Connected Air Fresheners in the Internet of Things

Here's A Whiff of the Future for the Internet of Things
Marketing Lessons from P&G's Febreze Internet-Connected Air Freshener By David Berkowitz

" .... When the Febreze Home internet-connected plug-in air freshener arrived in the mail this month, I opened the box and beheld yet another questionable impulse buy. I ordered it during this year's Consumer Electronics Show in January just after Procter and Gamble announced it. If this was a typical Kickstarter project, it would have arrived in time for the 2017 holiday season after several competitive products already hit the market. P&G actually stuck to its promised ship date, which is the most remarkable aspect of this product's debut. .... This harbinger of the connected home offers a whiff of what's ahead for marketers, manufacturers and consumers.  .... " 

Need a Smart Home Air Freshener?

Brought to my attention.  Note the ability to link to smart home hub.  How much consumer interest will there be?   Novelty vs value?  Another leveraging of Febreze.

P&G's Sci-Fi Air Freshener Makes Your House Smell Smart
by  Stacey Higginbotham

Is this the end of the smart home being “cool?”

The engineers at Procter & Gamble have looked at the connected home with interest, and in nine months have come up with a product to test the waters. It’s a $49 connected Febreze plug that lets consumers release one of two scents into their home by using a smartphone app.

The company is showing off the device at CES, the big technology showcase in Las Vegas this week. While it may come across as the least exciting smart home technology ever, that is a mark in its favor ....  " .

Exploring the Brain of the Consumer

Just now completing a read of Neuromarketing: Exploring the Brain of the Consumer.   by Leon Zurawicki of  the University of Massachusetts

I had the pleasure of chairing a session with Professor Zurawicki at the Neuroconnections Summit in Cracow Poland in 2009.   I followed up by reading his 2010 book on the subject.  This is a example of where a book has to cover a rapidly changing topic and provide background for the specific application of the innovation as it evolves.  A tough task.  This textbook style,  but largely non technical overview is an excellent place to start your journey.

Professor Zurawicki does an excellent job.  The first chapter, Exploring the Brain, provides a thumbnail overview of the neuroscience involved.    It then follows with a number of theories of brain research methods.  He also covers such recently applied techniques like tracking activity in  mobile settings and the integration of eye-tracking methods.

In the second chapter he covers the influence of multiple senses to emotions,  mood and behavior.  A topic we also experimented with in contextual experiments.   He mentions in particular how our own decision procession behavior can be influenced by apparently rational rules that can be triggered by nonconscious sensory inputs.  He cites Procter & Gamble's Febreze Strategy work as a example of the integration of sensory cues and overt decision processes. 

He specifically addresses the linkage of neural activity and consumer behavior.  And the curious linkage of how behavior breeds emotion and emotion breeds behavior.    I like too the coverage of the memory-learning connection in chapter 3, which links to our own exploration of associative memories.  I am sure there are hints here of how consumers can be convinced in their ultimate behavior.

I have utilized this book and its bibliography a number of times since its publication for explanation of theory and practice.  It is invaluable for the shelf of the marketing emergent technology practitioner.

He completes his journey in Chapter 5: Applying Neuroscience and Biometrics to the Practice of Marketing. Where he outlines the  methods by which many companies are now exploring this approach.  By its nature it is still very complete.  How must we ultimately integrate these learnings with classical marketing techniques?  How are those results implemented in the retail aisle?   There are plans to follow up this book with another that explores some of the specific applications underway in this space.  I look forward to reading that as well.
Enjoy.  I will continue to use this book as a reference. 

Febreze Reaches Billion Dollar Mark

Commentary regarding the Febreze benchmark on the Brand Channel.  A Billion dollars in sales for a quite simple concept.

Brief History of Neuromarketing

A short paper on the history of neuromarketing, which attributes some of the early thoughts to Peter Drucker. Includes mention of P&G and the Febreze brand.

Febreze

Good local article on P&G's Febreze brand. It's moving towards having a billion dollars in annual sales. Useful background. Febreze's Wikipedia article is odd, read the talk section to get varying comments on the tone of the article. Despite the WP article including a negative rumor, one commenter thought it was written like an ad! Some people are very suspicious of commercial success.

P&G Extends Febreze to Pets

PROCTER & GAMBLE IS LAUNCHING a SKU of its Febreze brand for pets. The Cincinnati CPG giant will launch Febreze Air Effects Pet Odor Eliminator via a partnership with pet sites Dogster.com and Catster.com ... "