Olfactory Marketing: Redefining Luxury Brand Identity with Scent (Alternate: Scent of a Brand: How Fragrance Elevates the Luxury Experience)

Scent of a brand: how olfactory marketing is redefining the luxury experience

In the world of high luxury, where every detail whispers sophistication and refinement, brands are constantly seeking deeper, more personal ways to connect with their clientele. Competition for consumer attention is becoming increasingly intense, and in this landscape, sensory storytelling is paramount. Beyond visuals, sound, and touch lies a powerful, often underused tool—scent.

What Is olfactory marketing and why does it matter?

Olfactory marketing is the strategic use of fragrance to strengthen a brand’s emotional identity and create lasting impressions. It has become one of the most powerful tools in luxury branding, allowing companies to translate their visual identity and brand DNA into scent. By influencing scent memory, olfactory marketing helps build enduring emotional bonds with clients.

Scent taps directly into the limbic system—the part of the brain responsible for emotion and memory. Unlike a logo or a jingle, scent is processed instantly and subconsciously, forging connections that are powerful, lasting, and uniquely personal.

And it works. Businesses that incorporate fragrance into their customer experience strategy have reported sales increases of up to 26%. For high-end brands, scent is fast becoming a key pillar of experiential marketing—especially in sectors such as luxury decor, fashion, hospitality, and jewelry. Custom-created scents also help make a brand feel more complete and distinguished in the eyes of potential clients, setting it apart from the competition.

How scent enhances the luxury brand experience

In luxury, the experience is everything. From the tactile softness of packaging to the warmth of boutique lighting and the acoustics of a flagship store—every element is orchestrated to evoke emotion.

Now, scent joins this sensory symphony as a tool that:

Creates an emotional atmosphere in retail spaces
Reinforces storytelling at product launches or events
Acts as a sensory signature in luxury hotels and showrooms
Enhances product design through branded candles and diffusers

Globally, olfactory marketing is being embraced by high-end candle manufacturers, private label perfume creators, and bespoke scent agencies working with fashion houses, hotels, and interior designers. In each case, profound brand analysis allows fragrance houses to distill core identity traits into a unique, memorable scent—creating a signature fragrance like no other.

Fragrance in action: case studies in scented storytelling

Many of the world’s most iconic brands and cultural institutions have entrusted Quintessence Paris, a leading scent creation agency with deep expertise in bespoke fragrance manufacturing, to bring their identities to life through scent.

Ritz Paris Comptoir

To reflect the elegance of the Ritz Comptoir pâtisserie, the Ritz collaborated with Quintessence on a candle collection inspired by the scent of its most beloved desserts. In an exceptional act of sensory precision, the chef sent real madeleines and marble cake to the perfumers—ensuring an authentic translation of these delicacies into scent. The result? A masterclass in custom candle production, where fragrance becomes a keepsake of an exquisite culinary experience.

Piaget

For Piaget, the connection between the rose and its identity is profound—even a special Yves Piaget rose was named after the brand’s president. Quintessence drew on this iconic flower to develop a custom candle scent, crafting it with the real Yves Piaget rose as the heart note. The result is a luminous, floral fragrance that embodies the maison’s spirit of elegance, time, and beauty.

Singapore Airlines

A well-known example of successful olfactory marketing is Singapore Airlines, one of the first airlines to develop a custom scent as a core part of its brand identity. In the early 1990s, the airline introduced Stefan Floridian Waters, a patented fragrance designed to evoke a sense of calm, luxury, and recognition. Far more than a pleasant detail, the scent was strategically integrated into multiple passenger touchpoints: it was worn by the cabin crew as perfume, infused into hot towels, and gently diffused throughout the aircraft cabin. This multi-sensory approach created a consistent and immersive brand experience, allowing passengers to form strong emotional associations with the scent. Travelers reported recognizing it instantly across different flights, linking it to positive feelings and memorable journeys. By anchoring its brand in an olfactory signature, Singapore Airlines demonstrated how scent can go beyond atmosphere—serving as a powerful emotional connector that enhances brand recall, strengthens customer loyalty, and leaves a lasting impression.

Bulgari Hotels

Luxury hospitality is increasingly using scent to deepen brand connections, and Bulgari Hotels exemplify this perfectly. All properties diffuse Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert —a signature fragrance based on green tea and bergamot—throughout lobbies, lounges, and spas. This clean, uplifting aroma creates a consistent atmosphere, aligning seamlessly with the brand’s image of refined Italian craftsmanship. Guests frequently note how the fragrance evokes relaxation and luxury, making it a subconscious cue that elevates the entire experience . By weaving Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert into every touchpoint—from ambient diffusion to in-room amenities—Bulgari transforms their scent into a powerful brand signature, fostering emotional bonds, reinforcing brand identity, and even driving retail demand as guests seek to bring the hotel’s ambiance into their own homes.

Cadillac

Another compelling example of olfactory branding comes from Cadillac, which developed a proprietary interior scent called Nuance. Far beyond the typical “new car smell,” Nuance was engineered to evoke the essence of luxury and exclusivity. Applied directly to the leather seats of new vehicles, the fragrance was fine-tuned through lab testing and consumer focus groups, with one participant famously comparing it to the smell of a Gucci bag. This carefully crafted scent became a key part of the brand experience, reinforcing Cadillac’s upscale identity from the moment a customer enters the vehicle. By embedding scent into the transport itself, Cadillac transformed a functional interior into a powerful emotional touchpoint—demonstrating how olfactory signatures can deepen brand perception and create lasting sensory connections.

Quintessence Paris: a scent agency with a sophisticated vision

At the heart of these stories is Quintessence Paris, a globally respected luxury candle branding and fragrance design agency known for transforming brand identities into immersive olfactory experiences.

Our full-service offering includes:

Whether developing private label scented candles and diffusers, custom hotel scents, or corporate olfactory gifts, Quintessence Paris preserves a brand’s essence while revealing it through the most emotionally powerful sense: scent.

In a world where consumer preferences are increasingly shaped by personalization, emotion, and sensory storytelling, olfactory branding is emerging as an indispensable element of luxury identity.

With Quintessence Paris, your brand's narrative doesn’t just unfold in words or visuals—it unfolds in the air.

WHAT IS OLFACTORY MARKETING ALL ABOUT?