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By KELLY HANNON
he next time you're in a hotel lobby, take a deep breath.
You could catch a whiff of almonds. Or lemongrass.
It's not your imagination. It's scent branding.
Technically, pumping an aroma into a store to spark sales is not a new marketing concept.
Supermarkets have long placed fans in their bakeries, to waft the smell of freshly baked bread and cookies down the aisles, said Margaret Mi, professor of business administration at the University of Mary Washington.
Then there's the powerful allure of the new-car smell, she said.
"A lot of smells set off memories," Mi said. "So if you have a certain perfume or baked treat or coffee scent, people might associate that with good times."
But companies such as International Flavors & Fragrances and ScentAir are taking aroma marketing to new levels of sophistication and science.
Not content with pumping out generic scents like vanilla or lavender, companies are having firms concoct original fragrances. That way, customers eventually learn to recognize the perfumed smell and associate it with the hotel or store.
And scents are moving beyond air. New York-based International Flavors & Fragrance has the capability to imbue linens, carpet and paper products with a signature scent.
Frequent fliers might appreciate walking into a hotel room with an identical scent every night, even if they're in a different city.
"Whether you're staying in Shanghai or San Francisco, the comfort of feeling, smelling, like you're in the same place when you're never home is really appealing," said Melissa Sachs, spokeswoman for IFF.
In the Fredericksburg area, Paramount's Kings Dominion is a client of ScentAir, according to the company's Web site. International Flavors did not reveal specific clients except for two stores, Samsung and Foot Locker, although a spokeswoman said negotiations are under way with a major hotel line.
Travelers are bound to start encountering the phenomenon at theme parks, hotels, and department stores.
For instance, Bloomingdale's hired ScentAir to create matching scents for each department.
In the infant clothing area, shoppers smell baby powder. When they slip into swimwear, they detect coconut in the air. Lilac is wafted through lingerie. During the holidays, the smell of chocolate, sugar cookies and evergreen is piped into the store.
The print marketing arena is glutted, and it's hard for a retailer to break out and be noticed, said Alex Moskvin, who heads up BrandEmotions for International Flavors & Fragrance.
Scent, since it is linked so closely with emotion and memory, is "the new and last frontier of branding," Moskvin said.
"People are becoming more sophisticated, marketing savvy, and they're looking more to shopping and brands as an experience, an emotional experience," Moskvin said.
Aroma marketing links the company or hotel's scent in the shopper's mind, he said.
The scent is not intended to be subliminal. It should be noticeable, and align with the image the company is trying to project, Moskvin said.
This could be good for sales, but problematic for people with allergies, who typically avoid the cosmetics department to prevent being sprayed with fragrances. Now, they'll be inhaling them.
Mi is concerned scent branding could spur a backlash--that people will avoid shops with aromas that cause an allergic reaction, even if they want to buy their merchandise.
At hotels, "Are they going to have scent and no scent rooms?" Mi asked.
There is one place Mi thinks could use some scent branding.
"Bathrooms!" Mi said.
To reach KELLY HANNON:
Email: khannon@freelancestar.com
