulate cognitive faculties.
Of course, implementing olfactory marketing is not easy for all brands. But marketers are very creative.
Take for example Verizon Wireless. When launching its new LG Chocolate phone, the company chose to add the smell of chocolate in the shops. The scent emitted by small plastic strips created excitement from the customer, which is a big advantage in this kind of product sale.
There are lots of other examples:
• Nature & Découvertes: diffuses odor of incense, wood and cedar
• Sellers of second-hand cars: spreads new moleskin scent in the car which makes the customer believe that the car was never used
• RATP : diffuses specific smell called “Madeleine”, which reduces the feeling of insecurity of travelers…
Limits
Olfactory marketing only passes through artificial scents.
Abuses, on one hand, can bring people to develop allergies. On the other hand, it widens the risks of misleading advertising (diffusing a smell of ripe fruit on fruits that are not).
Furthermore, difficulties can arise from the choice of the smell itself: the border between attractive and repulsive is often tight.
Finally, if smells are subjective and difficult to decode, they also vary in time, space and from person to person.
So, dear readers…
Have you already experienced olfactory marketing?
Would you be able to recognise a brand just by smelling (except for perfumes of course)?
Do you think that adding smells to marketing is too much?
How Much you pay for aesthetics?
Color is the most important aspect in aesthetics. Psychologists believe that 83% is done visually while receiving information.
Moreover, color is also essential in purchasing and consumption activities. There is a famous “ 7 seconds theory” in USA which means a customer only needs 7 seconds to make up his minds; and within this 7 seconds, the color effects take 67%.
For the famous Nescafé, its color designers have done such an experiment. They filled the same nescafé in 3 bottles with the color red, yellow and green and tried them with customers, and the feedbacks are the green bottle one is sour, the yellow one is plain, and the red one is just perfect.
Actually, clever brands have already use color strategy in their products promotion like the “RED” Coca Cola and the “BLUE” Pepsi.
For the present On-Sale season, I found an interesting phenomenon. Some clothes or some handbags with the black or dark colors are not on sale, but for other colors in the same style, it is 75% or even 50% discount.
So will you pay the full price for a product with your favorite color or you will choose a less favorite color for a good discount? And to which extent you would like to pay more for your favorite color? 10%, 20% or even 50% more?
When does aesthetics matter?
When I enter a perfume shop I am always stunned by a variety of bottles. They have different shapes, some may seem modest with their simple and classic forms, some attack us with crazy colors and astonishing shapes. All have one task – attract our eye and make us smell the content.
It is hardly possible for me to test more than 3 fragrances during one visit. Therefore aesthetics of the bottle is very important for this product. I admire, it happened to me to test and buy a perfume because of a beautiful packaging.
This fragrance of Nina Ricci will be a good example, I liked this ‘appetizing design’:
Another characteristic example are bottles form Lolita Lempicka, It seems to me that they promise a travel to some lands from a fairytale :
I think that it is very possible that you agree with me, that is case of perfumes aesthetics matters a lot. What about other products, do you always pay attention if the thing that you are buying is aesthetic?
In your oppinion, for which types of products or objects aesthetics matters?
LV, Aesthetics or not? But consumptions a lot…
For LV, there are a lot controversy on its Aesthetics. However, it sells so good! It’s the biggest cash cow in LVMH group globally, especially in Japan and China.
Aesthetics? On my personal view, LV has Aesthetics：their classical diagram and their texture are really beautiful. The more you use it, the more attractiveh. Because with time passing by, their bags will appear an classic texture like antique funitures. It’s kind of low tone actually, compared to the shining texture of Versace and Prada, the coquettishness of loewe and Givenchy, the top-fashionable desigh of D&G… of course, different people has different view on Aesthetics, always.
Worth Buying? Based on my experience, LV also has practicability and worth buying: Because it’s more easier to match all kinds of dresses, either formal or casual, even just T-shirt and jeans. On this point, Hermes can only be worshipped for most of us. I have an BV(bottega veneta) evening frame bag, which costs 900euro and I only used that for once…comparing with that, I used my neverfull for everything, even carrying foods and tissues from Auchan. So, it’s a good consumption for me.
Brand spirit? It’s good that LV’s marketing successfully endowed their bags with the spirit of independency, self-confidence, and power in side, by linking their bags images with environment of travelling. If we review their Ads from last century, this strategy never stopped. I love this concept.
On the contrary, many friends of mine dislike LV strongly, as other brands, people have personal taste always. But, especially for LV, I guess one of the main reasons is because many people in my country(China) buy LV not for Aesthetics but to show sth only. It’s LV’s big financial success but at the same time, it may be one kind of humiliation to those who love this brand because of its Aesthetics and brand spirit.
In The Future? Actully, I’m not sure I will buy LV bags again. Because everytime in LV store, I never experienced the LV-class service (‘cos too many customers crowed inside). Also, too many people buy LV just to show. And I don’t want to be mixed with them.
So, the factors of driving Consumptions are much more than Aesthetics in my case. There are also: style, price, practicability, brand spirit perception, friends’ view, other people’s behaviour…
What’s your opinions?
Aesthetics? and comsumption?
Last week in Paris, I crazily fall in love with a woman in Musee de Louvre, who has no head, but with two wings….She is La Victoire de Samothrace, in English, we call her” Winged Victory” .
Standing in front of her, sometimes walking around her, or taking pics of her in every degree…I just can’t step away from her!
Suddenly, there is a strange question came up into my mind: How much I would like to pay for the possession of her?Not for investment, just to watch her whenever I want to, to appreciate her, or maybe to show her to friends….just like a birkin bag of Hermes…to be short, let’s say, to please me!
—-Then, I began to caculate. Cos the answer must begin with”it depends…”.
If I have 1 billion, for her, I’d like spend half billion;
If I have 1 million, for her, maybe 300,000;
If I have 1 thousand, perhaps 100;
If I have 100, perhaps 0. Cos I have to eat and live….But maybe, I will still spend 1 or 2 on that…cute ideas…
Thinking of the crowed Chinese in LV shops, and the pics of celebrities with birkin bags, they are all rich people, who spend a lot on beautiful things….
While, thinking of last time, I bought a completely useless ashtray in Monaco just because of the cute pic on its bottom(only 7e actually), and as many girls have done too, I choose the tissue papers with my preferred color, despite of the 10% of overprice…Even as poor people, we also spend some money on Aesthetics…
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Having worked for 4 years in Cosmetic and fashion industry, I begin to ask myself such two questions:
1. What’s the definition of Aesthetics?
2. How Aesthetics influences people’s consumption? Or we can say, How much people would like to pay for Aesthetics? perhaps even without realizing that…
