>>>Fragrance Delivery Systems>>>

A report on the talk given by Simon Dwyer from Marketing Aromatics, and Martin Wismer from Celessence, at the West Lodge Park Hotel, on 14th March 1996.

After attending this fascinating and informative talk, I felt inspired to write this report for our newsletter.

Marketing Aromatics specialise in fragrance delivery systems. There are two distinct types, one being microencapsulation, and the other, the fragrancing of large areas of space, such as that found in washrooms, shops, cinemas, and even airports.

For the first part of the talk, Martin spoke about microencapsulation. Microencapsulation is a process that has been around for many years and is not just limited to fragrances. For example, duplicating (noncarbon) paper produces an impression by means of different microencapsulated layers, one on each of the top and bottom sheets. When pressure is applied, the two chemicals are brought into contact with each other and a colour change is produced.

During the 1980's a revived interest in the process stimulated greater advances in the technology, and the technique began to be used by High Street stores for fragrancing items such as drawer liners. It was, of course, beginning to be used in advertising at this time, for fragrance strips in magazines and leaflets, to advertise fine fragrances. These were the original gritty textured strips that required firm rubbing or "scratch and sniff" to shear the capsules and release the fragrance.

Since then, technological advances in the process now mean that the technique can be used for a much wider variety of applications. The gritty strips have now given way to whole page fragrancing with much smaller capsules, and as they say in their brochure, "a gentle touch or brush of the wrist" is all that is required to release the fragrance. This of course, offers great advantages over the older methods. It is much more pleasing to look at, and the consumer can now try the fragrance on themselves by brushing their wrist over the page. The microcapsules can be stable for many years, even decades, and the entire fragrance, including the top notes remain fresh.

The capsules are still mostly made of gelatine, but more recent advances in polymer technology have widened the scope of applications. For example, fragrance could now more easily be incorporated into hostile media such as bleach, whereby the fragrance is only released upon actual use of the product. Fragrancing of clothes is also possible (!), such as T-shirts - great for promotional ideas.

We were shown an example of a fragrance microencapsulated onto a glossy magazine page, and in this type of application, one square centimetre of paper contains about one million microcapsules. During each scratch, only a small number of the capsules burst, so the page can be wiped many times. We were also shown photographs, taken using microscope equipment, of various sizes and shapes of capsules.

Other applications where the method of microencapsulation is being used are as follows: shower gels with moisturising "beads", bath beads (of course), moisturising tissues, lipsticks (where microencapsulated beads of colour refresh the colour on the lips for several hours during wear). Also, all kinds of paper applications - writing paper, wrapping paper, and of course, there are endless possibilities for use in advertising, such as in brochures and samplers.

Simon then resumed his part of the talk, and began to talk about Marketing Aromatics, who they are and what they do.
Advertisers have long been stimulating the senses of sight, hearing, taste, and even touch to promote products, but the sense of smell has been very much neglected, being limited mostly to promoting the fragrance it is advertising. This is somewhat surprising, as smell is the most evocative of the senses, and most closely linked to memory. However, it is also the most subliminal - the consumer may be stimulated by a smell and not actually realise it. Marketing Aromatics act as a liaison between prospective customers for fragrance delivery systems and the sources for the technology behind them - perfumery and fragrance manufacturers, the microencapsulation companies, and those producing the systems required for fragrancing large areas of air space.

We are all familiar with washroom fragrancing apparatus which has been around for a couple of years now - electronic gadgets releasing a constant, subtle fragrance, pleasant but strong enough to dispel malodours in washrooms and toilet areas. However, there is far more to fragrancing large areas of space than this, and many more applications to be discovered in the not too distant future.

Cinemas, for example, are using these systems to fragrance their reception areas with popcorn smells. It is generally true that everyone who goes into a cinema will buy a ticket. However, once they are in there, tempting them to buy refreshments and popcorn will produce an increase in takings, thus reducing the need to put up ticket prices to increase profits.

Simon gave us another example, a casino, where part of the casino was subtly fragranced, and the rest unfragranced. Now, if someone goes into a casino with a pocket of coins, it is inevitable they are going to gamble - that is their intention on going there, so fragrancing the surroundings is not an attempt to encourage gambling. It merely served to show how effective the technique can be, because the takings in the fragranced area of the casino went up! People clearly preferred to spend their money in the surroundings that were fragranced. Fragrance can also improve people's perception of their surroundings. Subjects were shown an identical pair of shoes in separate rooms. Only one room was fragranced. They were asked to estimate the retail price of the shoes, and say whether or not they would buy them. The shoes in the fragranced room were judged to be more expensive, and yet were also more likely to be purchased!

Another example Simon spoke about was a brief his company had answered for Nestle. They were presenting Nescafe coffee in a large auditorium, and, on cue, the air space was filled with a coffee aroma in less than ten seconds! At this point, I was very intrigued as to the technology used to achieve this, and made a mental note to ask the question at the end of the talk. However, Simon went on to demonstrate - he produced a canister, similar in size and appearance to a small fire extinguisher, and apparently, several of these used at strategic points in the auditorium can be used to fragrance the entire area in seconds. This technology is, in fact, still in its infancy. It is not very efficient in that the average particle size is still larger than desirable - about 20-30 microns (1 micron = 1 thousandth of a millimetre). Some of the larger particles will be hitting the floor before they are perceived in the air, so this is still relatively wasteful. An average particle size of less than 10 microns, even as low as 1 micron, would mean that far more of the particles would remain in the air. Simon envisaged that the technology to achieve this would be available within the next year.

Use of fragrance in air-conditioning systems is already happening in places such as Japan, where office workers are being subjected to aromas to help "wake them up" first thing in the morning. Then, towards lunchtime when workers are becoming stressed, a relaxing, stress-relieving blend is released. This, of course, opens up a whole area of debate on social rights - surely people should have the right to decide whether their air space is fragranced, particularly if the intention is to increase productivity? Quite a few members expressed their opinions on this matter towards the end of the talk. Simon's answer was that he didn't feel people would mind if it was to improve their environment - similar to if your boss decided to fit a new, soft, carpet in your office - but he agreed it was an area which would probably become the subject of legislation as its use becomes more widespread.

The possibilities for this technology are as limitless as our imaginations, and we, as perfumers, are likely to be asked to come up with more inspirational creations than ever before. Shops, theatres, and exhibition centres such as the Jorvik Viking Centre in York, which I have visited myself, are all using these ideas to create a total sensory experience.

Surprisingly, the supermarkets are not necessarily making use of this technology. Instead, by clever design of the air-conditioning, the air generated in the bakery is recycled all over the store, so unless your supermarket does not have a bakery, there is likely to be an aroma of REAL bread baking! Also, there is usually an effective extraction system at the fishmonger's counter, so that even when stood right next to it, there is little unpleasant odour.

At the end of the talk we were presented with a brochure and a promotional card, which opened up to reveal a pop-up flower. A powerful flowery fragrance emanated from the card as soon as it was opened.

I left the meeting that evening feeling enlightened on the subject of fragrance delivery systems and thought this was a very worthwhile talk.