Aroma Technologies Scent Marketing, Scent Machines Canada and USA

Why is Smell Important?

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Why is smell important?

?Understanding the sense of smell

Understanding how the sense of smell works has been heavily studied in recent years. Smell is an important sense as it can alert us to danger like gas leak, fire or rotten food but also is closely linked to parts of the brain that process emotion and memory. Unpleasant and bad smells actually send pain signals to the brain to warn us of possible danger.

Smell is vital for survival of most humans and animals as it enables them to track food and water, find a mate and even communicate. Although our sense of smell is not as acute as other animals we know that humans are able to detect up to 10,000 different odor molecules.

Can smell affect taste buds?

Smell is also important as it can affect our sense of taste. Researchers say 80 percent of the flavors we taste come from what we smell, which is why foods can become flavorless when you have a blocked nose. Taste buds on our tongues can only identify four qualities being sweet, sour, bitter and salt and the remaining ‘tastes’ are actually distinguished by smell.

Effects from loss of smell?

As smell is so closely connected to taste when smell is impaired it can cause people to actually change what they eat. Without smell food becomes tasteless and this results in people adding salt to improve the flavour. Adding salt can in itself be an issue for those with conditions such as blood pressure, kidney disease, diabetes or heart conditions.

In extreme cases smell deprivation has been seen to lead to depression. Problems with our sense of smell has also been linked to early warning signs for more serious health problems such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, or multiple sclerosis.

Importance of smell today

We often take our sense of smell in our day-to-day lives for granted, and think we really rely on our eyes and ears. Smell has been an integral part of evolution and survival of the fittest for our species in the past. Although humans rely less now on smell for survival a huge importance is still placed on smell today for taste enjoyment and attracting a partner through use of perfumes.

Perfume houses around the world market their products as the latest and greatest new smell, which you can use to attract a mate. Entire industries exist as the humans have placed such a huge importance on smell. The fragrance industry is now bigger than ever and doesn’t just include retail sales of fragrances like perfumes.

Fragrances are added to many products as it makes us feel good. Smell is the only sense that affects the memory and emotion part of the brain. If we feel good when we buy a product then we are likely to continue buying it. This is why many companies add fragrance to their products such as soap, cigarettes, washing powder. Even those in the food industry use fragrance chemicals known as flavors or aroma chemicals to their products. Smell has become increasing important to us and as a result the industry has responded to these demands.

About AromaTech Scent Marketing Company.

Aroma Technologies, is the leading provider of scent marketing solutions for brands, hotels, casinos and retailers. AromaTech's patented scent technology transforms the perception of your commercial identity and environment as well as enables businesses to create a unique experience by engaging memory and emotions. Proven to enhance the appeal of any environment, these pioneering scent machines can be customized to reflect even the most challenging environment or brand. AromaTech Scent Marketing Company is based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

For information on scent marketing and aroma diffusers please contact us at (888) 276-6245 or sales@aromatech.ca

Tags: Scent Machines, Scent Science, Productivity, Scent Applications, Scent Systems, HVAC Scenting, Aroma Oils, Essential Oils.

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Do You Have Good Business Scents?

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Most studies and discussions concerning ambient scenting revolve around using scent to drive consumer behavior. However, scent can also be used in business environments that are business-to business (B2B) and corporate internal meetings and work spaces. As the sense most closely tied to emotion and mood, smell can work to help us feel more confident, alert, calm or cooperative.

The new fragrance underwritten by Microsoft vice president Patrick McCarthy is named Liquid Money. According to the perfumer, Larry Murrison, the smell of cold hard cash motivates and enhances self confidence. The women’s fragrance contains a mixture of freshly minted dollar bills, pink grapefruit, tangerines and then freesia, passion fruit, Hawaiian wedding flowers and melon.

In general, citrus scents such as grapefruit, orange and lemon are said to impart confidence in stressful situations, such as a job interview or important sales presentation. Great scents to improve alertness and productivity in the office include lavender, peppermint, eucalyptus, rosemary, geranium, grapefruit and tea tree.

In a Japanese study, key-punch workers made 54% fewer errors when exposed to a lemon aroma, compared to those in an unscented environment. Social psychologist Robert Baron has patented a device for office workers that releases pleasant scents and has a white noise generator and air filter. He calls this a PPS, standing for Personal Productivity/Privacy System.

For situations where there is potential for stress or conflict, such as business negotiations or mediation, the calming scent of lavender, orange, vanilla or green tea and lemongrass can soothe tensions and help the participants work out their issues. These scents can also be used for those engaged in stressful jobs like customer service, airline traffic controls and health care.

Workers in factories, construction areas, warehouses and mechanical services typically experience accidents and injuries due to a lack of alertness. The scent of jasmine, eucalyptus mint and tangerine can help them stay alert and safe. According to Dr. Alan Hirsch, “Jasmine’s scent triggers beta waves in the front of the head, which stimulate alertness. Jasmine has been proven to help focus and increase hand-eye coordination.”

Scent can be disbursed throughout an office environment via a scent diffuser, either freestanding or connected to the HVAC system. When working in an environment where co-workers are sensitive to fragrance or have asthma, you can still scent your immediate work area with a small personal diffuser, or fragrance oil on a cotton ball or scent stone.

About AromaTech Scent Marketing Company.

Aroma Technologies, is the leading provider of scent marketing solutions for brands, hotels, casinos and retailers. AromaTech's patented scent technology transforms the perception of your commercial identity and environment as well as enables businesses to create a unique experience by engaging memory and emotions. Proven to enhance the appeal of any environment, these pioneering scent machines can be customized to reflect even the most challenging environment or brand. AromaTech Scent Marketing Company is based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

For information on scent marketing and aroma diffusers please contact us at (888) 276-6245 or sales@aromatech.ca

Tags: Accident Reduction, Alertness, Office, Productivity, Scent Applications, Work Environments, Scent Systems, HVAC Scenting, Aroma Oils, Essential Oils.

Science Behind the Scent

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

In this post you will find a lot of cool and interesting information about the actual science behind scent marketing and how our sense of smell works. Brough to you by AromaTech Scent Marketing Canada and USA.

Fact Sheet 003 // AromaTech: the science behind the scent

The nose knows
Researchers and academics have long understood the power of the human sense of smell and the importance of scent.

The sense of smell works 24 hours a day and is the one human sense that cannot be ‘switched off’. It is the body’s initial and most definitive tester, instantly evaluating whether an environment is good or bad.
The human sense of smell affects 75% of daily emotions and plays an important role in memory. This comes from the direct connection scent receptors in the nose have to the brain. The limbic system, which is responsible for memory and emotions, is linked to the olfactory gland, which registers smell.
The human nose is believed to be able to detect up to 350,000 chemicals.
Emotion can be communicated by smell. There are suggestions that smell can influence mood, memory, emotions, mate choice, immune system and hormones.
Scenting does not impact on judgment and has been tested to prove that it cannot cause obsessive behavior.
Academics and researchers agree that scents are effective simply because they create a mood which
validates intentions.
Smell amplifies the sense of taste, as can be proven by a simple "kitchen" experiment. If peeled pieces of apple are placed in one bowl, and peeled pieces of potato in another, and then the nostrils are held completely closed while a piece from one bowl is sampled, the taste of apple and potato are indistinguishable.

Trials prove

Studies show that a pleasurable scent diffused at a noticeable level can validate consumer intentions, improve workplace productivity and assist with health and medical conditions:

A trial undertaken in a USA casino showed that gambling revenue increased by 48% with the introduction of a pleasant aroma into a test area. The trial concluded that a noticeable scent in the air acts to enhance the mood and intention of patrons, without affecting judgement or exacerbating obsessive gambling behaviour.1

In a 1989 trial, customers spent more time browsing at a jewellery counter when a scent was introduced.2

When the aroma of baked bread was released in a US supermarket, sales in the bakery section increased threefold.3

The diffusion of lavender during breaks at work has been found to prevent the deterioration of work performance.4

An Australian university is using scents to assist in the diagnosis of several brain disorders including

Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder.5

Research in Japan is being undertaken to understand the influence scent and the use of essential oils has on the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.6

Research has also found that continual exposure to a particular scent can assist in weight loss.7

1 – Hirsch, 1995, Psychology and Marketing
2 – Knasko, 1989, cited in The Journal of Marketing, USA
3 – Hirsch, 1995, International Journal of Aromatherapy
4 – Sakamoto, et al, 2006, cited at http://chemse.oxfordjournals.org
5 – University of Melbourne, 2006, cited at http://www.unimelb.edu.au/
6 – Miyazawa, 2006, Inhibition of Acetylcholinesterase Activity by Tea Tree Oil & Constituent Terpenoids
7- Sweet, 1997, Scents and Nonsense: Does Aromatherapy Stink

The natural power of essential oils
There is also strong acceptance that essential oils provide medical and health related benefits.
100% pure essential oils are derived from the essence of plants. Therefore they carry the health and
cleansing properties of those plants.

Essential oils eliminate bad odours rather than simply mask them, including cigarette smoke.

Essential oils, when inhaled as diffused oil micro-mist, help to boost the body’s immune system.

Scientific research confirms that essential oils fight and eliminate airborne microbes of bacteria, viruses, and moulds.

Many hospitals in the United Kingdom diffuse pine oil in burns units to prevent the spread of infection.

Research undertaken in 1955 found that 21 essential oils reduced or totally destroyed a number of microbes that cause health complaints within 3 hours.

Essential oils have been part of cough medicines for many years.

A number of essential oils are used within common cleaning and anti-bacterial products.

About AromaTech Scent Marketing Company.

Aroma Technologies, is the leading provider of scent marketing solutions for brands, hotels, casinos and retailers. AromaTech's patented scent technology transforms the perception of your commercial identity and environment as well as enables businesses to create a unique experience by engaging memory and emotions. Proven to enhance the appeal of any environment, these pioneering scent machines can be customized to reflect even the most challenging environment or brand. AromaTech Scent Marketing Company is based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

For information on scent marketing and aroma diffusers please contact us at (888) 276-6245 or sales@aromatech.ca

Remember That Great Hotel?...Using Scent for Hospitality Branding

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Over and over again, research has confirmed that our sense of smell is directly linked to our memories and emotions, both powerful factors in branding. Brands that consumers strongly associate with a positive emotion are successful, generating increased dollar sales, repeat sales and customer referrals. Memory, too, plays an important part of the branding experience, helping customers to identify and recall the brand name as well as specific product features and benefits. In order to strengthen their brands, numerous hotels have enlisted the aid of scent branding.

Just as a logo symbolically represents the company, hotels are appealing to the powerful sense of smell by creating “scent logos,” signature scents for their properties. The custom scents are based on the hotel’s ambiance and the emotions they want guests to associate with the hotel.

For example, the Mandarin Oriental uses a mandarin blossom tea scent to evoke not only its décor, but also its name. St. Regis wants guests feel like they are arriving at a lovely home, furnished by Mrs. Astor. Their signature scent includes roses and sweet peas, Mrs. Astor’s favorite flowers, mixed with a touch of Mr. Astor’s tobacco.

Le Meridien hotels wanted to unify its properties to be of a consistent quality and feel, appealing to creative people like artists, architects, designers, and chefs. Now, upon entering the hotel doors, guests experience a whiff of old books, leather, and wood sweetened with vanilla.

Hyatt hotels scent each of their properties, and take this strategy one step further. For their upscale Park Hyatt brand, each individual location has its own unique scent to emotionally bind guests to the property and distinguish it from others, even within the Park Hyatt family.

Senior vice president of Westin Hotels & Resorts summed it up nicely, “Scent is most closely tied to memory, and if we’re in the business of creating memories and wanting our guests to choose Westin whenever they travel, we have to make a memory link.”[1]

So far, most hotels confine their scent to the lobby areas and casinos. Some sell candles with the hotel’s signature scent in their gift shops, but there are many more applications for scent in hospitality. Technology now exists to make scenting guest rooms feasible. Hotels can also make good use of scented paper to send advertisements to their frequent guests in advance of common vacation times, to awaken the wonderful memories of their last vacation. The results for using scent in hospitality are positive; now we have to expand on its use.

[1] “The Sweet Smell of the Modern Hotel,” Chandler Burr, Travel and Leisure, June 2008

Tags: scent branding, hospitality scenting, hotel scenting, scent marketing strategy, scent applications, scent machines

About AromaTech Scent Marketing Company.

Aroma Technologies, is the leading provider of scent marketing solutions for brands, hotels, casinos and retailers. AromaTech's patented scent technology transforms the perception of your commercial identity and environment as well as enables businesses to create a unique experience by engaging memory and emotions. Proven to enhance the appeal of any environment, these pioneering scent machines can be customized to reflect even the most challenging environment or brand. AromaTech Scent Marketing Company is based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

For information on scent marketing and aroma diffusers please contact us at (888) 276-6245 or sales@aromatech.ca

Scents of Place: Scent Branding in the Hotel World

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

They say it’s our most powerful sense, but scent is oft forsaken in the flash-and-buzz world of branding. Travel editor Natasha Mekhail reports on how hotel brands are using custom fragrances to out-sniff the competition.

As a travel editor, I spend a lot of time writing about what distinguishes one hotel from all the others. I also have a serious perfume addiction. So when the hospitality industry turned its attention to the final sensory frontier – scent – I couldn’t have been happier.

My first epiphany about the discreet power of this too-often-overlooked sense happened as an expat living in Japan. Exploring a half-century-old house with two friends, we slid open the fusuma door on a futon cupboard only to be assailed by the odor of mothballs. In the split second that followed, something very curious happened: James, a Brit, recoiled, while Japanese-born Keiko leaned in closer to breathe in the scent.

James explained that mothballs evoked the memory of overnighting in a despised aunt’s drafty guest room. Keiko, meanwhile, associated the odor with joyfully unwrapping the layers of tissue paper surrounding her grandmother’s silk kimonos. Having no mothball experience whatsoever, I was the control group: totally ambivalent.

One odor, two powerful lifelong memories. All because the olfactory membrane in the nasal cavity is the one part of the body where the central nervous system makes direct contact with the outside world. The result: scent informs our autobiographical memory and links it, in particular, to place.

So imagine scent’s impact as a branding tool in the hospitality sector, where creating experiences is the business.

Scent logos

For the frequent traveller, scent branding results in an instantaneous feeling of familiarity, which according to Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts CEO Greg Dogan “adds another sensory layer of welcome,” whether you’ve just stepped into an untried Shangri-La in Hong Kong or you’re revisiting its counterpart in Vancouver. The group’s ginger-and-bergamot-infused room fragrance is called Essence of Shangri-La.

Almost every hotel chain, as well as many independents, has an olfactory logo. Starwood Hotels & Resorts has implemented scent branding at almost every level: from the W’s luxury-evoking fragrance, Bling, to the Four Points’ “Comfort isn’t complicated” aroma of cinnamon apple pie.

Some, such as the Mandarin Oriental, have gone so far as to tailor their ambient scents to the space’s function, spraying, for example, a zesty citrus blend in conference rooms to keep attendees alert. For its part, Omni Hotels & Resorts offers a lineup of lemongrass in the lobby, cookie in the coffee shop and a Coppertone-esque coconut by the pool.

Scents as brand extensions

Enterprising perfumers have even made hotel fragrance a niche of their business, like celebrity “nose” Olivia Giacobetti, creator of bespoke scents for such luxury properties as Hotel Costes in Paris and La Mamounia in Marrakech – perfumes not just for the drawing room, but also the dressing table.

On the flipside, iconic properties like New York’s the Plaza have created “inspired by” scents that aren’t used in the hotels at all. “We wanted to create a modern fragrance that appeals to the senses and characteristics that the Plaza hotel embodies: grace, beauty, elegance and style,” said Kristin Franzese, executive vice president of retail, upon the launch of the Plaza, the fragrance, in May.

Still others use their scent as a myth-maker that adds to the mystique of the property. Case in point: the Intercontinental Montelucia in Scottsdale, which extracted the olfactory essence of a local night-blooming cactus to infuse its Joya Spa products. Or Le Meridien Hotels, for which some of the woody, leathery notes of its house fragrance, created by New York boutique perfumer Le Labo, were chemically derived from an early edition of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Le Petit Prince.

The science of scent

Such scents can be delivered through the hotel’s heating and cooling systems, via discreet atomizers or, as in the case of Yabu Pushelberg-designed hotels (such as Las Alcobas in Mexico City and the Hazelton Hotel in Toronto), by way of ingenious diffusers in the lighting.

But scent strategists are quick to point out that, while fragrance can be subtle, it doesn’t have to be subliminal. “Consumers notice it,” said Joe Faranda, a perfumer with International Flavors & Fragrances, to GCI magazine, of the scent he created for Samsung’s New York City retail space. “In fact, the consumer who recognized the smell was found to have a more positive shopping experience.”

Not only do they notice it, they want it. As one commentator on the fragrance forum basenotes.net, posted, “I’ve actually gone so far as to buy bottled ‘hotel smell’ at Mandalay Bay in Vegas [referring to the hotel’s signature Coconut Spice] so we have something to squirt on the bedlinen at home to remind us of holidays!”

Scent and the art of brand maintenance

Scent’s discreet presence is precisely its advantage as a branding tool. People willingly bring the fragrances into their homes, where they exist – palpably, yet invisibly – without the showiness of, say, a coffee chain’s branded barista system or a celeb chef’s crockery.

As Martin Lindstrom, author of Brand Sense, a book on marketing to all five senses, told the New York Times, “The future of hotel branding is when there are no logos, no advertisements blasting, but I can just feel I’m there.”

About the Author
Natasha Mekhail is the managing editor of Spafax Luxury Brands, where she develops custom travel and lifestyle magazines for large international clients, including Bombardier, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and Mercedes.

Mitsubishi - Smell of Success

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Scents Can Help Residents of Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Because scent recalls memories and affects mood, it can be very beneficial for senior citizens who live in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. These facilities, in general, tend to have a musty, hospital type smell which contributes to the low spirits of their residents. A scent solution, whether it is limited to certain areas or is connected to the air conditioning system, can help. Although the sense of smell diminishes somewhat with age, it is still a powerful way to reach those who are infirm, and even those with severe dementia. For patients with Alzheimer's, more recent memory is usually impaired, but older memories may still be available.

In a study, researchers found that 86.8% of those born after 1930 had olfactory-evoked recall, and 61.3% of older respondents who were born before 1930. (Nostalgia: A Neuropsychiatric Understanding; Alan R. Hirsch 1992)

Although the most common memory-related scent is baked goods, nostalgic scents tend to differ by region where the respondents grew up. For those on the east coast of the US, it was flowers; south - fresh air, midwest - farm animals and west coast - barbecued meat brought the memories flooding back. In other countries, scents particular to those regions did the same.

Other scents that can be used in the nursing home setting include citrus to improve mood and lavender to calm agitated residents.

Tags: anxiety, healthcare, memory, mood, nostalgia, nursing homes, scent applications

Study Identifies Women's Scent Preferences by Region

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Axe, a manufacturer of men's cologne and highly fragranced body products, sponsored a study by Dr. Alan Hirsch to identify what scents "turn girls on." The study found that the scents preferred varies widely by what region within the US.

Here are the findings:

Girls’ Scent Preferences by City
1. New York City – Coffee
2. Los Angeles – Lavender
3. Chicago – Vanilla
4. Houston – Barbeque
5. Atlanta – Cherry
6. Phoenix – Eucalyptus
7. Philadelphia – Clean Laundry
8. Dallas – Smoke/Fireplace
9. San Diego – Suntan Lotion/Ocean
10. Minneapolis-St. Paul – Cut Grass

For single guys outside of these metro areas, there are some scents that a popular across regions, and across the country.

Girls’ Scent Preferences Nationwide
1. Vanilla
2. Coffee
3. Lavender
4. Fresh Air/Rain

Girls’ Scent Preferences Regionally
• East Coast – Coffee
• South – Fire/Smoke
• Midwest – Cut Grass
• West Coast – Baked Goods

In another study commissioned by Axe, researchers asked young women about their ideas on scent and attraction. Here are some of the highlights:

• Dirty little secret: One in four girls will wait anywhere from two weeks to a month before washing their sheets in order to keep their guy’s scent close

• Father doesn’t know best: 56 percent of girls say they won’t date a guy who smells like their dad

• Guard your belongings: One out of two girls admits that she has committed theft by stealing an article of clothing from a guy to smell when he’s gone and nearly 60 percent of girls sleep in their guy’s clothes because they like his lingering aroma

• Need proof of how scent and memory are intertwined? 60 percent of girls still remember the smell of their ex’s cologne

Building Brands With The Senses

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Most marketing plans appeal to only two senses: sight and hearing. Why so limited? How come almost all marketing and brand building concentrates on two senses when we know appealing to all five is likely to double brand awareness and strengthen the impression a brand leaves on its audience?

Several surveys document our olfactory sense as probably the most impressionable and responsive of the five senses. Smells invoke memories and appeal directly to feelings without first being filtered and analyzed by the brain, which is how the remaining four senses are processed. We all recognize and are emotionally stimulated by, say, the scent of freshly cut grass, brackish sea air, or the perfume of roses. I'm convinced any car lover drinks in the smell of a new car.

Some are getting the hang of sensory appeal. Some supermarkets in Northern Europe are connected to bakeries by hundreds of meters of pipeline. The pipes carry the aroma of fresh bread to the stores' entrances. The strategy works. Passers-by are struck with hunger and drawn inside the shop. A major British bank introduced freshly brewed coffee to its branches with the intention of making customers feel at home. The familiar smell relaxes the bank's customers, not an emotion you'd normally associate with such an establishment.

Let's not forget hearing and touch. Sound evokes memory and emotion. A familiar birdsong floods you with impressions of home; a hit song from your youth brings back the excitement and anxiety of your teens. AOL stepped up to the plate by using a voice familiar to many young Web users. Brittney fans discovered they can hear their idol not only when experiencing CDs and videos but also when launching AOL. Brittney lets you know, "You've got mail." Kellogg's has also invested in the power of auditory stimulus, testing the crunching of cereals in a Danish sound lab to upgrade their product's "sound quality."

Touch? One major reason online clothes shopping never took off is -- you guessed it -- people couldn't touch the product. Amazon avoided this problem because people don't attach so much importance to the feel of a book as they do to its content. Clothes, on the other hand, must be felt and tried on for size, color, texture, and so on. Physical proximity to product is elemental to purchase decisions. Shopping behavior depends on it.

If you agree so far, then tell me why it's so difficult to find brands that promote themselves by appealing to all five senses. The only example of integrated sensory marketing I'm aware of comes from Singapore Airlines. The airline has demonstrated an understanding of the psychological importance of the senses in establishing and maintaining customer impressions. By appealing to all senses (music, fragrance, manner, and demeanor mingle in the cabin to evoke the airline's image), the airline has created a branded flying experience.

So how can you appeal to all five senses on the Internet? Well, you can't get them all. But you can optimize the tools available to you, one of the most neglected being sound. Why do you reckon you hear that familiar sound of fizzing Coke being poured into an ice-filled glass when you visit the Coca-Cola site and the sound of brewing coffee on the Starbucks site? Meaningful sound is a cheap but very effective way of appealing to another of your visitor's senses and of powerfully enhancing your brand's message.

Sensory perceptions are unique to each of us, as memories are. We experience powerful stimulations from them. How come marketers aren't appealing to our senses more? The opportunity of brand building by leveraging the five senses is wide open. Brands are hovering in the wings, as an audience of our highly receptive senses sits in a darkened theatre, anticipating a marketing show that hasn't yet begun. Few companies have integrated their brand-building strategies to appeal to all the senses. This is probably the case for two reasons: not all media channels are able to connect with each of the five senses, and we really don't know how to handle the phenomenon of total sensory appeal.

Rome wasn't built in a day. I'm sure we'll get there. The question is how long you can afford to wait? The rewards can be enormous.

Sponsored By: The Brand Positioning Workshop

About AromaTech.
Aroma Technologies, is the leading provider of in-store scent marketing solutions for brands, hotels, casinos and retailers. AromaTech's scent technology transforms the perception of your commercial identity and environment as well as enables businesses to create a unique experience by engaging memory and emotions. Proven to enhance the appeal of any environment, these pioneering scent machines can be customized to reflect even the most challenging environment or brand. AromaTech is based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

For information on scent marketing and aroma diffusers please contact us at (888) 276-6245 or sales@aromatech.ca.

Secret #9: We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Diets!

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Chapter 12 of Whiff! relates a remarkable theory proposed
by Steven Landau, founder of Scentsational Technologies, as
to the recent explosion of obesity in America: “In the old
days, moms would cook more often, so a home would
typically be filled with aromas for hours on end. This, he
asserts, helps to lend a feeling of satiation to the appetite before the meal.
Now that the major sources of a family’s food supply are microwavable meals
and fast food, aromas aren’t floating around the house inducing satiety.
Therefore we are eating more today before we feel satisfied.”

It’s a fascinating idea with an unmistakable ring of common sense. So, why
hasn’t the multi-million dollar diet industry latched on with a product geared
toward staving our cravings through our nasal passages?
Enter, Sensa, the first weight-loss aid designed to satisfy our appetites by
satisfying our noses. “Sensa works with your sense of smell to curb your
hunger without affecting the taste of your food,” explains Dr. Alan Hirsch,
founder of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago
and creator of Sensa. “This induces something called ’sensory-specific
satiety.’ It makes your brain perceive that you’ve eaten more than you have
and, thus, you eat less and lose weight.”

Each Sensa Shaker has two sides, one sweet foods (fruit, pastries, cereal) and
one for salty (meat, pasta, vegetables, popcorn), and is applied to food much
like salt or pepper. And how does Sensa perform against traditional diet aid
products? A clinical study concluded last June by Hirsch and colleagues
charted the progress of nearly 1,500 people who used the sprinkles on
everything they ate for a period of six months, with no other changes in diet
or exercise routine. “We found an average weight loss over six months of 30
1/2 pounds.”

However, maybe there is an even simpler solution to weight loss. In a fat
perception study, men’s perception of women was tested while the men
smelled certain scents. Remarkably, those men who found the floral and
spice odor to be pleasant, on average perceived the women to be a full 12
pounds lighter than their actual weights. The researcher concluded, “Wearing
a floral-spice fragrance can reduce a woman’s perceived weight by as much
as 7 percent.” That’s not all that much for the petite Olsen twins, but it is an
instant 21-pound weight loss for a 300-pound woman.

Age perception was another area of influence. A subsequent study found that
scenting men with the aroma of grapefruit gave them the perception that the
women around them looked six years younger on average than they actually
were. If an enterprising company were to come up with a pleasing
grapefruit-floral-spice perfume, they could take a real bite out of the
cosmetic surgery industry!

Olfactory Fact #18:
1-part Taste plus 2000-
parts Smell equals Flavor
The taste buds of human
beings can identify only 5
basic sensations: sweet,
sour, bitter, salty and
savory–all more subtle
shades of taste are actually
flavors, a co-mingling of
those 5 recognizable tastes
with the over-10,000 smells
recognizable to humans.

Olfactory Fact #55:
Sex Appeal Grows on
Trees!
A 2005 study revealed that
women wearing the scent of
pink grapefruit were
perceived by men to be six
years younger than their
actual age!

About AromaTech.
Aroma Technologies, is the leading provider of in-store scent marketing solutions for brands, hotels, casinos and retailers. AromaTech's scent technology transforms the perception of your commercial identity and environment as well as enables businesses to create a unique experience by engaging memory and emotions. Proven to enhance the appeal of any environment, these pioneering scent machines can be customized to reflect even the most challenging environment or brand. AromaTech is based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

For information on scent marketing and aroma diffusers please contact us at (888) 276-6245 or sales@aromatech.ca.

Secret #10: A Scentsational Nights Sleep

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT

It’s no secret that what we hear while we sleep is often incorporated into our
dreams. A euphoric dream fueled by the sound of ocean waves and soft
music can take a nightmarish turn for the worse if a wailing siren or barking
dog enters the equation. But what about that other sense which, like hearing,
does not rest when we do? Does what we smell while we sleep have the
power to guide our dreams?

Absolutely, according to new evidence presented at September's 2008
American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Foundation
Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO in Chicago. For their study, titled The Impact of
Olfactory Stimulation on Dreams, German researchers stimulated sleeping
subjects with either positive fragrances (such as roses) or negative ones
(such as rotten eggs). The subjects were then awakened and asked to relate
what they had been dreaming about. The dreams of those who had been
exposed to the unpleasant aromas were predominantly colored with negative
emotions, while those stimulated with the pleasant aromas almost all
reported sweet dreams!

It may not be the caffeine that makes sleepy people crave a cup of Java.
According to a team of scientists led by Yoshinori Masuo at the National
Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tsukuba, Japan,
just the smell of coffee may be enough to reverse the effects of sleep
deprivation on the brain.

An examination of the brains of sleep-deprived mice revealed reduced levels
of mRNA (messenger molecules that indicate when a gene is being expressed)
for eleven genes important to brain function. When the mice were
exposed to the aroma of coffee, the mRNA for nine of the genes was restored
to near-normal levels–and pushed to above normal levels for two!
If the same genes are suppressed in sleep-deprived humans, says Masuo, it
may explain why people feel bad when they haven’t had enough sleep.
Further, that gene reactivation could explain why people love the smell of
coffee. His team is currently working to identify the specific molecules in
coffee aroma that affect gene expression, in hopes of pumping them into
factories to help revive tired workers, thus eliminating the need for “coffee
breaks.” Is nothing sacred?

Olfactory Fact #119:
Birds Use Olfactory Clues
If the olfactory nerves of
homing pigeons are nonfunctional,
they are unable
to locate their home lofts
like birds whose olfactory
nerves are left intact.

Olfactory Fact #85:
Mosquitoes Are Picky
Eaters
Mosquitoes sniff out carbon
dioxide and a complex
variety of the 300+
odorants present in human
sweat to choose the tastiest
victims from up to 100 feet
away.

About AromaTech.
Aroma Technologies, is the leading provider of in-store scent marketing solutions for brands, hotels, casinos and retailers. AromaTech's scent technology transforms the perception of your commercial identity and environment as well as enables businesses to create a unique experience by engaging memory and emotions. Proven to enhance the appeal of any environment, these pioneering scent machines can be customized to reflect even the most challenging environment or brand. AromaTech is based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

For information on scent marketing and aroma diffusers please contact us at (888) 276-6245 or sales@aromatech.ca.

What Does Your Brand Smell Like?

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT

By Jennifer Jefferies - Guest Author

Close your eyes for a moment and think of the smell of freshly baked bread – what does that wonderful warm smell remind you of? Perhaps it takes you back in time to your childhood, to Sunday mornings when you used to walk down to the corner bakery to buy a fresh loaf dusted with flour.

In the same way that an everyday aroma can instantly take us to another place and time in our minds and remind us of people and places, so too is it possible to associate your brand with an aroma in the minds of your customers and clients.

Aromas have the ability to build powerful brand recognition, quickly. In his book, Brand Sense, Martin Lindstroem says, ‘Seventy-five percent of the emotions we generate on a daily basis are affected by smell…Next to sight, it's the most important sense we have’.

Dr Eric Spangenberg, Dean of the College of Business and Economics at Washington State University, ran a test in a clothing store in the Pacific Northwest of the US to determine how scent affected customers by gender. He diffused the subtle smell of vanilla in the women's department and rose maroc (a spicy, honey-like fragrance) in the men's. When he examined the cash-register tapes, he found that receipts almost doubled on the days when the scents were used. However, when he reversed the scents (diffusing vanilla with the men and rose maroc with the women) customers spent less than average. ‘You can't just use a pleasant scent and expect it to work,’ he says, ‘it has to be congruent’. That is, the fragrance has to make sense with the product or environment it's supposed to enhance: ‘When you go into Starbucks, you don't expect to smell lemon-scented Pledge’.

Whether your company operates retail stores, hotels or corporate offices aromatic branding can give you the edge. Here’s how aromatic branding works:

• Our sense of smell is our most acute sense. We take in more information, more quickly and retain it for longer through smell than we do through any other sense.

• Our sense of smell interacts with the limbic system in the brain, where memories are linked to aromas. We’ve all had the experience of smelling an aroma that instantly transports us to another time and place because we associate it so strongly with a certain person, time or experience.

• The deliberate use of aroma is the final frontier in creating a truly unique and memorable brand experience.

• Aromatic branding is about creating a unique aroma that people associate with their experience of your brand – effectively, it anchors a certain aroma to the brand experience so that every time a person smells that aroma, they will be instantly reminded of their experience.

• Most companies already use sight, sound and touch to create an integrated brand experience, but few use smell. This is an opportunity for your company to be at the forefront of aromatic branding.

About AromaTech.
Aroma Technologies, is the leading provider of in-store scent marketing solutions for brands, hotels, casinos and retailers. AromaTech's scent technology transforms the perception of your commercial identity and environment as well as enables businesses to create a unique experience by engaging memory and emotions. Proven to enhance the appeal of any environment, these pioneering scent machines can be customized to reflect even the most challenging environment or brand. AromaTech is based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

For information on scent marketing and aroma diffusers please contact us at (888) 276-6245 or sales@aromatech.ca.

Secret #8: New Car Smell

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Tim Colussy was initially skeptical of the box wafting puffs of new car scented
air into the service lane of his Pittsburgh-area Chevrolet dealership.
Now, he’s gotten such positive feedback that he plans to install a second unit
in his showroom.

The new GM Goodwrench Signature Scent, a subtle combination of bergamot,
citrus, and fine leather, was specifically designed to induce a relaxed feeling
in customers while enhancing the clean perception of service bays. Peter
Lord, executive director of service operations at General Motors Corporation,
finds the scent reminiscent of an aromatic new Cadillac—quite an
improvement over the exhaust fumes, oils, and cleaning solvents usually
associated with automotive work areas. Developed by the scent technology
wizards at Air Aroma (Canada - AromaTech), the briefcase-sized units employ a patented cold-air
diffusion technology to release controlled amounts of micro-mist throughout
areas as large as 8,000 square feet.

Colussy, who has seen a 10% increase in service business, couldn’t be
happier with the fresh new scent of GM. And, if that figure seems
astounding in this declining economy, it shouldn't. The automotive
industry's connection with scent marketing has been both long and lucrative.
We all love that "new car" smell, but the fact is that a fragrance factory
manufactures much of that smell. Over two million dollars worth of this
liquid leather is used each year in Detroit alone. While some manufacturers
completely deny using fragrance enhancers—Lexus states, for example, that
their scent comes from the rich leather interior of their cars, and Volkswagen
has been working to erase all of their cars’ smells—in reality many of the new cars rolling off of the assembly line are marketed using an enhanced scent because of people’s fondness for the aroma. Some carmakers have been open about it. In 2003, Cadillac generated a buzz when they rolled out a
signature scent called Nuance. They tested manufactured scents for a decade while their brand was in decline. When they finally thought that they had gotten it right, they brought 340 Cadillac owners together for a blindfold test of six cars. The winning scent came to be their new signature fragrance. Considering that the resuscitation of the brand roughly coincided with this new scent—sales of the Cadillac Escalade really took off—could it be that it was more than just the physical design that was responsible?
When Rolls-Royce buyers began complaining in the mid-1990s that the new cars just didn’t live up to their earlier models, the company went to work to track down the problem. They found that the smell was the issue. They returned to a 1965 Silver Cloud for their inspiration, and deconstructed its aroma identifying 800 separate elements. They reconstructed the classic scent, and now spray it under the seats of new vehicles.
Again, there is nothing new or groundbreaking about the connection between our automobiles and the field of scent marketing. But isn’t it interesting that one of the largest purchases people make has such a large
stake in how it smells? G. Clotaire Rapaille, M.D., founder of Archetype Discoveries Worldwide, a consumer research firm in Florida that serves as an advisor to automakers and scent makers, acknowledged that while smell would not be the first impression that a potential car buyer would have, it
could be a deal breaker nonetheless.

Olfactory Fact #124:
To the Nose, Identical
Twins are merely Similar
Twins
A 1955 study revealed that
tracking dogs given a whiff
of one identical twin would
happily follow the other–
UNLESS both twins were
simultaneously involved, in
which case the dogs were
generally able to match the
correct scent to the correct
twin.

About AromaTech.
Aroma Technologies, is the leading provider of in-store scent marketing solutions for brands, hotels, casinos and retailers. AromaTech's scent technology transforms the perception of your commercial identity and environment as well as enables businesses to create a unique experience by engaging memory and emotions. Proven to enhance the appeal of any environment, these pioneering scent machines can be customized to reflect even the most challenging environment or brand. AromaTech is based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

For information on scent marketing and aroma diffusers please contact us at (888) 276-6245 or sales@aromatech.ca.

Secret #7: Beauty is in the Nose of the beholder…and for good reason!

Sat, 27 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The introduction of birth control pills in the early 1960s has been widely accepted
as the chief culprit for the sharply rising divorce rates which followed (from 9.6 per
1,000 marriages in 1963 to 19.4 per 1,000 marriages ten years later), as fewer
women were forced to “think of the children” and remain locked in unhappy
marriages. As it turns out, we may have been barking in the right forest but up the
wrong tree. While the pill certainly freed women from having to live with unwise
choices of long-term mates, it may also be responsible for their having made those
unwise choices in the first place.

A bizarre 1995 experiment conducted at the University of Bern in Switzerland, asked
female students to sniff T-shirts that had been worn for three days by male
volunteers and rate them for attractiveness. The DNA of the men and the women
was then analyzed, in particular the genes, which build a part of the immune
system. This infamous "Stinky T-Shirt Study" showed that women were biologically
programmed to sniff out men with immune systems vastly different from their own,
thus creating a wider gene pool and more robust offspring. But, interestingly, this
preference was reversed in women who were taking oral contraceptives (which
mimic pregnancy). Women on the pill preferred the scent of men with very similar
genetics, such as close relatives, who would be more likely to help her care for the
baby.

“It is like choosing a cousin as a marriage partner,” says Rachel Herz, author of The
Scent of Desire. “It constitutes a biological error.” In short, if you are looking for a
man to be the father of your child, go off the pill before you start your search, or
you might find yourself, years later, wondering what you ever smelled in that guy.
“Interestingly,” says Herz, “one of the most common things women tell marriage
counsellors is ‘I can’t stand his smell’.”

Olfactory Fact #192:
Less is More Than Enough
Our sense of smell is so
powerful that even the most
potent odors we detect are
actually only about
0.000,000,000,002 (two trillionths)
of a gram of scent.

About AromaTech.
Aroma Technologies, is the leading provider of in-store scent marketing solutions for brands, hotels, casinos and retailers. AromaTech's scent technology transforms the perception of your commercial identity and environment as well as enables businesses to create a unique experience by engaging memory and emotions. Proven to enhance the appeal of any environment, these pioneering scent machines can be customized to reflect even the most challenging environment or brand. AromaTech is based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
For information on scent marketing and aroma diffusers please contact us at (888) 276-6245 or sales@aromatech.ca.

Secret #6: A Little Common Scents Goes A Long Way In Business

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

This year, while you're pondering what possessed you to buy that plaid
necktie for Uncle George or that chartreuse sweater for Aunt Barbara, stop
and take a deep breath. No, really. Because that impulse buy might have
been triggered, literally, by something in the air.

Advertising Age magazine ranked scent marketing as one of the "Top 10
Trends to Watch," while Martin Howard, author of "We Know What You Want:
How They Change Your Mind," rated it #3 on his list of “10 Disturbing Trends
in Subliminal Advertising.” These perspectives are totally at odds, of course.
The same statistic cited as a warning by Howard, that "one study into use of
airborne aromas, pumped into a Canadian mall, resulted in an increase of
over $50 per customer that week," is referenced gleefully by savvy retailers
who have stepped into the multisensory age of advertising. But both
perspectives point to a single common conclusion: Scent marketing works.

Whether or not you are keen on the idea of retailers reaching for your wallet
through your nose, it's an unstoppable phenomenon with limitless
possibilities that isn't going anywhere but up, because it works.
The Canadian study listed above is but one example of many (and, not to nitpick,
but the increase in purchases when the environment was scented was
actually over $55 per customer). Orlando's Hard Rock Hotel had an underperforming
ice cream shop called Emack and Bolio’s, which was poorly
situated in the basement. What to do? The enterprising company employed a
“waffle cone” scent to attract customers down the stairs to the shop. Sales
increase? Forty-five percent.

Olfactory Fact #72:
Tasty Smells Trigger
Impulse Sells
A recent Singapore study
showed that shoppers
exposed to the aroma of
fresh cookies were inclined
to seek a “quick fix”
through an impulse
purchase–such as a new
sweater or lottery ticket–
even after being reminded
that their budget was tight!

About AromaTech.
Aroma Technologies, is the leading provider of in-store scent marketing solutions for brands, hotels, casinos and retailers. AromaTech's scent technology transforms the perception of your commercial identity and environment as well as enables businesses to create a unique experience by engaging memory and emotions. Proven to enhance the appeal of any environment, these pioneering scent machines can be customized to reflect even the most challenging environment or brand. AromaTech is based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
For information on scent marketing and aroma diffusers please contact us at (888) 276-6245 or sales@aromatech.ca.

Secret #5: Home Sweet Home

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

As noted in Whiff!, the idea of scenting the air we breathe has been around
since the invention of incense. In the last decade, innovative and inexpensive
home scent delivery systems have exploded into a multi-billion dollar
industry, and if there’s one common thread running throughout their design,
it’s discretion. From the plug-in unit hidden behind the sofa to the tabletop
dispenser camouflaged to blend with our knick-knacks, the scent systems in
our homes strive to juggle high efficiency with low profile. The optimum
system would provide 100% coverage with 0% visibility but, of course, that’s
not possible, is it?

In a word, yes. Paint SCENTsations is an air freshener additive that literally
makes a scent delivery system out of the paint on your walls. Just one ounce
of Clean & Crisp or Vanilla Bean or, for those homes with particularly
obstinate smokers or flatulent pets, Citrus Squeeze to a gallon of your
favorite latex shade will produce a pleasant scent and eliminate odors for up
to 12 months.

For realtors and property managers struggling to eliminate the odors left by
former residents, says Simon Distributing President Pat Simon, the return on
investment can be huge. “It takes between three and five gallons of paint to
do the average apartment, so you’re talking about an additional $6 to $10,
and you’re not adding any extra steps because you’re painting anyway.”

Olfactory Fact #89:
Sometimes, All I Need is
the Air that I Breathe…and
$8.5 billion to make it
smell nice
According to Global
Industry Analysts, Inc., the
world market for air
fresheners is projected to
reach $8.5 billion by the
year 2012

About AromaTech.
Aroma Technologies, is the leading provider of in-store scent marketing solutions for brands, hotels, casinos and retailers. AromaTech's scent technology transforms the perception of your commercial identity and environment as well as enables businesses to create a unique experience by engaging memory and emotions. Proven to enhance the appeal of any environment, these pioneering scent machines can be customized to reflect even the most challenging environment or brand. AromaTech is based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
For information on scent marketing and aroma diffusers please contact us at (888) 276-6245 or sales@aromatech.ca.

Secret #4: The Way to A Man’s Heart…

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

No matter your sexual preference, studies show that specific scents can turn
you on. The Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation studied men’s
sexual arousal by monitoring their penile blood flow while introducing them
to various scents. No pornography was used in the study. The overall results
were a twisted confirmation of the adage, “The way to a man’s heart is
through his stomach.” That is, if the way to his heart is routed through his
penis. It seems that each of the 30 odors introduced increased blood flow to
the penis to a degree, from a dismal 2 percent increase all the way up to 40
percent.

Scents used ranged from orange, black licorice, and buttered popcorn, to lily
of the valley, doughnuts, cola, pumpkin, and lavender. What was the handsdown
winner? A mixture of pumpkin pie and lavender; this blend showed a
raging 40 percent increase in a male’s arousal. Next in effectiveness, at 31.5
percent, was the combo of black licorice and doughnut. (Beware of fat
policemen eating licorice-flavored doughnuts.) The least effective smell for
blood flow was cranberry, which registered only at 2 percent. Depending on
the men’s ages, they reacted differently, with vanilla creating the strongest
effect for older men.

Another study showed greatly increased penile blood flow while men smelled
cinnamon buns. Roasted meat, cheese pizza, and chocolate also made the
list. One might get the idea to open a sex shop in conjunction with a bakery
or steakhouse. It seems that men’s appetites are pretty interchangeable.

Olfactory Fact #97:
You Smell Better After Sex!
The fact is that that we have
a heightened sense of smell
right after sex - caused by
the release of prolactin in
the brain – and the
production of new smell based
neurons.

About AromaTech.
Aroma Technologies, is the leading provider of in-store scent marketing solutions for brands, hotels, casinos and retailers. AromaTech's scent technology transforms the perception of your commercial identity and environment as well as enables businesses to create a unique experience by engaging memory and emotions. Proven to enhance the appeal of any environment, these pioneering scent machines can be customized to reflect even the most challenging environment or brand. AromaTech is based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
For information on scent marketing and aroma diffusers please contact us at (888) 276-6245 or sales@aromatech.ca.

Secret #3. Insulin Effects Triggered by Scent

Sat, 13 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A recent groundbreaking experiment produced a literal Pavlovian
(physiological) response in a group of healthy male subjects. These men
experienced an expected glucose drop after being injected with insulin while
simultaneously smelling a specific odor four days in a row. On the fifth day,
they were only subjected to the odor, yet their glucose levels dropped
anyway! When subjected to the same odor, their bodies responded as if they
had actually received a dose of insulin. This suggests that specific scents can
be imprinted into the memory in tandem with induced physiological
changes—and, most importantly, that physiological responses can be
replicated through the presence of an odor alone.
We can only imagine how scent triggered physiological responses could be
used in other areas of medicine, or how scent could be used to enhance the
efficiency of existing drugs…”a scent prescription?” I hear you say.

Olfactory Fact #134:
Not All Noses Can Smell the Roses
Over two million Americans suffer from anosmia, a complete absence of the ability to smell.

Secret #2: The Scent of Seduction…

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Regarding women’s response to scents, according to Dr. Alan Hirsch of The
Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, men’s cologne usually
causes a decrease in vaginal blood flow unless it’s a natural scent. What
actually makes a man most appealing to women is a light deodorant or spray
of scent, such as the aroma of an ocean breeze, kiwi, or a combo of baby
powder and chocolate. The aroma of a man’s clean skin combined with a
little fresh sweat and any fresh fruity scent has proven to be the strongest
stimulant of all for a female. For the ladies who think that sexy, muskysmelling
perfumes are attractive to men, think again. Women’s sensitivity to
musk is 1,000 times greater than men’s. In fact, these perfumes are more
likely to arouse the woman wearing them. Of course, this is not such a bad
thing if you want to please a woman. Men may wish to take note of it.

Olfactory Fact #116:
Women Appreciate Scentimental Films.
A panel of women sniffed underarm swabs, and could tell the difference between smells of people who had watched “sad” or “happy” movies. Men could not distinguish between the two types of smells so well.

Top 10 Scent Secrets To Make Yourself Smarter, Sexier, Younger,Thinner,Wealthier,Happier, Healthier.

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Introduction

With every breath we inhale a complex cocktail of aromas. Despite being such a significant part of each moment of our lives, the real mystery of scent is that it has been largely overlooked, forgotten and ignored in modern times...until now.

Our journey into the magic world of scent began just a few years ago. We started to notice growing interest and research in the field, breakthroughs in the understanding of the psychology and physiology of smell, and the development of new technologies, processes and systems to control and deliver scent. In a similar way that new technologies and understanding emerged to help us control and use sound and light, now it’s scent’s turn to blossom.

While writing our book Whiff! The Revolution of Scent Communication in the Information Age, our keen interest in olfaction and all things smelly led us on an fragrant 18-month journey into the scent dimension, where we learned about the amazing research being conducted into scent’s powerful effects on the consumer brain. Much of that research found its way into Whiff!. This brief dossier provides a few interesting tidbits from the book, as well as some things that didn’t make it into the book.

You are welcome to send this document to friends, family and colleagues and we invite you to visit us online for up-to-date news and articles on our blog AskTheWhiffGuys.com.

To the smell of success!

C. Russell Brumfield and James Goldney

Secret #1: Boost Your Memory, Recall and Productivity
Students sweating out that last big exam before the Christmas holidays, take heart. The answer to those late-night-cramming-blues might literally be as plain as the nose on your face.

The implications of scent research upon education are profound. In his book Fragrance, Edwin T. Morris states, “When children were given olfactory information along with a word list, the list was recalled much more easily and better retained in memory than when given without olfactory cues.”

Research is providing a fascinating insight into how scent can affect memory, and the role sleep plays in memory formation. In one study, although students did not notice the presence of a rose bouquet while they were sleeping, their brains were found to be paying attention. Subsequently these students retained an almost perfect memory of their subject material while undergoing tests accompanied by the scent of roses (97 percent), compared to 86 percent recall when no scent was used. Furthermore, a team of German neuroscientists reported that by spritzing research subjects with rose scent as they performed a memory exercise, then spritzing them again when they were sound asleep, the researchers could improve their subjects’ recall by 13 percent. That equates to a substantial grade point increase for both the struggling and the excelling student.

So, why does what we smell have such a profound impact on what we remember? Put simply, when we smell, we feel. Scent marketers coined the term “Proustian Effect” to describe the nostalgic recall triggered by odor in homage to French author Marcel Proust, whose novel Remembrance of Things Past was the first to explicitly link smell to memory. For Proust, it was the aroma of madeleine cakes which summoned up pleasant memories of his childhood. For another, it might be pipe tobacco or lavender sachet, and the reaction might be a vivid mental image or a simple shift in mood. Whatever the trigger, and whatever our individual conditioned response, smell is the most direct expressway to our brains, leaving all other senses in the dust.

When the other senses (sight, sound, taste, touch) reach our receptive centers, they are first routed through the interpretive reasoning centers of the left brain, needing to be identified and assimilated before circuitously making it to the emotional centers which tell us how we feel about the information. But when the olfactory bulb detects a smell—while we are eating, drinking, making love, having an emotional experience, or studying for that all-important test—it alerts the cerebral cortex and sends a chemical message directly into the limbic system of the right brain, before any left- brain analysis can muddy the waters.
So, what about after you get the diploma in hand and move into the increasingly competitive job market? Does the smell-trick still give you an edge? Absolutely. Not only will those same olfactory associations enable you to remember all your bullet points for that all-important presentation, a scented workplace will increase your productivity.

Japanese businesses have a long tradition of using aromas to boost brainpower, often much more adeptly than in other cultures. Important research in 1985 by Shizuo Torii, M.D., showing the mind-altering effects of some aromas, has caught the attention of entrepreneurs. Interestingly, a large construction company was one of the pioneers of scent delivery in Japan. The Shimizu Corporation started to incorporate aroma systems into their buildings, diffusing lavender or rosemary into the lobby, and lemon or eucalyptus in general office areas to keep the workers alert.

A fragrance company, Takasago showed the results of a study relating the reduction of clerical error to the use of essential oils. Keyboard punching errors fell by 20 percent when the air was scented with lavender and 33 percent when jasmine then was substituted. There was an astonishing 54 percent reduction in clerical error when workers were exposed to lemon oils. And by intermittently changing aromas, efficiency levels were maintained. The Kajima Corporation, in the construction industry, infuses strategic blends of aromas into different areas of buildings at specific times of day according to the male-to-female ratio in specific departments. Scents include lemon in the mornings, soothing floral and wood fragrances at midday, lemon-jasmine to combat after lunch fatigue, and lemon again in the late afternoon to revive and refresh the workers.

Olfactory Fact #123:
An Elephant Nose Good Guys From Bad Guys
African elephants can classify members of a single species into subgroups by scent alone: The big guys
were indifferent to the odor of garments previously worn by the Kamba tribe (humans who do not hunt
elephants), but garments of the Maasi (humans who DO hunt elephants) triggered a stampede.

Olfactory Fact #133:
A Kid’s Nose Knows Kids!
Children can identify their siblings from other kids the same age, by scent alone!

Olfactory Fact #141:
Smokers May Stink But They Don’t Smell
74% of participating University of Indiana students were able to correctly sniff out their own shirts from a pile of stinky laundry, but this percentage dropped to 50% for students who smoked more than ten cigarettes per day.