Scented ads are in the air

More marketers are using scented ads or brochures to attract consumer attention and increase memorability. We're accustomed to scented perfume ads but how many tourist brochures and newspaper pages carry the fragrance of the product being advertised? This type of sensory marketing is unusual and intriguing, a technique that engages the senses to heighten and reinforce the message. Although some people are sensitive to fragrances, many will find scented ads fun and, perhaps, motivational.

These are just three of a growing number of fragrance-infused promotional materials being used by marketers today:

• "Smell York" is a new campaign designed to bring tourists to York destinations. The tourist board's website explains: 'Smell is the stronger of the senses and the one associated with forming the strongest memories!' The brochure includes 12 photos, each accompanied by an appropriate olfactory hint, such as a chocolatey scent on the page promoting York's chocolate-making heritage.
• Johnson & Johnson, well known for its baby powder, recently arranged for an English-language newspaper in India to infuse the full-page ad with the scent of the powder. This approach also links the ad with the nostalgia of childhood (or parenthood).
• The Australian supermarket Coles is adding the aroma of hot cross buns to ads in Australian newspapers, just in time for the pre-Easter shopping season. Imagine opening the newspaper and inhaling the scent of freshly-baked buns? Maybe that's just the encouragement hungry shoppers need to stop off at the supermarket very soon.