The Future of Experiential Marketing Smells Different
Imagine creating a powerful brand experience that lingers long after the moment has passed—not just in memory but emotion. While visuals and sounds have long dominated experiential marketing, there’s a hidden key to unlocking even deeper connections: scent.
Scent is more than just a detail—it’s a direct pathway to your audience’s emotions. Unlike other senses, smell bypasses conscious processing and heads straight to the brain’s memory and emotion centers, embedding itself in our most vivid moments. This is why the scent of sunscreen can instantly transport someone to a sun-soaked summer, or the aroma of coffee can evoke the comfort of a quiet morning.
This isn’t just a fascinating fact for marketers—it’s an opportunity and a fast pass to embedding your brand into your audience’s emotional core, turning touchpoints into memories they’ll carry. While visuals and sounds often take center stage, scent is the sense that cuts through the noise. It doesn’t just remind people of a moment; it brings them back to it. For marketers looking to create unforgettable touchpoints, scent marketing is a game-changer.
Why Smell Works: The Science Behind Scent Marketing
Unlike any other sense, scent bypasses conscious thought and goes straight to the brain’s memory and emotion centers, according to Harvard Medicine. This direct connection explains why scent-evoked memories are faster, stronger, and more emotionally charged than those triggered by visuals or sound. A single whiff can turn a fleeting moment into an enduring memory that carries your brand’s story with it.
For marketers aiming to make a lasting impression, scent isn’t just a detail—it’s a strategic advantage. Here’s how:
More emotional than memories triggered by other senses.
Long-lasting, with the ability to bring back moments from decades earlier.
Deeply personal, often tied to significant life events.
Why Scent Is the Missing Piece in Experiential Marketing
Scent marketing offers a way to stand out by engaging people in ways that digital can’t achieve.
A signature scent makes a brand stand out
Brands like TreeHut and Liquid Death integrate signature scents into branded experiences at festivals to immerse their customers into their activations, draw in an audience, and leave a unique, lasting impression.
Emotional connections drive sales
Studies have found that scents tied to specific moments enhance brand recall and purchase intent, especially when paired with sensory-rich environments like live events or retail experiences.
Scent extends the experience
Hotel brands commonly use exclusive scents and sell them to guests to mark the memory and keep their brand top-of-mind long after the moment ends.
Turning Smells Into Stories: Real-World Successes
Brands across industries have harnessed the power of scent to evoke emotions, strengthen brand identity, and drive consumer loyalty. Here are a few standout examples from Lollapalooza Chicago 2024:
Liquid Death
Known for rewriting the marketing playbook, Liquid Death took scent marketing to the next level at Lollapalooza with its “Oud de Soul” scent in its iconic Country Club activation. The scent complemented the brand’s bold and rebellious identity, creating a unique sensory experience that deepened brand loyalty and captivated festivalgoers.
Tree Hut
From luxurious body scrubs and soothing lotions to vibrant sprays, Tree Hut delivered an unforgettable Lollapalooza experience, elevated by whimsical scented bubbles that allowed fans to discover new scents while reconnecting with their inner child. This immersive experience was not only fun and engaging but also left a lasting, memorable connection with festivalgoers.
How Marketers Can Leverage Scent Strategically
For brands ready to explore scent marketing, the key is integration. Here’s how you can use scent to build deeper consumer connections:
Align with Your Identity | Choose a scent that embodies your brand’s values and messaging for an authentic connection that will resonate with your audience.
Create Multi-Sensory Experiences | Create the memory you want your customer to have and use scent as a powerful additive to mark the experience.
Think Beyond the Event | Extend your brand’s presence into daily life with a scented item, whether a candle, soap, air freshener, or lip balm. It will emind consumers of your brand whenever they use it.
Make It Shareable | Use scent to draw fans into photo-worthy activations. For example, a unique scent tied to an installation or pop-up can create onsite and online buzz.
The Live Opportunity
Scent marketing’s real magic happens in live, emotionally heightened environments. Whether it’s a music festival, venue, or concert, fans will make lifelong memories in these IRL moments.
For marketers, this is the moment to lean into scent as part of a broader experiential strategy. Scent marketing doesn’t just create connections. It makes your brand impossible to forget.
