By Atena Forconi.
Perfume branding is a powerful way to enhance brand identity. Scents have a unique ability to evoke memories and transport us to another time and space, creating a deep connection between what we smell and the experiences that scent seeks to offer us. Brands today are increasingly drawn to perfume branding for its ability to communicate with people on a deeper level. Building an olfactory logo involves designing a fragrance that encapsulates specific olfactory notes capable of conveying the identity of a brand through emotions. Each note is carefully selected to create a unique perfume. But how do perfume branding experts create a scent logo? To answer this question, we spoke with Maurizio Predieri, the CEO of Ephèmera.
What is meant by perfume branding?
Creating a scent logo involves imbuing customers with an emotional experience that aligns with the brand’s personality, values, and history. Perfume branding is the complementary soul of a visual logo, and it is just as crucial as visual branding. Despite being immaterial and intangible, perfume branding is compelling and assertive because it can capture our senses. The olfactory signature becomes a cornerstone of the marketing strategy; a scent logo plays a central role in communication and should be present in all company activities. Building a scent logo involves selecting specific olfactory notes that represent the brand’s identity and evoke emotions. Each note is carefully chosen to create a distinctive and unique perfume that customers can easily associate with the brand. It is important to treat the scent logo as an integral part of the brand, seamlessly blending with its identity. This makes the scent logo a powerful tool to set the brand apart and create a lasting emotional bond with consumers.
Why perfume branding is it important for companies?
Implementing a perfume branding project or creating a bespoke perfume is a significant investment. Business executives and owners who understand the potential of these initiatives are aware of the impact of scent on human emotions. Scent can interact with memory and the unconscious, creating a unique connection. The olfactory approach in branding is attractive due to the invisible and intangible nature of odour molecules. Despite being invisible tosight, scent can penetrate deeply, reaching people’s hearts. Olfactory notes can tell the story, values, and beauty of a brand through unique olfactory sensations. Have you ever noticed the effect of the music you love on you? How does kindness or gratitude from others affect you? How important are empathy and human relationships to you? How much does a perfume you love amplify moments of joy?
How is a scent logo created, and what are the various steps?
Creating a scent logo is a highly personal and creative process involving the top decision-makers in a company. It is essential to understand the people who drive the company, interact with them, and listen to their feedback firsthand to determine the fragrance. By listening carefully to their voice and perceiving the nuances, their words can be converted into olfactory notes and liquid emotions. The interview, brand contact, and analysis process account for 80% of the work. The remaining 20% is the job of the master perfumer who transforms these words into an olfactory masterpiece.
In creating a perfume branding what are sensory and intangible marketing?
One of the primary goals of modern marketing is to create a lasting impression in the minds of consumers. Memory is the most valuable gadget we can receive; it is an immaterial, post-modern gift that we will cherish and carry with us. The value of this memory is not in its material worth but in the emotions and associations it elicits. Perfume branding supports the intangible and narrative marketing of a brand, amplifying its multisensory and evocative dimensions and leaving a lasting impression of the brand experience. Another important intangible factor in creating this emotional connection is storytelling. “Narration” is an important word today. The ability to tell a compelling story is a strategic skill that should be reflected throughout all aspects of a brand.
What other factors complete intangible marketing?
Brand dematerialisation, storytelling, memory, sensoriality, values, and history. Additionally, the art of nurturing relationships, empathy, kindness, gratitude, care, and dedication towards customers.
Where and how does olfactory memory originate?
A fragrance has the power to bring people closer together. When you manage to evoke a memory through scent, it’s one of the most beautiful gifts you can offer someone. In just a moment, you find yourself transported back to a different time and place or next to a loved one. Brain scientists have observed that the brain works with both unconscious and conscious processes. One of the most common explanations for unconscious processes is that “we cannot think about how we think because we are not aware of the thoughts we think.” This is because most of the work done by the human brain occurs in unconscious processes transported back to a different time and place beyond our consciousness.
The olfactory system allows us to perceive odours, which are closely linked to our emotions and unconscious mind.
When we inhale a scent, the olfactory receptors in our nostrils transmit it to the olfactory centre in our brain. It is at that moment that we perceive an odour as pleasant or unpleasant, which can affect us emotionally. Humans have about ten million receptors in their noses, while dogs have about two hundred million. The sense of smell can create lasting memories in humans, which is why we can recall scents from our childhood, even as adults. Additionally, it is believed that the function of our sense of smell and the properties of odours directly influence our emotional reactions, shaping our memories and experiences.
Is it possible for an individual to remember odours and experience a childhood fragrance in a different situation later in life?
The sense of smell is the first sense that develops in a person, even before birth. By twelve weeks of gestation, an unborn child’s sense of smell is fully functional. This means that during the fetal stage, an individual can learn different smells that develop when a mother eats, contributing to the experience of different aromatic chemicals. This early development of the sense of smell can be compared to the sense of sight, which develops more slowly after birth, and it can take years before a person’s vision is fully developed.
The human sense of smell is the sense that is most closely linked to the part of the brain where memory functions are located. Compared to other sensory stimuli, such as design, colour, or texture, odours have a special ability to trigger our emotions and can elicit feelings of joy or anger. In fact, scents can even be so influential that they can bring a person to tears or heartbreak.
So, odours can trigger vivid memories of past experiences since each person can associate them with happy or unhappy events.
Memories evoked by odours are considered to be more vivid and powerful than those triggered by other sensory stimuli. They can bring a person back to the original time and place where the event occurred. The individual also associates the odour with the actual event or situation in which they were at the time of the olfactory experience. Research shows that olfactory stimuli tend to evoke more emotional memories compared to verbal, visual, auditory, or tactile stimuli.
What is the most popular case in the world of perfume branding?
When discussing scent branding, the Abercrombie case is the most well-known example, but not for positive reasons. The fragrance that was diffused in Abercrombie stores was not very good and was spread excessively. A proper scent branding project involves diffusing the fragrance discreetly, gently embracing the customer. Abercrombie’s choice, however, was geared towards providing the right sensation to its young and energetic target market.
Any other cases?
One of the very first companies to play with scents was P&G. They added a lemon essence to dishwashing detergent because they believed it highlighted its degreasing power. That product is still one of their best-sellers. Many airlines, such as Air France or Singapore Airlines, use special scents on board to make the area inside the cabins fresh and pleasant, especially on long flights where many people are in close proximity, or spray fragrances that help passengers relax, which is especially useful for those who are afraid of flying.
BMW uses a fragrance in their car interiors that reminds buyers of the typical smell of new cars to make potential buyers feel gratified. For Mother’s Day in 2000, Swatch scented its stores, bags, and specially created gadgets with a fragrance of Bulgarian rose to match the decorative motif on a specially designed watch. One of the most unique perfume branding experiments, however, was by a Florentine fashion brand called Karada. They sprayed one of their collections with pheromones, the hormones of sexual attraction.
