When you are presenting to C-level executives in particular, there are certain things that you should focus on:

Don't overload your customer; make it more pleasant for them!

Of course, the aim of all marketing is to make something happen: get people to notice the brand, to like the brand and ultimately to buy the brand. So in that sense, all marketing is manipulative to some extent. Successful brands, however, are in it for the long term. If a brand’s products do not fulfill the promise made by its marketing, then it abuses the trust of its target market and will never be successful. This is even more true now than it was ten years ago, since word about abusive brands travels like wildfire on social networking sites and can quickly bring a brand to its knees, begging for forgiveness (if it is smart).

Clearly, people’s minds are very complex and operate on many different levels. The presence of a fragrance does not stop the individual from thinking about the features of the product, the value and whether he actually needs the product. What is does, however, is it makes the shopping experience more pleasant for the consumer. People naturally seek pleasure and avoid pain. When someone comes into a lovely environment, she will want to stay there longer. More time in a store or hotel translates into more revenue and repeat sales for that business. When customers are happy the business prospers, which is as it should be.

Because of the overload of marketing everywhere you go, the attention span of the average person has shrunk to that of a goldfish (9 seconds, to be exact). Today, the vast majority of marketing is unpleasant to break through and capture the customer’s attention. The backlash? Entire technologies have arisen to allow people to skip ads (think Tivo and satellite radio). The absence of advertising is frequently used as an incentive for people to pay money for something they can get for free.

Now, take a deep breath and contrast the yelling car salesman on the radio with walking into an environment that smells wonderful, and think about what sort of marketing you would prefer to be exposed to. Chances are, your customers agree.

To accomplish this, they used an innovative blend of radio ads and scent. They installed scent diffusers on commuter buses in Seoul. Whenever the Dunkin’ Donuts ad came on the radio, a light coffee scent was released from the diffusers. We aren’t sure how this was done from a technical standpoint (were the diffusers set to go on at a certain time, in conjunction with the ads, or did the driver push a button when the ad came on?). What is certain is that around 350,000 people were exposed to this multi-sensory message, and it worked. Traffic to the stores increased by 16% and sales jumped by 29%.

Great job Dunkin’ Donuts and Cheil Worldwide!

He further enlarged his findings beyond the potato to other food smells. This explains the age-old real estate tactic of baking chocolate chip cookies or apple pie when perspective buyers visit a house for sale. It also explains why the smell of vanilla can calm anxiety in patients undergoing a medical diagnostic procedure.

What food smells bring you back to your childhood or other positive memories?

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You can't do this with social media!

According to a new study by GfK MRI Starch Advertising Research, scented print ads were read almost 20% more than non-scented ads.

Read the full story in Forbes here: “Scented Ads: Not Just for Perfume Anymore”

British scientists Mark Moss and Lorraine Oliver at Northumbria University asked volunteers to perform serial subtraction problems and visual information processing tasks in a cubicle in which they diffused rosemary essential oil. They found that subjects who did the tasks with the rosemary fragrance were not only faster but also more accurate. This finding has implications for both office productivity, educational uses, problem solving, or anywhere where a boost in cognitive performance is beneficial.

According to a new research study by researchers Dr. Susan Fiske from Princeton and Dr. Jill Avery from Harvard, the same evaluation and behavioral patterns exist when people interact with a brand. They found that warmth judgements always happen first and have more relative importance than competence. Further, they estimate that more than 50% of purchase decisions hinge on the customer’s warmth and competence evaluations of the brand.

When you are working with a company to add sensory elements to its branding strategy, it helps to be clear on what binds customers to a brand. Because scent in particular is closely tied to our emotional state, it can heavily influence how customers react to the client’s brand.

Unfortunately, most companies are sadly lacking in both of these areas. The study, done with over 5,000 adults and 41 leading brands, showed that most brands fall short on the warmth scale and are perceived as selfish, greedy and concerned only with their own short term interests rather than the benefit of the customer. This lack presents an opportunity for you to help these brands improve customer perceptions, and thereby sales, customer loyalty and long-term success.

While both warmth and competence are important to building strong brands, each brand has its own unique formula of warmth and competence, based on company history, culture and industry among other factors. For example, a high-end investment firm might need 30% warmth so that clients trust them with their money and 70% competence so that clients feel comfortable that they will generate good returns on their investment. A bridal store, on the other hand, may need 80% warmth because of the personal and emotional nature of getting married and only 20% competence so the bride can be sure that the dress is of sufficient quality.

You can base your fragrance recommendations on the balance between the two criteria. For the investment firm, you might suggest a leather smell with citrus notes to reinforce the firm’s competence and for the bridal shop, a mix of florals with vanilla and amber.

I can almost taste it!

McCain Foods is using multi-sensory, interactive bus shelter ads to entice consumers to buy their microwave baked potatoes. The bus shelters, which will appear across the UK, are using the senses of sight, smell and touch to communicate the deliciousness of their Ready Baked Jackets.

The McCain bus shelters will feature 2-foot high fiberglass potatoes. Once someone presses a button, the shelter will be heated like a warm baked potato and will smell like one too. The company expects most people to press the button for heat in the cold month of February when the campaign rolls out. The shelters will also dispense money off coupons to make it easier for people to try the product.