Making scents - expert noses put to the test

Creating a sensation

Fragrance plays a critical role in all home and personal care products, and is just as important in some of those perceived to be less glamorous.

An emotional connection

Scent has the power to change people's moods, evoke long-forgotten memories and spark emotional connections. Unlike closing our eyes or blocking our ears, we can't simply switch off our sense of smell – fragrances are all around us, all the time.

That's why choosing the right scents for Unilever's brands has become increasingly important to the business. A brand’s olfactive signature is developed through internal fragrance capability expertise with help from the world’s biggest fragrance houses and their finest expert 'noses'.

These perfume professionals have helped formulate some of the most famous fine fragrances on the market, and now their sensory skills are shaping the signature scents of brands from Axe to Omo, Dove and Domestos.

Scents to suit

A product's fragrance is often a compelling reason for shoppers to select a certain brand – and that choice comes back to the evocative impact smells can create. Axe Dark Temptation, with its unique chocolate scent, proved an instant hit from its launch in 2008, breaking market share records and continuing to grow in popularity around the world. Cif floor cleaner, by contrast, has enduring appeal not necessarily for its alluring aroma, but because it smells reassuringly hygienic and fresh.

The scents for such iconic brands can take up to six months to develop, with each product's individual image and function taken into account. And of course it's not enough for a product to simply smell great when it's first opened – its scent needs to last and suit the product's practical use. Laundry liquid fragrances have to withstand high temperatures, for example, while dishwashing tablets shouldn't leave a lingering fragrance or taste on crockery.

"Fragrance has the power to take someone to another place," says Marcella Bartoletti, Unilever's Director of Fragrance and Fragrance Issues. "It's the sense most closely linked with emotion."

Facts on fragrance

Colour can influence smell, so if something is pink, people are more likely to recognise it as rose-scented than if it was blue

• Taste enhances smell – while our taste buds only recognise salt, sweet, bitter, sour and savoury, our sense of smell adds variety

• Smell affects 75% of the emotions we experience every day