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Put a bowl of Hershey kisses on a counter, add the smell of chocolate and you're
on your way to one of your most successful product launches. Most Popular Articles

That's what Verizon Wireless did last fall when launching its LG Chocolate phone.
The scent, emitted by small plastic strips, “created excitement, and in this
category, that's a big advantage,” says Joe Fiamingo, manager of print production
distribution and fulfillment for Verizon Wireless in the Northeast. Verizon
Wireless isn't the only firm to use scents as a P-O-P marketing device. Thanks to
new delivery tools, stores of all types are getting more aromatic. Take Target,
the scene of tests by two major fragrance brands. In one, Esteé Lauder is running
a display in about 80 outlets. It features fragrance compacts that shoppers can
apply to their skin and smell (a marked advance over the tester-bottles widely
used in department stores). And Elizabeth Arden has just wrapped up a three-month
test of its Fragrance Tester bars. What are those? Plastic compacts filled with a
solid that feels a little like a deodorant stick. Consumers rub their finger
across it, then apply it to their skin. These compacts match the smell of a
fragrance with 87% accuracy, says Desmond Walsh, a client service manager at
Mechtronics Corp., the firm that makes the displays for Elizabeth Arden. By
comparison, scratch-and-sniff stickers on-pack can match the fragrance with only
15% accuracy, and shoppers can't apply them to their skin. The technology is so
new, in fact, that Mechtronic and Elizabeth Arden have jointly applied for a
patent on the Solid Tester, Walsh says. Just how widespread is this phenomenon?
Marketers spent $50 million on scented P-O-P in 2006 and that sum is expected to
grow to $100 million in 2013, says Harald Vogt, founder of the Scent Marketing
Institute. Most of the money last year was spent on “environmental scenting,” or
the pumping of fragrances into stores or hotel lobbies. “It's easier to target
people on an emotional level [with environmental scenting] than on a cognitive
level, with sampling that drives people to a buying decision,” Vogt says. As for
results, Elizabeth Arden generated double-digit sales increases with its test, and
is now deciding whether to roll the displays out in all Target stores, says Rafael
Latour, senior trade marketing manager for Elizabeth Arden. And while it didn't do
as well with a test in about 10 Wal-Mart outlets, it has learned a great deal
about how to maintain scent displays.
And Verizon Wireless did well enough to give scents “another shot, depending on
the next brand name we launch,” Fiamingo says. But he admits that it's not easy to
measure the effect on sales. The Nose Knows How did Verizon Wireless, which had
never used scents, decide to try one? The idea came up during a brainstorming
session for the Chocolate launch. “We were tossing ideas around and someone said,
‘It's a shame we can't get it to smell like chocolate,’” Fiamingo says. “So I
started looking into how we could do that.” Fiamingo considered oil on a sponge or
a solid air-freshener. But he decided that both would be too messy, and that they
would quickly peter out. Talk about lucky timing. Marins USA, a specialist in P-O-
P, called with an idea for a scented plastic strip. And Fiamingo went for it. “We
fumbled through a couple of executions on how to get the strip to adhere to the
display, because the strip is oil-infused,” Fiamingo says. “Once we got the
process down, it stuck to anything.” Shoppers got their first whiff when they
entered the store, thanks to window banners and posters coated with a scented
varnish. Then the scent became stronger as they got closer to the “What's New”
wall. While subtle, the smell was noticeable within a few feet of the displays.
“We didn't want to assault anyone,” Fiamingo continues. “We wanted a hint of
chocolate smell, not like you were walking into a Hershey factory.” As for cost,
Verizon Wireless used 1,200 displays in its stores, in Circuit City outlets and
B.J.'s Wholesale Clubs throughout the Northeast. The scent strips added about $10
to the price of each display, says Jim Matera, the Marins USA executive who
oversaw the campaign. These displays are shipped in a polybag. The scent kicks in
when opened and exposed to air. Marketers can tailor the strips to provide the
intensity and time limit they want. The aroma is layered into the material — more
layers, more time, Matera says. Breathe Easy Of course, none of this should be
tried without careful planning. Verizon Wireless has the advantage of owning its
stores, but marketers who don't control their retail channels face some hurdles.
“Retailers want brands to bring scent in, but only if it doesn't cause any trouble
— like complaints from consumers or competitors,” Vogt says. “They say, ‘If
everyone brings in scent, our store will smell like a magazine.’” Moreover, store
managers expect the displays to be environmentally friendly and easy to work with
and dispose. They also like to see data linking scents to increased sales. But the
concept is so new, there is no data, according to Vogt. “I hope next year we'll
have some successes to show retailers,” he says. Then there's the issue of
consumer sensibilities. San Francisco bus riders
objected fiercely when exposed to the smell of freshly-baked chocolate chip
cookies at their stops, part of a promotion for the Got Milk? campaign. Vogt urges
marketers to produce scents “in a space you can control. If you do it in public
spaces, you expose yourself to things like what happened in San Francisco.” Can
scents harm people with respiratory ailments? Not at all, says Vogt. With existing
technology, scents are “either nebulized or ionized into extremely small particles
that would not affect anyone's health or someone with asthma,” he says. But
experts concede that not every odor will attract consumers. For example, Verizon
Wireless took a pass on displays for Motorola's MotoKrazr Fire because “we didn't
think the scent of burning ash would work as well as chocolate did,” Matera
laughs. What's next in the scent business? ScentAndrea, creator of the strips used
by Verizon Wireless, is testing several other locations and delivery mechanisms.
For example, releasing the smell of chocolate near vending machines boosted
Hershey sales 300%, and Mars sales 18%, CEO Carmine SantAndrea claims. And the
aroma of coffee and donuts at gas pumps lured 50% more drivers into the attached
convenience stores. (Don't ask about actual purchases.) That test, now in 20
stores, will expand to 100. “We have to convince retailers that if their stores
smell better, consumers will linger longer and shop more,” SantAndrea says. “Plus,
if they allow brands to bring in fragrance on their P-O-P, they've found another
way to reach into the pocket of the brand. They already sell shelf space and floor
space; now they can sell air space.” Beyond Strips Magazines are still tops when
it comes to scent marketing Everyone complains about scent strips in magazines.
The backlash got so intense that marketers are now letting readers control how
much scent they get — and when. This is being done with sealed sachets that
release their scent only when opened. LiquiTouch is a paper towelette in a sealed
pouch that's tipped into magazines. Calvin Klein used the device extensively when
it launched Euphoria in 2005. ScentSeal uses gel to deliver fragrance. And
DiscCover is a resealable plastic disc with a fragrance sample inside. Both let
consumers apply the fragrance to their skin. “If you really want to know if it
smells good on you, there's only one way to find out — you have to wear it,” says
Diane Crecca, vice president of fragrance development and strategic accounts at
Arcade Marketing. Arcade, a specialist in fragrance sampling, pioneered all three
devices, and it also invented the original scent strips. The sealed samples are
more expensive than strips, but they're more accurate and less offensive. European
brands use them almost exclusively, since magazine
circulations are smaller and brands can buy fewer samples, Crecca says. A little
fragrance can go a long way, especially if readers aren't expecting it. Kraft
Foods added scents to four ads in an edition of People that was mailed last
November to 1 million subscribers who also are heavy Kraft customers. An ad for
Chips Ahoy smelled like white chocolate. The Jell-O page produced a whiff of
cherry. Philadelphia Cream Cheese smelled like strawberry cheesecake. The ads were
printed with a special ink that released the scent only if readers rubbed the
page. “We wanted to let consumers choose when to smell the scents,” says Kraft
spokesperson Renee Zahery. “We chose the scents carefully to capture the appetite
and illustrate the recipes. It was a fun way to put a little something extra in
the special edition.” An insert carried 10 scented stickers that readers could use
as gift tags. Five smelled like peppermint; five were cinnamon. People handled
production of the ads and tags. This is the fourth year that Kraft sponsored a
special issue, but its first year for fragrances. Pepsi-Cola North America added
aroma to coupons when it launched Diet Pepsi Jazz last summer. The zero-calorie
cola played up aromas from its two launch flavors, Strawberries & Cream and Black
Cherry French Vanilla. (The line has since added Caramel Cream.) Ironically, the
brand's TV spots and its tagline, “The new sound of cola,” play up a different
sense altogether. Putting a new spin on a DVD's “bonus features,” select classic
movie releases this summer will get three solid-fragrance stamps, the size of
postage stamps, that viewers will load into a special device plugged into their
player. As the disc plays, it signals the scent device to disperse one of the
three scents, timed to scenes in the movie. A number of studios are working with
ScentAndrea to put the “scent stamps” inside the DVD cases. (A far less technical
version of the concept was pioneered in 1981 with the John Waters' film Polyester,
for which movie-goers back then received a scratch-andsniff card with their
ticket. A replica of the card was included with the DVD when it was released in
2004 by New Line Home Entertainment.) — Betsy Spethmann And Tasty, Too Sure, it
smells good. But how does it taste? Marketers are getting their first look now at
a new service that will put taste strips on P-O-P displays. In-store marketing
services provider Alliance has signed a distribution deal with First Flavor to add
“edible film” samples to displays. The Peel ‘n Taste strips — made of the same
material as popular breath strips — are individually sealed in plastic packets and
can be attached to P-O-P or onshelf distributors, or tipped into magazines with
print ads. Each packet is about one one-hundredth of an inch thick. No brands have
used the tactic yet. But First Flavor is in talks with food, beverage and over-
the-counter drug makers, and expects to have displays in-store by the third
quarter.
It's an inexpensive way to supplement product sampling, says First Flavor CEO
Barry Gesserman: “We can't duplicate the total product experience, but we can
deliver the taste profile. It's like a taste station in the store, working 24
hours a day.” First Flavor founder Adnan Aziz dreamed up the idea when he was a
sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania, watching the original Willy Wonka and
the Chocolate Factory. There's a scene where Wonka shows off his fruit-patterned
wallpaper that tastes like strawberries when you lick it. Aziz liked the notion;
he used the university's entrepreneur incubator program to float the idea and sign
his first two investors. — Betsy Spethmann

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