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The fragrance industry is a multi-billion dollar business
built on one thing: SENSORY STIMULATION. Effectively
done, the use of distinctive scents motivates... with a simple whiff.
Ever since the carwash industry sold its first scented
green tree, operators have found fragrance a solid moneymaker. With
the advent of liquid air fresheners, even stronger revenues have
delighted carwash and detail operators alike.
Those of us who make it our business to find and implement
new profit components for carwashes and detail shops are constantly
on the hunt for innovative products and services for resale. Eureka,
again! We found this one right under our nose!
Used By Healers For Thousands
Of Years, It's Not New.
Its called AROMATHERAPY and its far from new. As far
back as 5000 years ago, man used the essential oils of aromatic
plants, herbs and fruits to influence the human body by enhancing
health and creating a feeling of well being. Scientific researchers
have long been aware of the substantial impact that specific fragrances
have on our moods, attitudes, and unconscious motivations in every
day life.
Aromatherapy is frequently considered the medicinal
practice of applying selective essential oil fragrances to actually
affect the soundness of mind and body. These long-thought-to-be
therapeutic fragrances are applied directly on the skin or inhaled
through the nose. Homeopathic practitioners view aromatherapy as
one of the methodologies of alternative medicine and draw a cause-effect
connection between ingesting specific fragrances and healthful responses.
Practitioners of this ancient form of medicine successfully
used various essential oils to treat such maladies as depression,
anxiety, irritability, mental exhaustion, shock and mental stress.
Whether to calm or stimulate, aromatherapy offered consequential
impact.
Blending Mother Nature and
Automobile Interiors
The form of aromatherapy best suited for use in automobiles
is the essential oil fragrance that is subtly ingested through the
nose. Suppose you could offer your customers a premium fragrance
that would smoothly alter their mood. One select fragrance might
offer enhanced calming effects to ease an over-stressed driver's
mood by stimulating a relaxing response. Or, in the case of a bored,
inattentive driver, certain fragrances can refresh and even stimulate
alertness.
Your NOSE "Only Knows...
What It Knows"
The sensory learning process imprints an olfactory
association between odors and experiences. While many odors cause
an uncontrollable innate response, reactions to others are determined
by past actions.
How does this all work? Simply stated, tiny sensors
located in the nose transmit information to the olfactory lobe in
the brain, which determines the sensation of smell. There are some
fundamental elements in understanding what we smell, and hence classify
as odors.
The brain interprets sensations of pure odors, and
combines them with a variety of past experiences to form an associated
judgment as whether a smell is sensed as good or bad. Part of the
reference determination is based on two primary types: real and
imagined. Reality or perception; either way... unfavorable odors
still stink!
Even in this technologically advanced age of computerized
science, your nose is still the most sophisticated instrument for
detecting odors, both good and bad. Recognizing this, the fragrance
industry sells over 18 billion dollars of various aromas annually,
from perfumes, colognes and scented additives for personal-care
products, to food aromas and a myriad of fragrances for health and
cleaning supplies. We all rely on our noses for a lot of decision
making.
Our nose helps us decide what and where to eat, whether
or not we can relax and sleep; it assists in determining what is
- or is not - clean, and helps us avoid unpleasant environments.
Basically, when making many of your daily quality-of-life decisions...
only our nose really knows.
Sensory Manipulation For
Sale
Ever wonder why so many successful bakeries innovatively
spray strategic whiffs of cinnamon in the air just outside their
retail displays... and why department stores atomize cinnamon, pine,
and bayberry to intensify the Christmas holiday shopping experience
in their stores? Subliminal buying inspiration via your olfactory
senses... or more simply put - "motivational smelling".
Unpleasant odors also have an impact on our decision-making.
The natural gas industry adds the fragrance of sulfur to its normally
odorless product so a potentially dangerous leak can be unmistakably
detected through the permeating "rotten egg" smell that can not
go ignored.
Now Your Customers Can Choose
Between Air Freshening. Or Therapeutic Intervention
Before the introduction of this aroma-therapeutic
upscale offering, there was only one type of air freshener. Whether
liquid or wafer, you had one basic product. with one basic price
level somewhere between one and two dollars. Most of the operators
simply called it "air freshener".
Aromatherapy is a step above mere air freshening.
To some it might even be considered an "attitude adjustment" because
it reaches back to the early ages of alchemy, the holistic mind-body
connection and the earth secrets of tribal medicine men. Certain
scientists would even say "medicinal". It works for many.
Finally you have two types of fragrancing to sell.
Instead of asking "would you like it. eliciting a yes-no" answer.
you could instead ask "which one"? Now, you have a second choice
called AROMATHERAPY.
And by introducing a legitimate choice, your product
presentation and pricing differs. You can now offer your customers
the traditional air freshener for a couple of bucks. or the distinction
of an upscale "mood enhancer" for six or seven dollars. Perceived
values being what they are, cost and story will undoubtedly justify
any price disparity. Consequently, marketing strategies are limitless.
You are in the unique position to actually be selling "feelings".
Aromatherapy discs are similar to the familiar air
freshener wafers currently available, but larger and thicker. The
various essential oil discs are individually wrapped and packaged
in a handy self-attaching diffuser that enables an easy to adjust
fragrance release. That makes them easy to offer to exterior customers
because there is no spraying involved. Simply unwrap the diffuser
and its Velcro attached almost anywhere in the interior. Quick and
easy.
Menu Presentation Tells The
Story
By offering a choice in your menu-merchandising, I
suggest presenting the two as follows:
WaferScent AIR FRESHENER - $2.00 - Pure perfume-based scent
gives your car interior a refreshing fragrance. Dispensed in convenient
wafers for easy placement under the seat.
AROMATHERAPY REJUVENATION - $6.00 - Ancient art of applying
pure essential oil fragrance that offers therapeutic rejuvenation
and balancing of the emotions through organic inhalants. Acclaimed
by many as being refreshingly uplifting and stress harmonizing!
Choose from a selection of high quality custom blended essential
oils that:
Relax
Invigorate
Refresh
Balance
Calm Wake-Up
Flexible Pricing
The Aromatherapy product is so unique that you can
comfortably price the discs and diffusers according to your individual
marketplace demands. Since the fragrance discs are interchangeable
with the common diffuser, discs can be sold separately. or bundled
with the plastic diffuser. Either way, you can specifically cater
to your customer's individual needs.
Aromatherapy discs are meant to offer your customers
a supplemental choice, so they can be marketed side-by-side with
traditional air fresheners, resulting in substantial sales growth
and repeat purchases. And although many carwashes offer the same
air freshener product, Aromatherapy enjoys a novel competitive edge
because few carwashes are aware of the profitable addition. Seize
the opportunity!
Distinguish Yourself. Again!
Most customers take note of the innovative retailers
who always seem to have the latest products and services before
anyone else. Those operators are perceived as being at the leading
edge of their business, and as such enjoy the benefits of leadership
and a following.
This is not an "either - or" decision. I urge you
to offer your customers both fragrance options. Stay at the leading
edge. and enjoy the advantage. Take a great big aromatic whiff.
and smell the fresh new profits!
© All Rights Reserved - SMOKUN
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