NEW YORK — Rotators on the floor of the mall? Not exactly.
But a new fragrance-testing vehicle aims to expand the age-old practice of spritzing from its traditional place next to the fragrance counter — to the mall floor.
A firm called Scentest Communication has begun rolling out pod-like, columnar kiosks that are adorned with visuals of a particular scent. These so-called Scentesters have a dropper opening on the right side, where scent is dispensed from a 300-ml. reservoir located inside the unit. The kiosks promise hassle-free, self-serve drops of fragrance and — since they are being positioned near anchor stores in malls — are meant to drive traffic to the fragrance counter.
Scentesters initially began appearing in malls operated by Simon Property Group Inc. when the first of about 78 malls on both coasts began receiving the Scentesters last week. Roughly seven tester kiosks will go into each mall, for a total of some 550 pods — which measure nearly five feet tall by one foot wide.
Cyrille Guyot, senior vice president of Scentest Communication, discussed the new concept during a recent interview. “This is an alternative sampling medium,” he said. “The [scented] strip has been around for 30 years and it’s a successful medium. It’s necessary to the marketing mix when a company is launching a fragrance. But we wanted to push the envelope and introduce Scentesters into department stores to address the concern of traffic in anchor stores.”
In malls such as Roosevelt Field in New York and Brea Mall in California, Scentesters are located near stores like Macy’s, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Dillard’s and Sephora. “We want to make the conversion rate high,” said Guyot, referring to customers who first visit the Scentester, then the fragrance bar.
Roosevelt Field, in fact, and Menlo Park Mall in New Jersey were testing grounds for the Scentester, and Guyot worked with Giorgio Armani Parfums on a three-month trial. “The overall acceptance of this concept was very strong,” Guyot claimed.
In addition to dispensing fragrance samples, the kiosks also display advertising for that brand, for which the company charges an ad rate. Guyot calls it “outpost advertising” and says the Scentesters champion “brand interaction.”
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Brands that are featured in the Scentesters include the likes of Armani fragrances, Ralph Lauren Fragrances, Kenzo, Bulgari, Calvin Klein, Cerruti, Cacharel, Lancôme, Paul Smith, YSL Beauté and Azzaro.
By next year, Guyot would like to double the number of malls included in the current phase of the program.