Avoiding Scent Pollution

Will the increasing use of scent as a marketing, branding, and signaling tool prove a reason for concern? Will we end up with an environmental cacophony of aromas, much like the noise pollution that we have today? The answer is that it is up to those of us in the industry to use these products responsibly. Certainly, the use of low quality, high concentrations of fragrances could make for a less-than desirable malodorous way of life. But there is a reason this outcome is highly unlikely to come to pass. If scents were being strategically formulated to create positive images of the companies that employ them, it would prove deleterious for these organizations to abuse us with aromas and displease us. Emitting only pleasing scents in very low concentrations is the only viable solution that will prevent a discordant mix of scents from wafting through the air.

When marketing with scent, it is recommended to only use small concentrations of universally accepted fragrances, with the goal of enhancing people’s moods and triggering pleasant remembrances of things past. It is foolish to employ scents that you suspect might antagonize the receiver. This is why it is imperative to consult with an expert and to commit to using quality aromas in the marketplace.

The truth is that we are already awash daily in aromas, and for the most part we ignore them while subconsciously registering them as good or bad.

Everything smells, from your local convenience store, to the hotel room you stayed in on your last business trip, to your mother-in-law. Nothing is devoid of scent. Therefore the goal of marketing professionals from this point forward should be to take control of this communication instrument in order to present their brands and products in a more strategic manner—without offense. We need to emulate the role that perfumes have always played in our lives: to substantiate our personal image and to produce a strategic impact on those we encounter.

The goal of a brand or service in displaying its scented image should be like a beautiful woman who uses fragrance to speak to her admirers. A little dab here, a little there, not too much, just enough to make the point.

A retail store is a company’s personalized space. It is the body on which the company dabs its seductive perfume. The essence should be inviting and alluring, enticing the customer to become the pursuer. It should beckon the visitor into its space without being an affront to the senses. The scent can create its impression at or even below the detection threshold of the customer.

Due to scent’s capabilities to make an imprint upon the consumer’s emotions, a poorly executed scent campaign can result in a negative emotional response, and an ultimate distaste for the product or service that the scent was advertising.

There are indeed some people who react negatively to certain scents, usually the by-product of a prior emotional experience. It is our duty to know the science and potential emotional reactions to the scents that we employ, and to commit to the use of only high quality, universally accepted, emotionally pleasing scents. Whatever the reason, there are those who are sensitive, and we must be respectful in how we approach them. From my perspective, that is a social and ethical obligation.

The fragrance industry has been dealing with issues of chemical sensitivity for many years. A host of ongoing checks and balances have been established in order to minimize and, whenever possible, eradicate the use of any fragrant substances that may be considered unsafe. The International Fragrance Association (IFRA) establishes stringent standards for the industry, collected through scientific data in the field. They publish a Code of Practice manual that is considered by over 2,000 companies worldwide to be the fragrance bible. These standards for product safety are based upon recommendations of another organization called the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM). RIFM’s research and recommendations are made from evaluations by a distinguished panel of toxicologists, pharmacologists, and dermatologists who have no biased commercial ties to the fragrance industry. The Code of Practice Manual is continually being updated and distributed by IFRA as research unfolds.

Complaints about fragrances are not as common as you might think. There have been relatively few lawsuits over environmental fragrance use, and more pertaining to the overuse of perfume by employees in the workplace. According to the Fragrance Materials Association, the data from an FDA reporting program that was in operation for about five years showed that complaints about fragrance ingredients ran at less than one in a million, which is considerably lower than many other FDA regulated ingredients.