Touch marketing mod or real sales tool

Sensory marketing, or otherwise - neuromarketing, which is based on the impact on a person's feelings at the subconscious level, is becoming an increasingly popular tool in modern marketing, when many simpler, straightforward methods cease to act on the consumer. The three main varieties of sensory marketing - visual, audio and scent - are increasingly being introduced in retail.

We perceive the world through our senses: according to Scent Australia 75,% of emotions come from smells. We say “the smell of childhood”, “the smell of wealth”, “the smell of the New Year” ... Even language supports our emotional and mental “dependence” on smells. Not surprisingly, sensory marketing is becoming an obvious component of successful sales.

Neophyte practice

Aromamarketing is based on the phenomenon of the emotional “anchor”. The smell makes the buyer feel positive emotions in relation to the brand, product, service, contrary to the rational beginning, relying only on feelings. Remember the chain of clothing, footwear and accessories stores of the well-known Spanish brand of the middle price category: anywhere in the world you will find chain stores literally “by smell”! So much he is recognizable. The situation is similar with sound associations, so studies show that a woman, for example, can literally be pushed from the store by the clatter of her heels, which sounds in the trading floor.

The forum “Russian Marketing Week 2014” named the five most effective marketing tools, which included aromatherapy (along with wi-fi marketing, co-branding, audio identity and hardware control methods).

But, despite the growing popularity of neuromarketing, many business owners make two important mistakes that nullify all the potential benefits of using this sales management tool.

The marketing task of a retail company is threefold and consists in attracting a buyer, involving him in the process of choosing a product and purchasing, as well as retaining a customer. As with any marketing tool, sensory marketing only "works" in the hands of experienced professionals. Therefore, the involvement of an expert company for such a seemingly simple action as choosing music or scent for your shopping center is a necessary and indispensable condition in order to get a result. But even here you need to follow certain rules of the game. After all, it often happens that shop owners try to impose on specialists their ideas about what, in their opinion, their product smells like (furniture, shoes, clothes, services ...). And direct associations are not only inappropriate here, but can also lead to the opposite result.
Even worse, if the owner of the store leaves a choice, for example, music at the discretion of the staff of the outlet. Favorite melodies of sellers (chanson or youthful energetic rhythms) can serve as an instrument of rejection rather than involvement of the buyer, as well as sharp announcements on the service radio from the series “Administrator Tatyana Sidorova urgently asked to go to the checkout!”.

Another big mistake is low or too straightforward expectations of the result. Someone considers neuromarketing (in any of its varieties - from aroma to sound or visual) to be a fashionable "chip" and does not expect any real results, even paying for the service, just wants to keep up with the times. Although, of course, there are companies for which scent marketing is part of their image. As Ruslan Yuldashev, director and co-owner of AROMACO, said at the marketing forum, Mercedes Benz, for example, has a so-called PPI (premium perception index) - 70 sheets, roughly - this is an instruction to car dealers on how to create an impression of the salon at a premium level. The smell in the salons of this brand must meet the following criteria: "luxury, privilege, uniqueness, respectability." And recently the brand has released sedans with an aroma spray in the “glove compartment”: each car has its own scent that is selected for you. The chain of Moscow expensive restaurants of the Restaurant Syndicate holding also uses aroma marketing to create its image. Moreover, the aromas used demonstrate luxury and respectability, but not the “product” specifics of the firm's work. In this case, scent marketing works for the image. And as you know, in the luxury segment, like nowhere else, the buyer is ready to pay not only for a product or service, but also for pleasure, for an image.

However, many owners, for example, chain retail, are ready to see sensory marketing as a really working tool, but would like to receive exact numbers of changes in sales - “here and now”. Can scent marketing, for example, have a noticeable effect on increasing sales (increasing sales is the main task of any marketing, in the bottom line) and, if so, how and at what stage you can get evidence of such performance.

What are the expectations?

The problem is that the numbers for companies that provide sensory marketing services and for retailers themselves often differ widely. If marketers sometimes call figures from 40 to 80% of sales growth due to the right aromas and music, then the owners of shops, cafes, and salons speak of more modest 5-10%, while making a footnote for an integrated approach. Who will allow themselves to limit themselves to one marketing tool, having canceled such “good old” tricks, such as gift marketing, promotions, etc.

And yet, studies that bring us closer to true, not far-fetched figures are regularly conducted. And in particular, the use of scent marketing in chain retail can increase the number of visitors by an average of 38% (according to BTL and trade marketing agency Activity Group and Aromaco). As Alexei Batylin, founder and head of Activity Group, emphasized in his speech during the Russian Marketing Week 2014 forum, it is really difficult to calculate the percentage of effectiveness of scent marketing. But it is possible.

From the use of sensory marketing (in particular, aroma), the retail owner is really entitled to expect both "instant" and long-term results. Properly selected flavors of various areas of the shopping center can:

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• increase the visitor’s stay in the store (Business Voice research shows an increase of 40%, and an experiment conducted by AROMACO in the Eldorado network - an increase of 31,2%)
• increase the number of impulse purchasesmade by the visitor, in particular - related products, and therefore increase the average bill
• increase traffic inside the store.

But neuromarketing also works for the future: pleasant (on a subconscious level) music or aroma forms a positive image of the brand (store) for the buyer, increases the level of trust in the brand, which means that it works to retain the client, makes him come back and spend money again. this store. All of this ultimately leads to increased income. In addition, as shown by research by Scent Australia, the customer subconsciously considers a product that has a pleasant smell for him as a product of higher quality, and stores (cafes, salons) with a pleasant aroma remember better than those where there was no “aroma”. technology".

Victories and mistakes

According to statistics, in the USA aroma marketing is used in 65% of business premises, in Europe this indicator is by 20% lower, and in Russia this direction takes only the first steps (2%). However, the experience gained by foreign companies providing aroma marketing services cannot be automatically applied on the Russian market. The aromatic associations of our customers can be completely unexpected for Western perfumers. When choosing a fragrance, it is necessary to take into account many factors, among which are the social level of the buyer, his mentality, and the rules of aromatology (aroma science).

One of the myths of scent marketing is that it sells "directly", Yuldashev said. This is not entirely true. For example, there is a group of aggressive smells that can attract people, thus automatically increasing store traffic. But at the same time, the same fragrances may not help to increase sales, since they are not able to retain a buyer or give a subconscious signal to buy. Or soft, comfortable music can keep a customer in the store, but also not push them to make a purchase. But even experienced professionals have "holes". Ruslan Yuldashev told how their company, when selecting fragrances for a cinema (family, mostly, a leisure center) was guided by the consumer's perception of the aroma of cucumber, generally recognized by Western experts. It is believed (and the experience of other countries confirms this) that this fragrance creates a feeling of coziness, comfort, security, family rest. But it turned out that in our country this aroma is associated with the smell of cucumber lotion. Another mistake Yuldashev told about was made by Procter & Gamble, launching cleaning products on the Russian market. All over the world, these products were sold perfectly, we did not sell them at all. It turned out that our consumer subconsciously believes that only that product is capable of cleaning, which smells not of pine needles or fresh apples, or citrus, but ... chlorine. And only by adding this fragrance to its products, the company received successful sales results.

Opinion of professionals

According to the Shoes Report, most shoe retailers believe in the power of aroma and sound marketing, but only a little more than half use it in practice. We talked about sensory marketing and its implementation experience in networks with volume managers of leading companies.

Irina ZUEVA, Marketing Director of the women's shoe chain "ECONIKA":
“We believe sensory marketing elements must be present in the store to help create a unique atmosphere and emphasize brand identity. Our network had experience in using aroma machines for marketing purposes. In addition to the special scent, Econika salons also featured branded music, sweets and chocolate. In 2007, together with the Aromamedia company, we installed 40 special aroma machines in our salons, which were a body with a cartridge inside and a special regulator of aroma intensity. The scent innovation is a natural continuation of a large-scale rebranding program that our company has been running for several years. Describing the scent in words is a difficult task, but then the aroma of the Econika chain was an exquisite composition with notes of orange, lime, watermelon, accompanied by bergamot, thyme and wormwood, and the head part of the aroma consisted of juicy peach, mango and papaya. This lively fragrance became a beautiful addition to shoe stores, where it was pleasant to look through the catalog in a stylish and cozy atmosphere and choose a fashionable, beautiful and comfortable pair of shoes. Then this experiment was recognized as successful, but it ran into a number of everyday problems, namely: the smell could suit the client, and sometimes it could cause a negative reaction, getting used to a certain aroma made you want to change it to something new, but choose a new unique scent, which would have liked many, it was difficult. An important factor then for us was the cost of servicing such machines, the network grew to 150 salons, and accordingly it was necessary to increase costs. Therefore, the project was frozen. Now branded music remains on the network, since it plays a very important background role in the selection and purchase, creates a certain mood in the store, and videos where we show both branded videos on new collections and videos from fashion shows. We select all content very carefully, taking into account the latest fashion trends and company values. When choosing a store today, a buyer is guided not only by the product, price or special promotion offered by the brand, but also by the atmosphere created in the salon, by the elements of care that the company shows towards him, by those interactive communication tools, which she uses to engage the client in the life of the brand. And it is in this field that competition will unfold in the near future. Therefore, we believe that using sensory marketing in work is not self-indulgence, but an effective tool that affects the increase in brand awareness, helps to stand out from competitors and, taking into account the growing demands and preferences of buyers, helps to create a unique shopping experience. And right now we are working on new unique services for buyers. " 

Arkady REZNIK, Brand Manager, Carlo Pazolini:
“Carlo Pazolini's boutiques have both scent and sound marketing. There are many studies around the world on the perception of smells by the audience. Certain smells raise the mood, certain ones - they increase the time spent in the trading floor ... In this matter, we are not supporters of a scientific approach. It is much more important, in our opinion, to find your own scent, intuitively perceived in unison with the Brand. Scent marketing has been launched in almost all of our stores in England, Italy and the USA. In Russia, the launch is planned for January 2015. The fragrance is a floral-woody composition with notes of bergamot and sandalwood. The perfumer who created the brand's fragrance is named Christophe Laudamiel, he is the author of many fragrances for famous brands. The musical design of Carlo Pazolini boutiques consists of lounge, instrumental, house, funky-house, soulful compilations. When choosing a company for cooperation on audio content, we were guided, first of all, by the position of accurately broadcasting the mood of Carlo Pazolini and the desire to be on the same wavelength with the visitor. At the heart of creating your own image and forming a brand image in the minds of buyers, there are several main points: brand smell, audio marketing, tactile marketing, interior design. These are the components of the so-called sense-marketing, which affect 5 basic types of human feelings. A brand starts with an Idea. The idea, the essence of the philosophy, spirit, values ​​of the company, is reflected in the product, approaches, attitude towards its customers, design and much more. When we talk about sensory marketing in this vein, we understand additional powerful reflections of the Brand's core message. The company's store should fully be the center, the place where these reflections come together. The more successfully we use sensory marketing, the more the visitor is imbued with the Idea of ​​the Brand, his image, understands his lifestyle and is drawn into the world. Into the world of Carlo Pazolini. "

Sixth sense
Sensory marketing is used by such "monsters" as Jimmy Choo, Bloomingdale's, Goodwill. Jennifer Dublino, VP of Development at ScentWorld Events, LLC, offers an overview of the most popular directions in complex neuromarketing.

• light and color.
  According to the National Association of Lighting Manufacturers in Spain (ANFALUM), warm light improves the appearance of leather products, and cold lighting is preferred when selling jeans and suits. Experts advise to adhere to the 80-20 rule. Neutral colors should occupy 80% of your store’s space, and color accents should occupy 20%.
• smell.
  The most underrated and most powerful of all five senses is the sense of smell. It is the only one directly connected with our lymphatic system and affects emotions, memory, moods. According to the Allsense Group international corporation, a buyer is ready to pay 10-15% more for the same product in a pleasantly smelling room (compared to a “odorless” store). It is traditionally believed that the smell of citruses causes a person to feel happy, lavender and green tea - soothe, vanilla and ambergris create a feeling of reliability and comfort, and floral smells - a symbol of romance or adventurism.
• touch.
  Studies have shown that by touching a product, the buyer is already able to mentally imagine how he possesses this product. Therefore, experts advise retail owners to use wood, not metal or plastic for display cases with their goods. Wooden tables push the buyer to touch the goods, contribute to the desire to buy.
• music.
  The rhythm and melody affect how quickly and how the buyer moves around your store, as well as how long he stays in it. Music also affects the mood, which means that it can be “tied” to your store or product or pushed away from it. 

Aroma Marketing Directions

Aroma branding - Creation of the planned associative connection of a certain flavor with a specific brand.
Aromadesign - professional selection of aroma with the analysis of all the features, specifics, tasks and goals of the retailer.
Aromaclining - neutralization of unpleasant odors (as a rule, it is used in the area of ​​large fitting shops).
Seasonal Flavoring - aromatization of a shopping facility for a certain period (especially in demand during promotions, holidays, etc.)

This article was published in the 119 issue of the print version of the magazine.