Scenting your products and packaging means adding your brand scent to things customers take away: boxes, bags, printed materials, tissue, cards and retail items. It must match your ambient brand scent. If the box smells different from the store, you have two scents competing for one memory, and neither becomes yours.
Why the match matters
Scent builds recognition through repetition. When the same fragrance meets a customer in the lobby, in the shopping bag and on the thank-you card, each encounter reinforces the last. A packaging scent chosen separately, or a supplier’s approximation of your store scent, breaks that chain. Our article on scent identity explains why consistency is the whole point.
Ways to scent products and packaging
- Scented print. Cards, brochures and invitations carrying a trace of the scent.
- Packaging and tissue. Boxes, wrapping and bags scented at the point of packing.
- Retail products. Room sprays, candles and reed diffusers in the brand scent.
- Gifts. Corporate and loyalty gifts; see gifts in your brand scent.
Getting it right
- One formula, adapted. The same fragrance behaves differently on card, in a candle and in the air. The perfume house that created it should adapt it for each format, so it smells recognisably the same.
- Safety by product type. The IFRA Standards set different limits for different product categories, so a scent suitable for diffusion may need adjusting for a spray or candle.
- Keep it subtle. Packaging should hint at the scent, not overwhelm the product inside, especially for food, cosmetics or clothing.
- Test for transfer. Make sure scent does not transfer onto products where it would be unwelcome.
Our fragrances are created by drom, so ambient and product versions come from the same source.
To create candles, diffusers, sprays or gifts in your own scent, see our branded scent products service.
Frequently asked questions
Can packaging use a different scent from the store?
It can, but it weakens recognition. Using one brand scent everywhere is what makes it memorable.
Will scented packaging affect the product?
It should not, if the scent is kept subtle and tested for transfer.
Do we need a signature scent first?
Yes, ideally. See our scent branding service.
Further reading: Perfume on Wikipedia.
