Between the bouncy music and the stacks of colorful jeans, visitors to the Benetton store on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue might catch a whiff of a growing marketing trend. Mounted high in the corner beside the store entrance, a scent diffuser, the ScentDirect system from ScentAir, spreads a bright spring fragrance modeled after Benetton’s Verde cologne. “It finishes the emotion we are trying to create in the store,” said Robert Argueta, director of visual merchandising for the United Colors of Benetton, who also is testing the scent in Benetton’s New York flagship store. “It’s the first and last impression a customer gets.” Long the domain of casinos and hotels, marketing using scent is catching on among retailers and in car showrooms, sports stadiums, airports, banks and apartment buildings that seek to distinguish themselves with customers via the deeply influential sense of smell. Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz Reports: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-scent-branding-20140419,0,4880702.story#ixzz2zndAnweG
