THE SMELL OF SUCCESS

The olfactory system is intrinsically tied to your quality of life. Sensory neurons in the nose are the first to detect and transmit the information that eventually gets stored in the olfactory cortex. Our sense of smell allows us to see the world in all its colours, and the most influential brands in the world know this. A well-crafted scent has the power to send emotional cues to your brain and make you react positively. Renowned hotel groups, airlines, fashion houses and jewellery brands use neuromarketing and the science of scent to show customers what real success smells like, leaving an indelible mark in each customer’s memory. “You always tie up a memory with a smell,” says Dr. Jeeva Sanjeevan, director of fragrance innovation specialists BrandScent. 

“That’s why when you recognise a smell, you recall the memory associated with it. It’s easier to remember someone you love with the smell because it shares the same space as the memory and emotional centres. The recall power for a smell is almost seven times more powerful than something visual. The optic pathway has several filters that process and modify an image’s information before it reaches the brain, so that’s where information gets lost. But because the olfactory pathway is straightforward and doesn’t have those filters, a smell’s information goes straight to your brain, and nothing gets lost.” 

Every scent tells a story that your brain later filters and classifies as either positive or negative. A positive experience in an establishment is almost always paired with pleasant odours that were strategically crafted by a group of experts to entice a certain reaction out of you. “Seventy per cent of your day-today emotions are actually controlled by smell,” continues Dr. Sanjeevan. “You can stimulate different sides of the brain with different smells. Some brands want to get to the thinking side of the brain, while others want the energy or memory side of it. Whenever we do corporate smells, we create scents based on that industry’s specific needs. So, we play around quite well with the scent and emotional connection.”

A SENSORY COLLABORATION 

Aroma branding is understated yet has the power to significantly influence purchasing decisions. Its subtlety blurs the lines between universal buying experiences and tailored shopping, helping brands enhance their presence and exploit the exclusivity bias. Olfactory experts use several indicators to craft the perfect scent for a brand; this is how they’re able to find an aroma that tells a story customers always want to hear. 

“Creating a signature scent is all about capturing the vibe and story the brand wants to tell,” says Taina Perez, perfumer and member of the American Society of Perfumers. “I’ll dive into who they are, understanding the brand’s identity, values and what feelings they want their guests to leave with. Then I create a fragrance that reflects that vision. After rounds of trials and adjustments, there’s suddenly a version where everything clicks. Collaborating with an evaluator is key here; they provide an essential second perspective. Sometimes it’s their feedback that pushes me to shift something just a bit, and that’s what makes the difference between ‘good’ and ‘wow, this is it.’” 

Finding the perfect scent can take brands and fragrance companies anywhere from a few months to over a year. More than a tool to elevate experiences, this nuanced process blends science, marketing and art to create a kind of invisible billboard in a customer’s mind. And although performance metrics can’t be tracked the traditional way, brands attribute a significant amount of repeat foot traffic to the power of scent. 

“In one case, it took nearly a year of collaboration to develop the exact scent profile a client envisioned,” says Jesse Jackson, scent marketing and branding specialist. “That carefully crafted fragrance has now been part of their brand experience for over 12 years, a testament to the lasting power of a well-designed scent.” Success, as intricate and layered as it is, has a smell. Maybe for you, it has notes of a freshly mown lawn that remind you of early mornings, sparkling notes that push you to be your best self, or ozonic accords evoking the fresh, clean and aquatic notes of the ocean or a crisp, cool breeze that soothes your nervous system. Whatever definition of success you use has a smell and is usually one that represents a treasured childhood memory or a turning point in your life. For your favourite hotels, spas and boutiques, success smells like citruses, sandalwood, white tea and vanilla, to name just a few. 

For perfumer Perez, success smells “fresh, confident and powerful. It’d be a mix of bright citrus, soft greens, warm woods and a hint of amber or musk.” Dr. Sanjeevan, on the other hand, thinks success is a blend of “leather, wood and cigar smokiness.” What does success smell like to you?

Illustrations: Martin O’Neill