Smell Something Different At The Gym? It Might Not Be What You Think
Franchisees can choose from four fragrances: Motivate, a white tea and fig scent; Inspire, a eucalyptus and mint scent; Energize, a grapefruit and lemongrass scent; or a neutralizing scent, Daly says. By far, he says, Motivate, Inspire and Energize are more popular.
"Our franchisees have gotten wonderful feedback from our members who enjoy working out in a pleasant smelling club rather than a stinky sweaty smelling club," he says.
While the fitness club hasn't done any research to show these scents boost sales, Daly is convinced they have an impact, and Spangenberg's research shows that having the right fragrance is more effective than a neutralizing scent.
"The telling fact would be that those who began with ScentAir four years ago have continued to do so because they believe it's good for business," he says.
Air Aroma, another scent marketing company, works closely with luxury brands, sometimes for several months, to develop a scent unique to that brand. Businesses can pick from a list of fragrances, but that's not always the best way to go for brands, says Carly Fowler, Air Aroma's account manager.
"For a brand we find that the most effective way is to definitely have something unique to their brand, so we prefer to go through this process [of designing a fragrance] with the brand just to make sure that it is something different," Fowler says.
It's the same as creating a visual logo for a business, she says, except using scent.
Caele Pemberton is an intern with the NPR Business Desk.
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