The Power of Scent
Dec|11|2008 Mark Gallagher
Scent can be a dominant brand signal as it is the sense most directly connected to emotion and memory. Recent studies have linked increased electrical and metabolic activity in the brain to pleasant odors. According to Daniel Lieberman, an associate professor of psychiatry at George Washington University, odor receptors in the nose are actually brain cells.
Christmas has its own smell. It’s not pine or evergreen, it’s Christmas and the season just isn’t the same without it. While few people would consciously associate a given brand with a given fragrance, many leading brands have been utilizing scent: Thomas Pink uses a signature “line-dried linen” scent and Sony fills its stores with a mandarin orange and vanilla fragrance.
So, we conducted a little experiment, creating a six-foot tall, scented Christmas tree parity of the iconic “Little Tree air fresheners.” Engaging our visitors with a brand signal we aimed to trigger the memory and emotions that only scent can provide. As you may have guessed, the rest of the year Blackcoffee smells like just that, Blackcoffee.
Logos are Dead?
Sound Symbolism
“Drive” Animation
Brand Values
Problem Shaping
Clarity is Everything
Pattern Recognition
Crowdsourcing
Brand Sonification
