This talk was very opportune because it followed just after Millward Brown New Zealand, which is the only Millward Brown operation that specialises in Sensory Research, asked me what the implications of smell is based on The Advertised Mind.
The links between smell and emotion is obvious: emotions are mostly determined by the limbic system, and the olfactory bulb is the only sense that has direct access to the limbic system. I.e. all other senses have some pre-processing before the developing interpretation enters the limbic system.
EVOLUTION
Smell is the strongest driving force in animal behaviour: fear, flight, sex, food, water etc.
Smell is better developed among animals than humans, and sight is better developed in humans than animals. The animal sight spectrum is limited when compared to our. A friend of mine markets a cloth used for hunting suits that makes the hunter invisible to antelope! To humans it is simply a blue cloth (which adds to the safety of hunters).
Even among humans smell is the one sense that creates aversion and can lead to near immediate puking.
Martin Lindstrom, in his book BrandSense certainly got it right when he preaches that all the senses provide opportunities for marketers.
MY FORTH-COMING BOOK
I devote a lot of space to the importance of smell to marketers. It is one way that they can evoke powerful memories of feelings about the brand.
This then raises the issue of researching smell along the same lines as we pretest advertisements for emotions.
An interesting question is: what is odour?
Here is a video of Luca Turin explaining this at the TED conference.
I find it interesting that he speculates about odour being vibration, like sound and vision. I.e. another example of evolution repeating a successful innovation.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/luca_turin_on_the_science_of_scent.html
And here is a story of where technology is heading
From
http://7touchgroup.com/2009/04/artificial-nose-mimic-the-human-sense-of-smell-by-computerically-sensor-technology/
Artificial Nose: Mimic the Human Sense of Smell, by Computerically Sensor Technology
Introduction
Artificial eyes, ears, and noses for stronger, safer troops A layer of mucus dissolves the arriving scents and separates out different odors molecules so that they arrive at the receptors at different speeds and times. The brain is able to interpret this pattern to distinguish a diverse range of smells.
In contrast, an artificial nose consists of a much smaller array of chemical sensors, typically between six and 12, connected to a computer or neural network capable of recognizing patterns of molecules.
A neural network is a collection of computer processors that function in a similar way to a simple animal brain. The nose doesn’t have a specific receptor for the smell of roses; instead it detects a particular mixture of sweet, sour, and floral, which the brain recognizes as a rose. Similarly, the Tufts artificial nose has 16 fluorescent sensor strips, each sensitive to a different range of molecules, and a computer that interprets their response pattern to determine whether or not they have sniffed a mine. While this method can be better at filtering out false alarms than the Fido approach, it may not be quite as sensitive to explosives-related chemicals.The human nose contains more than 100 million receptors.
Initially developed as laboratory instruments, electronic noses that mimic the human sense of smell are moving into food, beverage, medical, and environmental applications. The Researchers and manufacturers alike have long envisioned creating devices that can ’smell’ odors in many different applications. Thanks to recent advances in organic chemistry, sensor technology, electronics, and artificial intelligence, the measurement and characterization of aromas by electronic noses (or e-noses) is on the verge of becoming a commercial reality.
