Posted on 08/05/2012 5:42:46 PM PDT by southernnorthcarolina
When Democratic National Convention visitors arrive at Charlotte hotels and retail shops next month, there might be something in the air to help make these places feel a little more inviting.
Convention officials checking into the Westin uptown will encounter the smell of white tea in the hotel lobby. Shoppers strolling into Solstice Sunglasses at SouthPark mall may feel they’re on vacation because of the tropical coconut aroma there.
And members of the Texas and Montana delegations, staying at sprawling Great Wolf Lodge in Concord, might feel they’re in the great outdoors thanks to a Redwood Forest fragrance.
Behind all these sensory treats is Charlotte-based ScentAir, one of the three largest companies that specialize in scent marketing. That subtle art form of appealing to people’s subconscious through fragrance will play a part in some DNC experiences.
ScentAir fragrance systems will help set the mood at some of the delegate parties, according to the company, where workers test fragrances and dream up new scents at the headquarters not far from Carowinds.
Its custom scents also are a standard at many hotels housing convention guests – in both Charlotte and Tampa, Fla., the site of the Republican National Convention at the end of August. Besides the Westin’s signature white tea fragrance, scents include the crisp lemon, green florals, white tea and exotic spices that make up Holiday Inn’s distinct blend.
It’s all about leaving enduring impressions that help make customers feel more relaxed and welcome, according to Michael O’Day, ScentAir chief operating officer. “We’re really about enhancing the experience.”
Using fragrances to help set the mood for customers is a relatively new industry that started in the 1970s, according to Jennifer Dublino, chief operating officer at Scent Marketing Institute, a trade group and leading authority on sensory marketing.
Las Vegas casinos were among the early adopters, using coconut spice and other scents to deal with the mustiness and cigarette smoke that lingered in the windowless buildings. They discovered that people enjoyed the atmosphere and stayed longer, boosting casino revenues.
Today, about 80 percent of hotel chains use scent marketing in some way, Dublino said. More retailers are picking up on it, too, including Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, Juicy Couture and others.
Most ScentAir clients use the canister-like ScentWave System, which releases fragrant oil at set times. Other ScentAir technology, installed in HVAC systems, covers entire hotels and stores. Pricing for services begins at about $100 monthly.
Industry innovations include the scented highway billboard, which ScentAir and a marketing company tried in 2010 to promote grilled steak from the base of a sign along N.C. 150 in Mooresville.
Another company created a bus shelter in the UK that spelled of baked potatoes, courtesy of a heater. Even the London Olympics featured the “Scent of Victory” at the opening ceremony, according to Dublino – a mix of rosemary, lavender, peppermint and wheat.
ScentAir started in 1994 in Florida, when the company’s founder came up with scents for rides at Walt Disney World. Ten years later, the company moved to Charlotte. Today, it has more than 200 employees – about 100 in worldwide locations, and 100 at its headquarters in southwest Charlotte. The privately held company, which has more than 20,000 clients and 50,000 placements worldwide, doesn’t discuss revenues.
ScentAir’s 30,000-square-foot headquarters is divided into offices and cubicles, a manufacturing floor with assembly line workers compiling the systems, and lab areas with fragrance experts testing new scents. Synthetics or natural materials, such as wood, grass, teas, flowers and spices, go into making fragrances. Of the company’s 2,000 catalogued scents, about 400 are kept on-site all the time.
Also inside is a brightly painted VW bus decked out with scent chambers, which ScentAir brings to trade shows. Pick a scent from the touch screen window to smell fragrances. (“Wacky Weed” has been a hit at expos.)
Having a ScentAir presence at parties, hotels, bars and spas around town is one thing. But ScentAir would have loved having a unifying fragrance around town during convention week. The company made a pitch to DNC officials to create a signature scent to use at major events.
Exactly what fragrance would have been left up to brainstorming, according to Edward Burke, director of marketing.
“You could go with the all-American, simple but warm and inviting,” like hot apple pie, Burke said. Or patriotic themes, using the Declaration of Independence – and the smell of the parchment and ink used for that – as inspiration.
Convention officials didn’t take ScentAir up on the offer.
But Dublino, with the scent institute, thinks they should have.
“Scent would have been a great way to ... promote that sense of urgency and purpose,” she said. “That’s what the convention is based on; that’s why they do it.”
No matter what Charlotte does, they won’t be able to cover up the stink of the ‘Rats.
I like the Westin scent
Pull my finger...
It’s going to take a lot of TEA and TEA Partiers to cover the stench of RATS.
Oil based scents give me a migraine that won’t quit. I guess I need to check before getting a room in a hotel.
Great, get dosed with chemicals that smell like coconuts or white tea (whatever that is). Another reason to steer clear of Charlotte during that week. Not like I’d be going there anyway but when it comes to artificial scents, I can’t get away fast enough.
You think it stinks NOW??? Wait until the DEMOCRATS arrive! Between the fact that they have never been introduced to hygiene and their every utterance being bullshyte, the stench will be a force of nature.
Do they have the contract for Air Force One?
That will come in handy when the feces throwing protesters show up.
Such things are necessary when dealing with the Great Unwashed Mass of Democrats ... and in related news, Charlotte authorities are setting up mobile VD clinics ... and drug overdose facilities ... and gunshot trauma facilities ... and drunk tanks ... and busing in thousands of whores ... both straight and gay!
What no Chicago Musk Oil or Eau de Bangkok???
Air Force One? I hear they have those little pine tree deodorizers hanging in the cockpit.
Maybe they should use the fragrance of bales of money.
That was part of my job, to develop inciting scents in the lobby and restaurants in Westin’s Hotel in Houston in 1972.. I have been using this in every food and beverage establishment, that I have owned or operated since that time..
I would spray garlic and basil oil in all of our Italian outlets, before every meal period.. I would spray lemon in our bars.. etc.. LOL
Third world sewer smell would be most appropriate for today’s Democrat Part, because that’s the direction which they wish to drag America kicking and screaming.
Two scents I didn’t see mentioned: peppermint oil & cedar leaf oil (repels rats).
Did it attract dogs?
The same here. Between the oil and the carrier used, the same for perfumes, they make my life miserable.
Perhaps we should wait to see what the Pew Poll says about this.
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