How marketers target your nose

The quiet but powerful industry of scent branding.

Marketing is constantly begging for our attention. We’re surrounded by lights, photos, and countless advertisements everywhere we go. The constant traffic in our vision is effective, but there’s another form of marketing that’s almost too subtle to detect, and yet research has shown that it might be the most effective of all: the marketing for your nose.

The Goods by Vox explains what we buy, why we buy it, and why it matters.

[MnMsandOreos]

I think Disney is the most fascinating example of this. They pump out the scent of vanilla on Main Street to entice you to buy ice cream, they pump out the scent of saltwater in the area surrounding Pirates of the Caribbean to get you to go on the ride, and all their popcorn stands pump out the smell of buttery popcorn to get you to buy a bag. And those are just the examples I can think about. Disney is an expert on using scents to attract their customers

[PikaPetey]

SpongeBob running through the perfume department while being assaulted by free samples.

[StoopVital]

Damn next thing you know they will target our feelings with love and affection...

[Peasant_of_Pontus]

"They're happier. It means their mood is lifted. And who doesn't wanna have their mood lifted? Be happier?" The advertising lady is straight up from the Brave New World. In a couple of years advertisers are going to start putting Soma in their products.

[borismuller]

My mum used to work at a small coffee shop and they would roast and grind coffee and pump it through the extractor fan in the morning and it would bring people in big time.

[frosty]

Hah! Jokes on them them i have sinus issues so i can't smell a thing!

[CokeNire]

I cannot smell AMERICAN EXPRESS, so i'm not interested.

[SmithMrCorona]

Anytime someone in marketing uses the phrase "create an amazing experience, " my immediate reaction is to avoid whatever they're hawking at all costs.

[moulderbrown]

i was pretty disappointed to see that this video isn't about nose jobs

[EdLrandom]

Cool motion design style, whoever did this is a cool human.

[Selestrielle]

Wonder if IKEA does it. I always notice the smell when I walk in. I bought a mattress there once and it smelled "like IKEA" for a while.

[SciencewithKatie]

I’ve never passed a subway and not wanted a subway 🙈 every one I’ve been to in multiple countries all smell the exact same!

[lunarxwarrior]

Im a massage therapist. Instead of "marketing" we call it "aromatherapy". Love the details and presentation of this video!

[grant-xnrc]

I'm poor, so time to plug up my nose!

[oSpurso]

Even if it wouldn’t have been in the thumbnail, I would’ve immediately thought of Abercrombie. That store reeks of a middle school boy that thinks they need to wear 50 liters of cologne everyday. 😷

[jkaygoulet]

This video, like many box videos, is SO visually appealing. The choice of the neon theme, with the black background & bright beautiful colors, in printed words & doodles are absolutely wonderful!! Great video guys.

[Austinatan]

Jokes on you, I'm related to Voldemort.

[bonsltv]

mt grandfather owned a butcher shop in the 70s, and he grilled chicken, squash, and peppers right behind the counter, and intentionally or not, the smell of that got him a lot of customers. this was in a small norwegian town, so people really liked fresh hot chicken as it was so cold and dark.

[minutebrainperson]

Corporations further polluting our indoor and outdoor environments with visual, auditory and olfactory garbage in an ever intensifying attempt to reduce humans to cattle for purchasing is not really something I'd make a video about with overall positive connotations.

[phototristan]

Abercrombie store was literally trying to kill me with their overpowering scent. I will never step foot in one of their stores again.