Smells Like Brand Spirit

There’s this thing I have known for a while. We all know it on some level. The fact that each household has its unique smell.

You know how when you were a kid and you’d ride your BMX over to the Strazlacki house after school to watch that movie your parents banned, where the guy breaks the neck of another guy using only a pair of shoelaces.

But you’d get to the front gate and your nose has already made it inside. That Strazlacki residences smell of blossom, yoghurt, rosemary and just the finest touch of wet newspaper from the guinea pig cage would meet you at the front door like an eager beagle.

A household’s odour generally is a combination of different inputs. Key to any home’s signature scent is the base note. In most cultures, this will be your choice of laundry detergent. You could have the floral notes that come from Fab, maybe the evocative freshness of Omo, or even the citrus blast of Radiant.

You then usually add to that a supporting molecule from the kitchen - this could a fragrant curry, the scent of a homely slow-cooked sauce or a charred meat. Top it all off with your own unique family twist which could be anything from the hemp your Uncle stores in the garage, a favoured soap or incense from your Mum’s travels or the musk from the family Maltese terrier with the faulty anal gland.

One of the lesser-known markers of adulthood is when you develop your own family fragrance. According to my sister, our house has a distinct waft of oceanic breeze (thanks Cold Power!) combined with lightly burnt sourdough. I am not sure if I like the sound of it.

One of the issues with your own household stench is that you can’t smell it yourself. You become desensitised to the point of ignorance.

When I was 19, I worked with a guy who smelt of fish + chips, Lynx and damp laundry - this had more to do with bad lifestyle habits than his stink, but I’ll forever associate him, the smell and incompetence.

Aroma is like that. It is so evocative. We can be instantly taken back to a mountain of memories - not just moments but almost immersive experiences from the past.

It makes me wonder how does this work for Brands? There are many out there playing with the idea of scent, especially in the retail and travel sectors. Subway has directly or indirectly done this with the iconic funk of their baked bread that cuts through even the most congested urban nasal-way.

But what about in the more abstract sense? The idea that an aroma or stench can indirectly be concocted around our brand due to certain choices and lifestyle habits. How does this impact the way your brand gets experienced?

So I guess the question to ask is - do you know what your brand smells like? Hopefully, not like unkempt guinea pigs.