It is with these words that a hotel manager of a major European brand asked us to create his olfactory identity. But what is this power of perfume? Is it an elixir of fidelity that bewitches you and which like Ulysses makes you deaf to the songs of the sirens and brings you back to port?
For several years now, the hospitality sector has understood how a quality fragrance can improve the customer experience and generate loyalty by creating unprecedented sensory stimulation. Made to measure by great noses, an essence embodies the soul of a place, it sublimates it, it makes it unique. It blends with light, responds to colors, resonates with materials. This blend of olfactory notes makes for an unforgettable stay and enhances the brand image of the establishment.
In an article published in 2018 in Le Monde, Claire Dhouailly told the story behind the scented creations of the Hotel Costes or even those of the Ritz. Each time, it is a meeting, an alchemy, an absolute understanding of the universe of his client that has made these projects a success on the olfactory level. Because exercise is far from obvious. Indeed, what could be more disappointing than an identity that does not speak, or that says the same thing as in the hotel next door... A cedar smelled a thousand times, a cotton flower that says so little... Creating a tailor-made perfume for a hotel is therefore a real moment of creation, like the one entrusted to a renowned architect or designer to give life to a space, create a personality, tell a story of uniqueness.
This is why Eco.French.Lab has surrounded itself with the greatest professionals in the field of perfumery, noses who develop each identity like a unique musical score for each client. With a clientele in constant search of the perfect hotel, and opinion platforms very present in this universe, enriching and maintaining guest satisfaction at the highest level is more than ever an essential issue. In this, a successful perfume is one of the keys to creating a strong and lasting emotional bond with its customers. In a word, build loyalty.
In addition, defining the different areas of a hotel that need an olfactory atmosphere is a key step in the success of a tailor-made perfume project and requires solid experience. Indeed, the course within the establishment must be carefully studied by alternating scented and unscented areas to create surprise, breaks, be present without ever getting in the way. It is the space as a whole that must be considered, each place has its function and therefore its smell like a meeting room which must be considered differently from a lobby or a bedroom.
Finally, the business stakes are also significant and many hotel managers have understood this. Bringing back a memory of a dream stay in a hotel beyond an Instagram post, this is what olfactory marketing allows with the possibility of creating a whole collection of scented products in the image of the scent of the place.
Lighting a scented candle a few months later at home, spraying your entry before the arrival of your friends... it's a waking dream for those travelers who make an unforgettable moment last a long time spent in a palace just like in a boutique hotel.
An olfactory marketing project for a hotel therefore has plenty to seduce. However, it remains to not get started too quickly, to choose your partner carefully, expert both in the creative aspect and in the proposal of innovative technical solutions, guaranteeing optimal security and support to define an optimum olfactory journey.
Our Eco.French.Lab experts are at your disposal to support you in your reflections around olfactory marketing in your establishment and will be able to advise you to carry out your project. Contact us to discuss it!
* (Hirsch 1999) - Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, Ltd