{"id":129610,"date":"2026-02-16T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T05:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/therobinreport.com\/?p=129610"},"modified":"2026-02-12T13:57:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T18:57:12","slug":"is-your-brand-scented","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/therobinreport.com\/is-your-brand-scented\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Your Brand Scented?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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With offices on four continents, more than 500 employees toiling in 119 countries, and a client roster that includes Marriott and Westin hotels, Heathrow and Tampa International airports and an eclectic mix of retailers (Kooka\u00ef, Altar\u2019d State, Plato\u2019s Closet and Play It Again Sports)\u2014not to mention a bustling DTC business in home diffusers\u2014ScentAir likes to describe itself as \u201cthe global leader in scent marketing.\u201d<\/p>

Of course, it\u2019s the client ScentAir won\u2019t <\/em>confirm, Disney Resorts, that probably contributes a mega chunk to the 32-year-old, Charlotte, North Carolina-based enterprise\u2019s bottom line. \u201cAs a privately held company, we respect the privacy and preferences of all our clients and do not disclose client-specific information without their express permission,\u201d says Evin Ellis, ScentAir\u2019s Director of Global Marketing & E-Commerce. \u201cMany of our clients consider their scent programs to be an integral part of their brand experience and differentiation and therefore choose to keep these details confidential.\u201d<\/p>

But here\u2019s what Ellis is more than happy to share: the positively rosy current state of the ambient scent market. \u201cWe estimate the total addressable market (TAM) for scent marketing at around $3 billion globally,\u201d he says. That\u2019s a lot of piped-in perfume.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\tDoes scent marketing work? And the answer is: Just ask Baccarat, Altr\u2019d States, The Northface, and Disney.\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Translating a Retailer\u2019s Core Values Into a Signature Scent<\/strong><\/p>

Though she isn\u2019t as willing to hazard a guess at the scope of the ambient market as Ellis, Scent Marketing, Inc. CEO Caroline Fabrigas is equally bullish on the category\u2019s prospects. Serving clients that span boutique and mega-chain hotels (Arlo,1 Hotels, Hyatt Place, Baccarat, Auberge Resorts), retail (The Northface, Converse, Wayfair, Aeropostale), wellness (Physique 57, The Well) and commercial real estate developers (Fisher Brothers, SL Green, Naftali Group), when she says the scent marketing business is booming, it\u2019s an understatement.<\/p>

\u201cFor a smaller company, we have some great clients,\u201d says Fabrigas, who has a core team of seven working from the company\u2019s Scarsdale, New York, headquarters and an equivalently sized crew to whom she outsources projects. She mentions Coach as a new retail win, and recent experiential ventures like scenting Fifth Avenue during the holidays. When we spoke, she was just about to head to Boston to discuss partnering with the MTA.<\/p>

But how, exactly, does Fabrigas and her team translate a hotel, retail store, workout studio or multi-unit Miami condo into a scent? There are multiple ways; the most elaborate and costly is custom development. \u00a0For Kindling, the signature scent for 1 Hotels, Scent Marketing took the key stakeholders through a four-step process that includes: Discovering the brand\u2019s core values and unique connection with nature; defining the initial prototype via an exclusive olfactory ingredient palette; designing and developing a prototype scent; and delivering and diffusing the finished product throughout the brand\u2019s properties.<\/p>

\u201cWe call it a journey,\u201d Fabrigas says of the custom process. \u201cIt takes about 10 to 12 weeks and starts with an intake session and analyzing the brand.\u201d After Scent Marketing has landed on an initial prototype, the ideal next step is an in-person \u201csniffing session\u201d that may yield a request for a tweak or two. \u201cBut that\u2019s rare,\u201d says Fabrigas, \u201cbecause of all the pre-work we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>

If a brand doesn\u2019t have the budget, time or desire to express itself by building a signature fragrance from scratch, other options for landing on a scent for a public space include \u201cGuided Scent Curation.\u201d In this case, Fabrigas and team visit the untapped archives of some of the world\u2019s major oil houses. The third, least costly, process is for a brand to buy directly from the company\u2019s in-house scent library.<\/p>

With a quick look at the scent library section of the Scent Marketing website, retailers can pick from ready-made fragrances. The names of the scents evoke their emotional and psychological effects: \u00a0Full of Energy, Teak & Herbs, Walk in the Woods, Fresh Tea, Exaltation, Pink Grapefruit and Mint Focus.<\/p>

Evoke a Beloved Vacation Scent at Home<\/strong><\/p>

While it doesn\u2019t have direct ties to hospitality or real estate, Tocca has long had a stellar candle and reed diffuser business. An offshoot of the boho-chic namesake fashion brand, which launched in 1994, Tocca\u2019s home products followed beauty, which made its debut in 1997. According to COO Joyce Barnes, Tocca added home in 1999, kicking off with its still-popular \u201cblue box\u201d classic candle collection. \u201cWe were a fashion brand at the time and had started to dip our toes into beauty with three products: a solid perfume, a dry body oil and a laundry delicate,\u201d Barnes recalls. \u201cWe saw home as a logical next step in our beauty division. And to be frank, our candles were popular straight out of the gate.\u201d<\/p>

Named for posh vacation destinations\u2014think Chamonix, Amalfi, Montauk and St. Tropez\u2014the candles and diffusers have been a solid boost to Tocca\u2019s balance sheet. \u201cWe are first and foremost a fine fragrance house, so our eau de parfums continue to be the majority of our business,\u201d says Barnes. \u201cBut we\u2019ve been pleased with how home fragrance gives us the opportunity to expand into other channels.\u201d<\/p>

And for now, at least, the home scent sector is looking bright. \u201cPeople are investing in their homes, and fragrance is a beautiful way to really personalize their environment,\u201d says Barnes. \u201cWe also continue to see customers\u2019 interest in exploring different ways to layer fragrance in their lives. They don\u2019t just want to wear their favorite scents; they want to live among their favorite scents, too.\u201d<\/p>

From Commercial Lobbies to Living Rooms: The Rise of D2C <\/strong><\/p>

Even more extensively than ScentAir, Scent Marketing is making sure consumers have multiple ways to nab the fragrances they become addicted to when staying at chic hotels and shopping at their favorite stores. On scentfluence.com, its D2C site, a full range of property-affiliated candles and room sprays is on offer\u2014everything from Fireside for Baccarat and Deep Blue Med Spa Collection to Fisher Bros @Ease. The company\u2019s physical store, Scentfluence Aroma Design Studio, is based in Scarsdale. Scentfluence is about to make its debut on Amazon in addition to the debut of \u201cThe Perfect Weekend\u201d candles currently landing at Wayfair stores across the country.<\/p>

None of the category\u2019s success is a surprise to Dr. Liz Lehman, licensed physician and CEO of Alluminate Life, an international wellness brand crafted to enhance mind-body health. \u201cAny public gathering place that is designed to evoke a mood, feeling, or brand identity benefits from an ambient fragrance,\u201d she says.<\/p>

And while public scenting is on the uptick, it certainly isn\u2019t new. \u201cI remember Disney World smelling like sunshine and laughter as a child,\u201d Lehman recalls. \u201cHospitality groups have used scenting for years.\u201d Today, the phenomenon is on a distinct upward trajectory. \u201cAs research studies continue to publish the psychological link between scent, behavior and mood, and consumers desire a more enhanced experiential environment,\u201d says Lehman, \u201cI have no doubt that scent in public spaces will be as important as furnishings and lighting.\u201d<\/p>

Fabrigas couldn\u2019t agree more. \u201cI think of scent as being \u2018a logo in the air,\u2019 another way to communicate your brand message,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s really powerful and actually more memorable than something you can see.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s something in the air: Ambient scent marketing continues its steady ascent. Think of scent as a logo in the air\u2014another way to communicate your brand message. It\u2019s powerful and more memorable than something you can see and touch. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":129611,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[735],"class_list":["post-129610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-experience","tag-marketing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therobinreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therobinreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therobinreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therobinreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therobinreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/therobinreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therobinreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therobinreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therobinreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therobinreport.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}