Scenting an entire building is the latest ambition in a growing business that has, for years, gone unnoticed by most consumers. Roger Bensinger, executive vice-president for scent marketing company Prolitec, estimates there are now 20 companies worldwide specializing in ambient scent-marketing and dispersion technology. While many of these companies are privately held, industry executives value the business at roughly between $80 million and $100 million.
— From Scent Branding Sweeps the Fragrance Industry, a nice summary of the latest trends in the scent marketing field, at Business Week.
This was a fascinating article. Ironic that the trend of scenting whole buildings is growing at the same time as more companies are insisting that employees not wear perfume. Loved the part of the article where they talked about perfume therapy in hospitals for patients who had lost the ability to speak. But for some reason feel a little queasy about the housing project being scented with the smell of ‘happiness.’ On the one hand, would not want to keep happiness from anyone, but on the other, this seems like a cheap panacea that doesn’t really meaningfully address poverty.
Yes, very ironic…people are going to be breathing in scent one way or the other, as it turns out, unless they stay at home.
I was going to make a similar comment about the current trends. No doubt Detroit’s city-owned bldgs are not going to be scented anytime soon…
Very interesting. I agree that scenting housing projects does not address the problem if poverty but if it helps people to feel more upbeat and confident in themselves and their abilities then it will do some good provided it is paired with active implementation of poverty-easing measures. I am intrigued by the idea of a fragrances credit card though – my husband will be less so though as it may tempt me to get it out mote often then I already do! Ooh, maybe they could fragrance loyalty points for discounted/ free perfume…. Fingers crossed!
I was so excited there at the end that I missed out words!
Agree — it is meant as a mood improver as much as anything. But given the number of young children w/ asthma, still not sure it’s a great idea.
I wonder how much it might backfire? Aromas DO invoke emotional (and physiological) responses, but those responses are not necessarily the same in each person. Look at the way one person will love a particular perfume, while another thinks it smells horrible. Is it possible to develop one scent that will have the same positive effect on everyone? For example, the article mentioned using a mixture containing orange blossom would be used to increase productivity. For my own part, orange blossom is a pretty good sleeping potion. One whiff, and I am ready to nod off.
Incidentally, the U.S. may be a little behind the times in this, as I read about Japanese companies scenting the air in workplaces (to increase alertness or productivity) at least 10 or 15 years ago.
I suppose if it increases a behavior for most people, that’s good enough, right? I mean, if you’re a casino owner and scenting your casino is going to turn off a few people but make most people spend more money, I’d think that would be enough.
I wonder which casinos they were referring to? We have been to many casinos in Louisiana, and the only “fragrance” I ever detected in any of them was cigarette smoke.
I don’t know about Louisiana, but most all the Vegas casinos are scented, some of them so much so that I would have preferred cigarette smoke.
The potential backlash on purposefully scented buildings might be interesting. Truely scentless spaces are very rare. The alternatives may be plastic, must/mold, body odor, cooking smells, new paint, old carpet, chalkboard, cleaning products, etc. Cooking smells and chalkboard equal happiness to me, but maybe not to others… 😉