If you ever dreamt of lying in a field of lavender below a grove of citrus blossoms, looking up at the blue sky and taking in the simple sights and sounds of nature’s wonder, you will most likely remember how you imagine to feel at that exact moment. Calm, serene, content, maybe. By the same token, if you were to happen upon a scene where a foul odor crept onto your radar, the memory might not be so pleasant.
The ability of the sense of smell to evoke emotion as well as memories has long been touted as an untapped realm to seek answers as to how our olfactory machinations truly work.
For centuries, perfume crafters have been exacting the essence of popular flowers to create aromas that appeal to individual tastes and trends. However, recent scientific discoveries lend to the supposition that the human sense of smell is more powerful than once expected.
New developments in how the brain reacts to different positive aromas or the opposite, negative odors can give insight that might trigger potential cures for such diseases as Alzheimer’s and Autism.
In their quest for new scents to entice new consumers, retailers have also gotten down-wind of the potential to use smell as a form of brand recognition as well as a tool to define and enhance new fragrances to put out to market.
Luxury brand, PRADA, recently introduced a collection of olfactory stimulating scents with a campaign composed to inspire the imagination while giving a personal reference to remembered experiences. Using names from films and songs from yesteryear, such as “Purple Rain”, “Heat Wave” and “Tainted Love”, PRADA has taken a step to move away from the traditional reference to specific floral, herbal, food or plant based fragrance notes to offering a buyer an experience that impacts all the senses. PRADA’s new collection offers a whiff of a particular scent combined with a visual reference depicting a collage with different scenes and beautiful colors to give the buyer the ability to choose their own expression.
Just like a favorite song can take you back to that time and place from which you originally heard it for the first time, a scent that gives personal meaning can enhance a smell’s place in a person’s history and this type of interpretation has the potential for a scent to place a mark on a person’s own individual story.
SensoryCo products are used in such a manner when applied to live immersive training environments, point of sale merchandising, as well as ambient environments where smell is used to excite a particular reaction.