Few know it, but when walking into a Louis Vuitton boutique in Paris or Manhattan, a Cathay Pacific lounge in Hong Kong, MGM Grand casino in Las Vegas or Sofitel lobbies from Cairo to Buenos Aires, the scent that fills your nostrils was engineered in an industrial park in suburban Melbourne.
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that → know → Melbourne
Australian outfit Air Aroma has emerged as a global leader in the increasingly lucrative world of scent marketing, where businesses discreetly pump carefully crafted odours through vents to tap into customers’ neural pathways governing emotion, encouraging them to linger longer and spend more.
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businesses → emerge → more
The Melbourne company now boasts key offices in New York, Tokyo, Amsterdam and Dubai – as well as Moorabbin – with more than 100 employees around the world.
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company → boast → world
Air Aroma’s rise and the hyper-curation of the customer experience that its industry offers have been propelled by a growing body of research suggesting that scent manipulation can materially change how we behave – and ultimately boost sales.
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we → offer → sales
It’s a tactic employed by independent pastry shops through to megachains such as Subway, which bakes its rolls in such a way as to rapidly caramelise sugars, producing an unmistakable aroma that billows onto footpaths.
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that → ’ → footpaths
Studies have found smell can increase bakery sales by as much as 300 per cent.
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smell → find → cent
A landmark 1990 study by neurologist Dr Alan Hirsch placed identical Nike shoes in two rooms – one with standard air, the other with a floral scent.
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study → place → scent
Shoppers were 84 per cent more likely to want the shoes in the scented room, and willing to pay 10 per cent more.
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Shoppers → want → more
In a 1995 study, Hirsch pumped a pleasant ambient scent into a casino, increasing gambling revenue by 45 per cent.
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Hirsch → pump → cent
Neither of the studies used overpowering scents; they were “ambient” and inconspicuously dispersed.
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they → use → scents
These ambient scents subtly alter perception.
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scents → alter → perception
Warm smells, such as cinnamon, can subconsciously make a retail environment feel more crowded, triggering an urge to buy premium products to demonstrate power, a 2015 US study found.
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study → make → power
Favourable scents can broadly also increase shop dwell time and expenditure by up to 23 per cent, a 2019 meta analysis found.
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analysis → increase → cent
The effects can be magnified when a scent is paired with matching music, such as low-tempo beats with low-arousal smells, one study found.
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study → magnify → smells
Finance firms are even reportedly using signature scents in their offices, with questions about employee productivity.
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firms → use → productivity
Dr Rachel Herz, a Brown University neuroscientist and expert on scent science, explains that of all our senses, smell is uniquely connected to emotion and memory because the same part of the brain – the amygdala-hippocampal complex in the limbic system – governs perceptions of both.
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part → explain → both
In the bakery example, “the scent activates a hedonic response and association of the products and … will motivate”, Herz said.
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Herz → activate → products
However, a scent must match its context.
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scent → match → context
“The scent of chocolate chip cookies ... will likely backfire if the retail context is high-end shoes and handbags where the scent of leather would be expected,” Herz said.
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Herz → backfire → leather
Jana Bowden, a marketing professor at Macquarie University, said that by operating at a subconscious level, smell can induce feelings of desire, power, vitality and relaxation without us realising.
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us → say → desire
Unlike visual stimuli in a shop which we interpret rationally, such as racks, sections and layouts to navigate a store or consider a price, “scent bypasses our rational thought processes and decision-making” and triggers an emotional response from consumers.
“Scent is a whole different ball game,” Bowden said.
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Bowden → interpret → consumers
“The moment a consumer walks into a store their mindset is manipulated without them even realising it,” she said.
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she → walk → it
“[Smell] has almost a trance like effect on our minds and, before you know it, you are drawn even further inside.”
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you → have → it
Beyond wanting to create a more pleasant environment for customers, Bowden said retailers and brands were increasingly trying to trigger a Proustian effect – named for French writer Marcel Proust whose work explored how smell or sensory experiences spark vivid, involuntary memories about one’s past.
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experiences → want → past
“Scent is so powerful in encoding memories and in entrenching them,” she said.
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she → encode → them
Hotel chains were early adopters, crafting signature lobby scents, so guests link positive holiday memories with what they were smelling.
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they → craft → what
Subsequent exposure – such as in another branch’s lobby; through take-home candles offered by Air Aroma clients such as Sofitel; or even encountering elements of the scent in nature – can prompt nostalgia for past trips and act as a nudge to rebook.
“
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exposure → take → nudge
The brand literally becomes embedded in the consumers mind, their self-concept and their identity,” Bowden said.
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Bowden → embed → mind
Air Aroma started as a family business in 1998 in Moorabbin, founded by the parents of current CEO Alan van Roemburg – his father, John, brought his skills as a petrochemical engineer, and mother, Rita, from the health and wellness industry.
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father → start → industry
Early on, convincing businesses to invest in smell was difficult.
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convincing → convince → smell
Initially focussing on scents for wellness spaces such as saunas, gyms and hospitals, Air Aroma first found success in Japan.
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Aroma → focusse → Japan
By the mid-2000s, hospitality businesses had become interested.
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businesses → become → mid-2000s
At the same time, the Australian market began to wake up.
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market → begin → time
Luxury brands and chains were early adopters in the retail sector, paving the way for smaller shops and boutiques to follow.
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shops → pave → way
Tapping into John’s expertise, the company patented a technology to pump scents through heating, ventilation and airconditioning systems.
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company → tap → systems
“It’s an olfactory logo,” said Carly Fowler, global account manager and van Roemburg’s partner.
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Fowler → ’ → ?
As trained “noses” (the industry term for professional fragrance designers), the couple oversee almost all custom designs, ensuring even international samples pass through Moorabbin HQ.
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samples → train → HQ
Crafting an olfactory logo requires balancing brand identity, demographics, and regional preferences.
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Crafting → craft → identity
A clothing brand may lean on notes to appeal to one gender.
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brand → lean → gender
Asian companies typically prefer subtle scents, while Middle Eastern businesses want bolder aromas, Fowler noted, meaning global brands must carefully strike a balance.
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brands → prefer → balance
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
