Scents & Sensibility Seeing isn't always believing. Get your prospects' attention by engaging their other senses.

I can think of a number of marketing innovators whose ideas Iadmire, but the genius who brought us "scratch `n'sniff " print ads is the only one whose water bucketI'd actually carry. Why? Because he or she was able to add atotally unexpected new sensory dimension to the most rudimentaryforms of advertising communication. During its heyday as anadvertising novelty (today it's used primarily forperfume-strip ads), no one could pass by a scratch `n' sniff adwithout giving it the ol' nasal appraisal. Sure, it wasgimmicky. But it worked.

Since scratch `n' sniff, nothing has emerged from thegurgling beakers and foaming test tubes of advertisingexperimentation to give print advertising an added sensorydimension. One day, perhaps we'll flip open our e-publicationsand watch ads with dancing six-packs, smell ads for chicken soupand hear the whir of blenders making iced mochas in coffee shopads, all on a little hand-held screen--complete with the digitizedsound of pages turning. But until we bid farewell to printing onpulverized wood pulp, we need to use language and one-dimensionalimages in a way that reaches readers.

Evaluate your advertising by asking: Am I using language thatreally evokes a decision to buy? Am I reaching people at theiremotional core? What can I say or show that will inspire prospectsto want my product or service? What can substitute for actuallybeing there to help people experience the product or service firsthand, as the scratch `n' sniff approach attempted to do?It's a tall order, but it's well worth the labor to createsuccessful advertising.