‘Smell-vertising’ or as it’s formally known sensory-marketing

We’re all familiar with the good old fashioned scratch and sniff concept and it’s a well-known fact that smell sells. From local stores that infuse their aisles with the smell of baking bread, shopping malls that emit alluring coffee aromas as you walk through the entrance, drawing shoppers cafes like moths to a flame to children’s stores that subtly soothe parents with lavender scents in order to create a relaxing shopping environment and increase dwell time in aisles.  

Smells are scientifically proven to subconsciously influence the human mind and subsequently consumer behaviour.  A study conducted by Washington State University into cognitive behaviour found that shoppers who were exposed to one simple scent spent 20% more than shoppers who were exposed to a similar scent made from two ingredients.  Mental processing for the simple scent was minimal and therefore freed up the shopper’s cognitive capacity, allowing them to focus on shopping and spend more. 

Whilst this theory is by no means a new development, it is only in recent years that brands have started to wake up to 360-degree sensory marketing.   Recent successful campaigns from McCain, Premier Foods and Mr Wagg have been based around smell,  but excitingly McCain have decided to build on the  success of their 2012 campaign outdoor campaign that targeted commuters with mouth-watering smells at bus stops, and with it innovate the shopper marketing category.

Their latest shopper marketing campaign sees the smell of a freshly cooked baked potato being wafted along the aisles of supermarkets from special end of aisle barkers; meaning going to the supermarket on an empty stomach could become even riskier than before.

With this campaign McCain seek to shift their marketing focus from predominantly visual to an olfactory shopper experience, achieving cut through in-store and side stepping the fight for visual differentiation in a heavily congested shopper environment, what’s more shoppers are unable to easily filter out the sensory cues of a sweet smelling campaign in the same way that they can turn away from visual stimulation, unless they hold their breathe that is.

So whether you consider this campaign to be a nasty taunt to those who make the mistake of visiting the supermarket on an empty stomach or an exciting advance in shopper marketing I think sensory marketing is here to stay.