Tag: scent marketing

Oscar Mayer: Wake Up and Smell the Bacon

If you would like to wake up to the sound of sizzling bacon on the stove and its aroma drawing you out of bed, then head over to www.wakeupandsmellthebacon.com and answer three questions for a chance to win the special bacon-scented iPhone attachment.

The contest is being run by Oscar Mayer, and they are giving away 4700 bacon-scented iPhone attachments over the next month. Winners can then use a custom Oscar Mayer alarm app to automatically activate the iPhone attachment every morning.

How the stunt is engineered

The mechanism is a neat combination of utility and theatre: a giveaway device plus a dedicated alarm app. Instead of only telling you “bacon smells great”, the brand designs a repeatable moment where smell is the message and the morning routine is the media.

In FMCG marketing, a physical add-on that turns a brand promise into a daily ritual can outperform a one-off ad because it creates repetition without feeling like repetition.

Why it lands

It turns a product truth into a sensory demo. Oscar Mayer does not need to persuade you that bacon is appealing. It just recreates the cue that already does the persuading.

It makes the call-to-action playful. “Enter to win” is normally forgettable. Here it is a gateway to a story-worthy object, so the contest itself becomes shareable.

It upgrades branded content into branded utility. The alarm is not only entertainment. It is a behavior change, because the phone becomes part of a new wake-up routine.

Extractable takeaway. Scent and sound work as marketing when they are attached to an existing habit. If the brand can own a repeatable moment in the day, the campaign shifts from impression to ritual.

Borrowable moves

  • Pair a simple app with a tangible artifact. Physical wins feel rarer than digital, which increases talk value.
  • Design for daily replay. The strongest “stunts” are the ones that can be re-experienced without needing a second ad.
  • Make the entry mechanic frictionless. Fewer questions, faster entry, and the prize does the marketing.

A few fast answers before you act

What is being promoted here?

A contest for a bacon-scented iPhone attachment, supported by an alarm app that triggers the attachment in the morning.

Why does this qualify as more than a gimmick?

Because it converts a brand promise into a repeatable experience. The “demo” happens in the user’s real life, not just on screen.

What is the main behavior change the campaign creates?

It pulls the brand into a daily wake-up habit, which creates repeated exposure without needing repeated media placements.

What makes it shareable?

The object is inherently story-worthy. People can describe it instantly, and the idea is unusual enough to travel as a headline.

What is the key risk?

Link rot and platform change. If the app link, device compatibility, or contest site stops working, the core mechanic collapses.

Listerine: Flipbook With Bad Breath

Bad breath is one of the most embarrassing issues for people when they socialize. Listerine decided to bring this experience to life with a flipbook that released a pungent onion scent.

To induce trials, a coupon was attached to the back of the flipbook and people could redeem it for a free Listerine bottle at nearby locations. Reported redemption rates reached 66%.

How the flipbook makes “bad breath” real

The mechanism is sensory contrast. The flipbook invites curiosity, then the onion scent turns the message into a physical reaction rather than a line of copy. The coupon sits at the exact moment of discomfort, offering a clean, immediate next step.

In personal care and FMCG trial programs, multi-sensory sampling can convert awareness into action by making the problem visceral and the solution frictionless.

Why it lands

This works because it skips explanation and goes straight to feeling. People do not need to be persuaded that bad breath is awkward. The scent creates instant empathy, and the coupon makes the brand’s role clear. It is not just “remember Listerine”. It is “fix this now”.

Extractable takeaway: If you can make an invisible problem tangible in seconds, you earn attention. When the solution is placed immediately at the point of reaction, trial becomes the natural next move.

What to steal

  • Use one sensory punch: pick a single sense and make the idea unmistakable, not subtle.
  • Place the offer at peak relevance: the call to action should appear exactly when the user feels the problem.
  • Keep the conversion step simple: a clear redemption path beats a complex signup flow.
  • Design for public reaction: when people react visibly, the activation creates its own distribution.
  • Measure beyond reach: redemption and repeat behavior are the real KPIs, not just views.

A few fast answers before you act

What is the Listerine “flipbook with bad breath” activation?

It is a flipbook handout infused with an onion scent to simulate bad breath, paired with a coupon for a free bottle to drive trial.

Why add scent instead of just showing a message?

Scent turns an abstract problem into an immediate, physical experience. That speed is what makes the idea memorable and shareable.

What role does the coupon play?

It converts the reaction into a next step. The coupon makes the solution actionable at the exact moment people feel the discomfort.

Is the 66% redemption figure reliable?

It is reported in trade coverage. If you need it as a hard metric, keep it but treat it as reported unless you have the primary source.

Where does this pattern work best?

When the product solves a problem people already recognize, and when you can make the problem instantly tangible without crossing into humiliation or offense.