Scent marketing / Scentscaping is the use of a strategically chosen fragrance / scent diffused at customer touchpoints, and can vary from space to space. You love it, and you want to be a part of it. Scent is our most primitive sense, it’s the closest thing to the emotional brain. With this in mind, using scent as part of your ambiance-package is very important, as the wrong scent can turn customers away maybe never to return again, however, if they are drawn in and attracted by the right scent, this has the potential to connect them to the venue, increase customer engagement and the likelihood of them recommending you will soar. According to Science Daily, humans have (a whopping) 400 smelling receptors and may be able to smell over 1tn of scents. The power of scent drives loyalty and guest retention. The right scent has the power to reinforce a brand message and connect with customers on another level. Sense plays a crucial role in how we remember and experience things. When these elements are blended together it has the power to transform a space into something opportune and tailor-made to what’s important for your brand. The following five components can endorse the ambiance of your hospitality space: scent, lighting, interior design, music / soundscapes and taste. However, it’s crucial to understand this is not how our minds work when it comes to evaluating the ambiance of the overall experience. The human mind takes in a massive amount of sensory input and subsequently summarises, deduces, simplifies and distills it down until we have a comprehensive and manageable overall sensation and ambiance. interior design, service staff, atmospheric and scent. It’s tempting to try break down the individual components of this journey into separate elements which create the ambiance and mood- i.e.
Hospitality spaces are in the experience business. From the moment customers open your doors until they leave a review of their encounter on social media, it is all an experience-based customer journey. The more frequently and consistently a brand can connect with a consumer on an emotional and intangible level, the strong and deeper the brand engagement, customer bond and loyalty. We live in an era where there’s an explosion of options, customers are spoilt for choice, society is bombarded with communication channels and messages and with such a crowded marketplace, emotional engagement with brands has never been more important and ambiance creates this engagement and attachment. Want to enhance your customer experience and drive revenue? Creating the desired ambiance through sensory experiences Maintaining the physical facility in which your business operates in is not more important than maintaining the service ambiance created every minute by staff member. Many business owners go by the adage “what is created, is what is controlled.” And yes, this can most certainly be true as the control of ambiance elements does lie in the hands of management, and if it’s done effectively, it should attract the right clientele, who in turn will amplify the experience and add to the ambiance. Management has the overall responsibility of defining and nurturing the desired ambiance for the overall customer experience – physically, sensory and interpersonally at every touchpoint.
If there are several ambiance options, define the range of moods you want to create and what it will take to influence those moods. Thinking about the correct ambiance for a hospitality space, be it a hotel, restaurant, bar, pub etc., doesn’t happen over night as there’s a lot of planning which comes into play: which physical and sensory elements need to compliment each other, getting the timings of trading patterns right and most importantly, ensuring it remains authentic to your brand identity and vision. If you get the ambiance right, this opens the door to a successful relationship with your customers and partners, however, if you get it wrong, it could be detrimental to attracting customers. As a business owner in the hospitality industry – be it a hotelier, a restaurant manager or owner of a chain of bars, there is a great opportunity to create the right ambiance which is both aligned to your brand, as well as will enhance your overall guest experience, and this is through taking advantage of our 5 senses.Īmbiance design is a key ingredient in the delivery of exceptional service, which in turns generates customer loyalty and revenue.