It’s Advent. A time of very special smells. Not least for the scent specialists at Aromea, who give the festive spirit an olfactory helping hand with wintry scent specials. So we met up again with the two chief noses, Franz Planegger and Peter Wieser, in their office in Klagenfurt, for Christmas biscuits and a thoroughly relaxed “Winterview”.
Christmas has a smell. Everyone has their own very personal scent memories of it. What scent experience do you associate with the festive winter season?
Peter: (takes a biscuit) That’s not so easy to answer. Advent mixes many scents, depending on where you are. The strongest associations for me are actually notes of winter baking and fir needles. That always takes me back to my childhood, to opening the presents on Christmas Eve, when you see the lit-up tree for the first time. And of course the colourful plate with all the biscuits. (grins)
Franz: It’s much the same for me. Before the presents, though, we always went to see Grandma and Grandpa. There, that afternoon, we’d have a festive baked apple feast. I was never really a baked apple fan, but that heavy, sweet scent of apple, cinnamon and vanilla, the smell of wood in the old parlour, it still works. It puts pictures in my head right away, very typically Christmas for me.
Speaking of wood. Natural scents in particular are incredibly versatile and authentic through the seasons: rain, meadow, forest, snow. Can you bring these experiences indoors too?
Peter: You certainly can. In the world of scent, there are almost no limits. The right solutions are always developed individually for each customer and presented on the basis of a concept.
Franz: Just recently, Peter showed me three different forest or wood scents that really work. But there are also various grass scents, among other things, ranging from ordinary grass to freshly cut grass. Impressive every time.
Perceptions of smell can be very subjective, winter scents being a case in point. Who has the last word on the perfect Corporate Scent in Aromea’s compositions?
Peter: As a rule, there’s a preselection at Aromea between the management and the account manager responsible. This results in a selection of 3-4 samples, which are presented to the customer and rated accordingly. The results are discussed on the basis of this rating, with the outcome that one of the suggestions either fits 100% or needs a little more fine-tuning.
Franz: Even at the creation and preselection stage, Aromea tries to deliver a great result based on the company’s predetermined values and criteria. You can of course vary things seasonally, for example to create the right ambience at Christmas time. In the end, it’s a joint process.
Always a nose ahead: Aromea makes more of brands. But what does an electronics manufacturer smell like to you in winter, for example? Of… baked apple?
Peter: You can’t really give a blanket answer to that, as many factors matter when choosing a fragrance. What defines a company, how does it want to be perceived, which target group does it want to reach, what does it stand for, is it regional or international, colours and logo play a central role, and so on…
Franz: That’s exactly what I meant by the company’s values in the previous question.
Sexy smells: smells lead our emotions by the nose, pheromones (sex hormones) especially so. Can you use that in marketing too?
Peter: Absolutely! With our fragrance solutions, we awaken emotions. Scent is everywhere. People can close their eyes to avoid images, they can close their ears to escape the sound of a commercial, and it’s also possible not to touch certain objects, but we can’t stop smelling without also stopping breathing. In the long term, we remember more of what we smell than what we see, hear, touch or taste. That’s exactly what we build on: using targeted scent marketing to create feel-good atmospheres, increase brand awareness, improve perceived quality and service and so on. Marketers should actively use the potential of brand scents, as olfactory information is processed fastest in the brain and our memory for scents is the strongest we have.
Franz: That’s the heart of the matter. I couldn’t describe it any better.
A little personal question to finish: perfume is scent marketing on the body. What do you yourselves most like to smell of?
Peter: At work, ideally of nothing, as perfume would be counterproductive at a scent presentation, for example. In my private life, as with scent marketing in general, it depends on the mood.
Franz: I’m more the steady type and have been using the same perfume and deodorant for years. Completely uncomplicated and with authentic recognition value! (laughs)
Thank you so much for this warm winter chat and the delicious biscuits. Merry Christmas and, hopefully, see you again soon!
Peter Wieser on scent experiences without limits
