184) Brand Essence

(Photo from RadBadvertising.)

Close your eyes. Scratch that. Read this first and then close your eyes. Imagine you're walking down the street and you pass a Subway. Breathe in deeply. Can you imagine the smell? It's a very distinct, artificially sweet scent of warmed bread with a hint of pre-cut vegetables. If you don't know what I'm talking about, Google "the Subway smell" or "the Subway restaurant smell." Clearly, there's a distinguishable smell noticed by the public.

Some brands are scented. I'm not talking about Starbucks smelling of roasted coffee - walk into a Peet's or a Coffeebean, and you'll smell the same thing (though to be fair, Coffeebean always smells sweeter to me, like their baked goods more than their grinds). Or Pizza Hut smelling like pizza. The smell is unique to that brand, highly recognizable and not necessarily related to the product being sold. Example - if I think about what a generic sandwich smells like, I don't think of the Subway smell. The Subway sandwiches themselves don't smell like the Subway smell. It's the store locations with their ovens and assembly lines that emit the identifying scent.

Another example - Abercrombie and Fitch. Ever walk through the mall and get hit by a wave of a very specific pre-pubescent cologne? Chances are you're in front of an Abercrombie store. They sell a fragrance for men called "Fierce" and either continually pump it throughout the store or force their employees to bathe in it, because every location reeks of it. I swear even A&F catalogs that come in the mail smell faintly of it.

Smell is a powerful sense, able to bring memories back with startling clarity. These rare brands with scents have a potent tool with which to build strong emotional cues.