THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS

Scent Branding

Ahhh! Take a deep breath. Summer is inthe air—maybe it’s newly blooming Juneroses, or coconutt tanning lotion or sim-ply the distinct but hard-to-describe waftof the summer wind. Whatever it is, weknow what “summer” smells like. Whenwe sniff, we inhale a noseful of associa-tions, just like the Proustian protagonistwho was swept back to remember thingspast after an encounter with a lemonyMadeleine.

Nice or nauseating, sweet or stinky,smells send us. According to Scent Air, aNorth Carolina-based scent developer,smell is the closest sense linked to memo-ry. People recall scents with 64 percentaccuracy after a year—compared to visualrecall which sinks to about 50 percentaccuracy after just three months.Research also shows that scent-triggeredmemories feel stronger, more “real”—especially if they are distinct and if yousmell them rarely. That’s because thesame part of the brain processes botharomas and memories.

As everyone from Hilton to Hyatt, RitzCarlton to W has gotten a whiff of thatpower, Scent Air and other companies like

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Bringing scent into themarketing mix is a naturalextension for hotels thathave given careful consid-eration to appealing to ourother senses. As they’vefine-tuned their architectureand spiffed their interiordesign, upped their threadcounts and padded theirbeds, retooled their menus,and remixed the music thataccompanies these stagesets, they have discoveredthat scent also evokes abrand personality that issure to be remembered.

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it have recently added a slew of hospitalityclients to their rosters. These hotels arefollowing their noses, and their retail andrestaurateur brethren, into a burgeoningfield known as scent branding. Scentbranding is, simply, enhancing a brand’simage through the use of a customizedscent, one that consumers will rememberpleasantly (whether or not they evennotice it) and associate with the brand.

“Westin created a signature White Teascent for use in public areas in support ofits strategy to foster truly memorable expe-riences for guests and to become a lifestylebrand,” says Lelia Siman, a spokespersonfor the Starwood brand and a client ofScent Air. “This scent evokes the brand

personality of Westin: it is refreshing andsophisticated,” she adds. Featuring topnotes of geranium and freesia, and under-tones of woods and musk, White Tea is theresult of almost a year of research and test-ing. So much does Westin want the scentto become linked with the brand that itrecently featured scent strips imbued with“White Tea” in its “This is How it ShouldFeel” print campaign—the first suchinstance in the business.

The Nose KnowsScents used in public spaces need to benon-offensive, hypoallergenic, and gender-neutral, experts say. In fact, hoteliers—notably those in Las Vegas—have experi-mented with scent before, but it was oftenused as a masking agent (remembersmoky casinos) and too often wound upturning off guests with its heavy-handedsweetness. Gradually hotels in Vegaslearned that aroma has to be subtle, andstudies today have found that gamblingrates increase by up to 45 percent whenplayers are exposed to pleasant aromas.And even though scent is considered ourmost personal and subjective sense, certainaromas are thought of as almost universal-

ly pleasant: nutmegand lavender, forexample, are provenrelaxants, while cit-ruses and pepper-mint are stimulants.

“When a guestwalks through ourdoors, we are givenan opportunity tomake a high impacton their first impres-sion of the hotel,”says Siman.Controlled use ofscent can further cre-ate a desirable andinviting atmosphere.Lobby scents, likethose used in retail,are typically dis-persed using rentedmachines (at about$100 each per

month) placed over doorways and in venti-lation systems.

It works, observers say. “People don’twalk in and say ‘ooooh, what’s that smell?’but they do inhale, pause, and then mostlikely walk over to the floral displays,”laughs Caryn Kboudi, a spokesperson forOmni. “And when we added a mocchachi-no scent machine near our lobby coffeeshops, sales went up by as much as athird,” she adds. “You can’t smell coffee as

much as you might think because it’s vacu-um-packed (yes, Starbucks often uses scentmachines!), and we wanted to have thewonderful scent that you might have athome when you’re getting ready in themorning. It just adds a little touch ofindulgence, a moment of pleasure to theguest experience.”

The Omni’s custom lobby scent—creat-ed for them about two years ago by ScentAir—centers on lemongrass. “It’s not per-fumey, it works for both men and women,it’s refreshing and revitalizing. It was idealfor us,” Kboudi says. Initially, the chainhad wanted to work hibiscus—its logo—but found that the scent wasn’t right.Omni also abandons its signature scentoccasionally, such as during the Christmasseason when it switched to a cinnamonand nutmeg scent.

Making Scents of the SeasonsAt InterContinental’s new boutique brand,Indigo, sensory marketing is all about sea-sonality, says Gayle Jett, director of brandmanagement for the line, which includesjust eight properties. “Our promise to ourguests is that we are a refreshing alterna-tive—that they won’t find dull beige boxhotels,” she says. “And part of that is astrategy of seasonal renewal: changing thescents, as well as the sights and sounds. Wewant to direct an appeal at the guest’s fivesenses, so each season we change ourlobby accents—through murals andprops—and we change our music, menu,and scents.” In the fall, a spiced applearoma permeated the air at lobbies fromAtlanta to Chicago; in the winter, thedelectable smell of chocolate wafted fromOttawa to Scottsdale. Scents are chosen fortwo reasons, says Jett. “They need to be intune with the season, but more important-ly, they also need to take you back to amemory that you associate with goodfriends, good times—home.” Jett says thatIndigo talked with customers to help iden-tify memories, but also drew inspirationfrom retailers like William Sonoma andYankee Candle.

Starwood Hotels’ W brand also changesits scent seasonally: in 2006, it was “fresh-

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cut grass” for Spring, :”guava” (tart and cit-rusy) as the weather warmed, “coman”(chocolatey and spicy) in the Fall, and“wish” (plums and berries) in the Winter.Its Sheraton line features “WelcomingWarmth,” a blend of fig, bergamot, jas-mine, and freesia, in all lobbies. At its FourPoints properties, though, every day isapple pie day, a scent chosen becauseaccording to surveys conducted by FourPoints partner, the Pie Council ofAmerica, it spurs thoughts of childhood(27%), home (39%) and holidays (48%).

Smelling Like A RoseMore luxurious brands, however, followthe scent trail still more closely, creatingspecific aromas for specific hotels. Theyare often likelier to work with upscale per-fumeries in crafting these custom blends.Park Hyatt, for example, first turned toParisian Blaise Mautin to create a scent forthe toiletries in its property near the PlaceVendome. Today the sensual fragrance ofpatchouli blended with aromas reminis-cent of Russian leather and Floridaoranges is found throughout the tonyproperty. In the recently opened ParkHyatt Milan, the toiletries in the guestrooms include shower gel, balsam, a bodylotion, shampoo and vegetable soap,which are prepared and packaged by anItalian fragrance house, Laura Tonatto.For its Chicago property, Park Hyattturned to not a designer but a writer—Chandler Burr, who has made a name forhimself as The New York Times’ first everperfume critic. Burr’s urbane blend is apeppery mix that also contains hints of

smoky Lapsang Souchong tea—anattempt, he says, to capture the “absolutemodernity” of the City of the BigShoulders.

In London, the legendary Dorchesterturned to a homegrown institution, theperfume house of Miller Harris, foundedin 2000 as Britain's first bespoke fragrancemaker, for its clean fruity scent. New York’sCarlyle Hotel also uses a Harris scent, awoodsy blend inspired by Central Park, asdo Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. In anovel twist, the luxury chain has fashionedtwo distinct Harris blends: one for city cen-ter guests (“Citron Citron,” an internation-al and refreshing-sounding mix of Sicilianlemon, Spanish orange and Jamaicanlime) and one for resort guests (“Fleur duMatin,” a bouquet of honeysuckle, jas-mine, and neroli. So far, these scents areavailable only in toiletry form.

For its luxury boutique line, Hilton hasdiverged from its Crabtree & Evelyn prod-ucts (which are, incidentally, customizedfor the chain). At the Conrad Tokyo, forexample, two scents—Tres Vert (withgreen tea top notes) and Tres Noir (a rich-er, more sophisticated scent)—were devel-oped by a perfumer from Shiseido, theJapanese cosmetics maker, also for usethus far only in toiletries.

Taking Scent FurtherA shop on the 28th floor of the ConradTokyo sells a set of full-sized shampoo,conditioner, body lotion, bath gel, andsoap for about $40. In fact, it’s become anatural extension for hotels to expandtheir scent marketing in this direction:

hotel spas have been selling the productsthey use in treatments for a decade now.So the Dorchester retails its scent in $70candle form, packaging the black wax can-dle in a jar imprinted with the hotel’s dis-tinctive floral pattern, and W’s candles,imbued with the scents of the season, sellfor $25. Westin’s “White Tea” scent is nowsold in lobby shops and online in the formof a candle, room diffuser, and potpourri.Prices range from $25 to $65. Often hotelsare more low-key about the scent’s avail-ability, selling full-sized toiletries or can-dles upon request through the conciergeor housekeeping departments.

In a different twist on the sense ofscents, the Park Hyatt Vendome has comefull circle in its homage to the “Proustianeffect” of aroma by encouraging a partner-ship between perfumer Mautin and pastrychef Jean-Francois Foucher. Mautin actual-ly created the scent for Foucher’s maca-roon, an exclusive little nibble that is—toquote press materials—“unique and inde-finable, warm, velvety and smooth.”

Whether playing on the inextricablelink of nose and tongue, or by tweakingthe unbreakable bond of aroma and mem-ory, today’s hoteliers have literally come totheir senses. They’re using scents as ajumping off point for new revenue streamsand branding strategies. And, they say,guests, too, are the richer for it. “We’re alljust looking to give a fuller story to ourbrands,” says Jett of Hotel Indigo. “Whenwe do that, we give a fuller experience toour guests.” n

In the recently opened Park Hyatt Milan, the toiletries inthe guest rooms include shower gel, balsam, a body lotion, shampoo and vegetable soap, which are prepared and packagedby an Italian fragrance house, Laura Tonatto.

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