A pleasant aroma is the key to an impactful luxury experience

If you stay at a Westin Hotel, you’ll likely be impressed by the wellness options, like the Westin Fresh Juicery, the Heavenly® Bed, or the state-of-the-art Peloton bikes, but perhaps what you’ll remember most is not how healthy you felt but the amazing scent you smelled. Westin’s signature aroma – a blend of white tea, wood cedar, and vanilla – is one of the hotel chain’s most recognizable amenities. In fact, Westin has built a product line around the fragrance, with guests snatching up its room spray for $65 a bottle . The popularity of the spray speaks to the power of scent marketing and shows why the rest of the hospitality industry should follow Westin’s lead.

Scent marketing’s meteoric rise

In recent years, scent marketing (also known as fragrance branding) has exploded into a $200 million industry , popping up everywhere from retail shops to medical office waiting rooms to sports stadiums. Scent marketing is the practice of creating a subtle sensory experience; it involves using a pleasant aroma to evoke a brand’s essence, boost that brand’s image, and improve its customer experience. The technique then drives additional foot traffic and topline sales.

Scent marketing is effective because it forces a connection between a consumer’s experience and the values of a brand, as presented in a specific venue or product. It’s emotional and experiential, and it aligns with what modern customers (e.g. millennials) are seeking. Plus, it’s scientifically proven that scents forge deep connections between consumers and brands. Unlike other senses, smells travel through the parts of the brain that help create memories . Thus, smell is quite successful at triggering memories.

But despite the effectiveness of scent marketing, it’s still relatively unexplored in the hospitality sector, save for a few major hotel chains like Westin. However, there are three key reasons why every hotel should get onboard.

Future loyalty

Scent marketing creates a new revenue stream for hotels (e.g. room sprays, toiletries, candles) that doubles as a way to prolong engagement with hotel guests once they’ve left the property.

If a guest takes home a bottle of your hotel’s signature room spray, they’ll be reminded of their experience every time they smell it, regardless of where they are. This keeps your hotel front of mind for the guest even when they aren’t traveling. It’s a surefire way to deepen their connection with your brand and drive them back for future visits.

Better experience

A hotel’s success isn’t just measured by occupancy rates or revenue; it’s all about the guest experience. And a pleasant scent can play a key role in influencing a customer’s perception of their stay. A recent study shows that 91% of hotel guests report that pleasant smells have a positive impact on their overall experience. Additionally, pleasant smells make guests feel more relaxed and pleasant, which could distract from minor blips like a long check-in line or a late room service delivery.

Brand cohesion

With multiple hotels across different cities and countries, it isn’t always easy to maintain a consistent experience at every property. Scent marketing is one way to accomplish this. For example, when a guest walks into a Westin, whether it’s in Europe, Asia, or Central America, the scent is refreshingly the same. This evokes a feeling of familiarity; the customer knows what to expect just from a single sensory element.

Scent marketing with Rezaroma

Rezaroma, the scent marketing leader in Africa and the Middle East, is the perfect company to help your hotel brand transition into fragrance branding and create an iconic scent that elevates your guest experience and brand recognition. We provide on-demand fragrance solutions for businesses and consumers around the globe, and we handle every part of the process from the creation of a signature scent to its customized installation in your properties. We have a limitless scent library, and we can apply your scent to diffusers, reeds, candles, and sprays, among many other options. And we stay involved. We won’t just deliver your fragrance and disappear; we’ll manage your scent marketing needs at multiple locations and we’ll conduct monthly visits to ensure your fragrance delivers the results you expect. We’re a one-stop shop for all your scent marketing needs, offering a premium product and unparalleled service.

To explore the best scent marketing options for your hotel properties, contact us today.