How do scent, sight, sound and color enter the marketing mix? Whether you are working with beauty, fragrance, automobiles or digital devices, the role of emotion is a key driver for attraction and purchase.

Fashion Group International explored the emotional, contextual, and sensual perspectives that impact our choices, and some of the surprising ways communication takes place, at its October 8, 2014 Frontliner presentation.

     Moderator Caroline Fabrigas, president, Scent Marketing Institute, (shown above, far left) provided an introduction to the discussion, noting “95% of all our communication is unconscious, 80% is non-verbal, 80% is emotional, and 80% is visual and scent-oriented.” Fabrigas said that scent orientation and packaging are key: “Even though we may know that a product is fragrance-free, the first thing we do is pick it up and smell it.”

     The renowned panel, shown above, affirmed the power of sensory impact in marketing, bringing their individual perspectives to the equation. On hand were:

• Veronique Ferval, VP, creative director Global Fine Fragrance, IFF, who studies the chemistry of sensuality;


• Celine Barel, perfumer, IFF, from Grasse and Morocco, who before coming to IFF worked with blind children, helping them understand the olfactory world;


• Maureen Morrin, professor of marketing, Temple University, who oversees the Sensory Lab;


• Karen Young, CEO, The Young Group, an adjunct professor at FIT, who also teaches sensory marketing to corporate executives; Ruth Sutcliffe, former senior marketing director & fragrance designer, Coty;


• Leslie Harrington, PhD, executive director, Color Association, whose work centers on color as a strategic lever in marketing.

     Morrin noted that different scents are related to different temperatures, saying, “Vanilla is considered a warm scent; peppermint is cooler. When you pump a warm scent into a room you perceive that you are warmer and that people are close to you.” She described how field studies support the notion that cooler sensations arose from scents like peppermint. Ferval concurred, adding, “Our world is all about sensory. From R&D to development, we’re connecting scent to emotion.” She referred to IFF’s database, which showed the perception on people of smells, including mood, texture, and color, and cited La Vie Est Belle, one of IFF’s latest launches, as being connected to warmth and happiness. It includes bergamot, a sensory-driven scent, as well as patchouli.

     Another area is the connection with color and shape. In an experiment where fragrance students were asked to draw scents, including one by Mugler, the shapes drawn by the students were very similar. Ferval also noted IFF’s collaboration with Sony Music, in which a musician and a visual artist partnered to create a scent. “The impact of music and color connected with scent had a much stronger effect,” noted Ferval. Fabrigas said, “Considering scent and sound in your marketing mix is worth exploring.”

Color and the Senses

Harrington, Color Association, emphasized the importance of color in consumer purchase. “Color is near the top of the senses that get activated. Color can convey weight, texture, and temperature. Some say 68% of consumer decisions to buy a product are based on color. If the attributes of a product don’t speak the same language as the color, there will be an instant disconnect by consumers,” said Harrington. “Color has become a critical aspect that we’re all trying to leverage in marketing,” she said.

     Sutcliffe discussed the role of color in creating a scent and product packaging. “A core responsibility at Coty was to decide the color of the package and the color of the juice that would work with the product,” she said. Citing Nautica’s Oceans, as an example, she described a scent that required a marine proposition, from the clarity and color of the juice, to the environmental position, mandating the communication of the clean, fresh, purity of the sea. They found a clear, water-based formula (versus alcohol), among their suppliers and created a balanced, sparkling, and fresh, crystal clear juice that was also 100% biodegradable. “This was in 2006 and the quest for biodegradability was a distinguishing factor,” she said.  In addition, to further communicate the story, the headspace of a sail that had gone around the world was incorporated into the scent.

     Barel took the shape of scent to another level, citing a recent study in which perfumery students were challenged to create a scenario in which the use of a fragrance or odor could be a main protagonist on a stage and tell a story. “I wasn’t chasing hedonics, which is the liking of a fragrance,” said Barel. “I was looking for the most expressive ingredients, which turned out to be the least in hedonics. This was then used to create an olfactory story with a set of five blotters created by the students, who were then asked to match the scent with the story.”

Barel found, among other things, that talking about fragrances and shapes allowed her to erase regional differences and also provided the possibility of translating sound to shape. “There was a correlation between successful fragrances and the number of shapes they evoked,” said Barel, who led attendees in an exercise of sniffing three fragrances and rating their temperatures on a scale of one to nine, from cool edginess to the roundest warmth. The fragrance with the sharpest edges, in this case, Euphoria, was at the far left on the edgy shape scale, and Flowerbomb became rounder and warmer, appearing almost unanimously on the right of the scale, with La Vie Est Belle on the far right, not coincidentally a warm, sensual scent.

     Young contextualized, saying, “We’re all trying to create a story and we’re all trying to put as many sensates as we can into a product, whether it’s a car, a fragrance, or a device. It’s the right side of your brain that’s making that decision.” Young described the corporate training she conducts, noting, “We have a value scale. For example, in creating an anti-acne gel for a 16-year-old, we need to know we’re putting down the characteristics that work with the product and its audience. Once we build the vocabulary and use it in the same way we can figure out which sensory points have to be put into a product.” Young continued, “Because we don’t need most personal care products, we need to make sure we put the elements into the products that the consumers want.”

     Morrin emphasized color and consumer behavior, noting that when retail shelves were systematically messed up, consumers shied away from them, clearly preferring the neater stacks. Further, in tracking sales, it was found that when dark colors are messy at retail, consumers move away from them. “It all starts with whether your eyeballs look at the display,” said Morrin. “If it’s messy, consumers are less likely to purchase.”

     Harrington took color theory in another direction, saying that her Association had conducted studies on the emotional impact of colors. “Red connotes fear or love,” she said, adding, “With primary colors there is a better understanding of associations.” Green is optimistic, as are yellow and orange, and most people know what a color is not associated with. We look at brown and we know it’s not sexy. Eighty-five percent of the population agrees about what a color is not. We can perceive color mistakes. They say our eye stores every color we see. We develop acuity about what colors we see,” said Harrington.

     Young agreed, stating, “Products that were developed with the right color mix draw customers. Those that don’t create a disconnect. You have to build products that make people feel smart.” Young noted the importance of trademarks for products, saying that Kellogg’s had trademarked the crunchy sound and feel of eating cornflakes in the morning. The noise and mouth feel are important elements for the product.

     Likewise, associations can negatively impact an experience of a product, Young explained. If you serve a fine wine in a paper cup people might think it’s something less than fine wine. Other unique trademarks included the sounds of the Harley-Davidson, which Harrington noted was trademarked. “Trademarking a scent is becoming a legally contentious battle,” added Fabrigas.

     Clearly, it is a contextual issue as well, noted Harrington and products must connote intent. “From a color perspective we have an understanding of love associated with red. However, we all work on individual levels. In beauty, there is lipstick red. In the automotive world, you might think of a red convertible, if that’s your context,” she said.

     Regarding trends in the market for scent, there appears to be a rethinking of fragrance and the environment. Fabrigas said, “The evolution is an evolution of authenticity. Many retailers want their stores to have authentic aromas, for example, stone and wood. It doesn’t have to be a perfumistic scent. It’s all about how it’s done; not only the creation, but how it’s dispersed, as an organic part of what you love about that environment. We love the power of aroma and scent and we’re ready for an evolution,” she said.

     Ferval agreed, “Trend directions include the ability to better understand the consumer and develop fragrances which are more organic with our culture.” She cited the oud trend in Western countries as popular, as well as animal, strong, deep scents, and “eccentric molecules,” that convey complexity and imagination. “The world of scent is exploding,” said Ferval.