Why Scents Trigger Memories & What It Means For Your Brand

There may be a particular scent that brings back memories from a certain period of your life. It could be the smell of freshly cut grass that brings back memories of your school field days, or the scent of fresh blossom may remind you of the first days of spring. Whatever it is, scents can be powerful reminders of specific times or events in our lives that were important to us. 

There are at least 1,000 different smell receptor types in the human body. These receptors regenerate throughout our lives and change according to what you are used to smelling. The result of this is that as humans, we become adept at identifying a wide range of smells. 

The reason why certain scents resonate so much with us is mainly due to our brain’s anatomy. The olfactory bulb in humans first processes incoming smells, the olfactory bulb starts inside the nose and runs along the bottom of the brain. 

Smell is the only sense that directly enters deep into the brain. Other senses, like hearing and vision, start at the ears and eyes before moving onto a relay station named the thalamus and then onto the rest of the brain. Smell is different; instead of visiting the thalamic relay station, it travels directly to the olfactory bulb, with nothing in-between. 

The olfactory bulb has two direct connections into the brain, the amygdala, and the hippocampus. These two areas of the brain are heavily involved in processing emotion and memory. Neuroscientists have identified the hippocampus as being crucial in the creation of new memories and the fact the smells we breath-in directly go here is the very reason scent is so memorable.

Scenting Can Enhance Your Brand

We know that scent has a huge impact on creating human memories. Scent can, therefore, play a significant role in helping customers remember your brand. Some of the biggest brands in the world, such as Apple and Nike, spend vast amounts on making sure all their products have a distinct scent. This has an impact on consumers remembering that scent, making them more likely to buy another product from that brand in the future.

If you haven’t considered the importance of scent marketing for your brand, then you could be missing out on a significant opportunity to boost brand awareness and in turn, missing out on revenue. Getting customers to associate your product with a specific scent will help to make your brand more memorable and stick in the mind of your buyers for longer.

Scent Diffusers can be the perfect fit for your brand and provide the scent solutions that your brand needs. Hotel Scents has a wide selection of scent diffusers to choose from and their scent experts can help you find the right scent for your brand.