In today’s advertising environment, marketers have used auditory and visual strategies to engage consumers over and over again, leaving the wild frontiers of scent marketing virtually unexplored. But all of that is changing as more businesses employ custom fragrances to promote their unique brand image.

Retailers, hotels and restaurants alike are all beginning to discover the world of scent marketing. The hope is that custom fragrances, when deployed carefully, will encourage customers to linger longer, spend more, and become loyal advocates of the brand. The effects have been so positive that more and more businesses are beginning to consider scent an integral part of their overall image, rivaling more established marketing strategies such as the use of branded music, visual elements and décor.

With its unique ability to instantaneously conjure powerful memories and emotional associations, scent marketing is a powerful tool. Smell is perceived and processed by the brain’s olfactory receptors, which are governed by the limbic system, which acts as the emotional command center of the brain. This connection means that with careful stimulation of olfactory senses, strong emotional responses are triggered and new bonds are made between your customers and brands.

The concept of a relationship between scent and emotional association is nothing new – in fact, the French author Marcel Proust spoke of it as far back as the early 1900s, when he described how the smell of certain baked goods had the ability to transport him into the positive memories of his childhood. Our experiences with scent are strongly connected to emotional memories; whether it’s a conscious recognition of hunger at the smell of baking bread or a subconscious connection of that same scent to feelings of contentment and satisfaction, our responses are often hardwired.

While responses may be hardwired, that doesn’t mean they’re always positive – so choosing scents for your audience requires careful consideration. Despite the fact that no custom fragrance holds universal appeal, popular scents such as cinnamon, vanilla and lavender tend to trigger feelings of comfort for most while scents such as green tea, peppermint and citrus tend to energize and stimulate.