SMELL A MEMORY

Short List
TitleSMELL A MEMORY
BrandGIVAUDAN
Product / ServiceFRAGRANCE HOUSE
CategoryB03. Corporate Reputation
EntrantJWT SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE
Entrant Company JWT SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE
Advertising Agency JWT SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE

Credits

Name Company Position
Colin Pereira Fuse Music Production
Eunice Sim Jwt Singapore Project Manager
Gerri Hamill/Bettina Feng/Deborah Chia Chameleon Film Production
Jeremiah Marcello Chameleon Film Editor
John Paul Su Film Director
Christina Chew Jwt Singapore Account Management
Hinoti Joshi Jwt Singapore Account Director
Sue Mulhall Jwt Singapore Business Director
Shi Min Wong Jwt Singapore Junior Art Director
Paul Sidharta Jwt Singapore Creative Director
Ai-Lin Tan Jwt Singapore Creative Director
Juhi Kahlia Jwt Singapore Executive Creative Director
Guan Hin Tay Jwt Singapore Regional Executive Creative Director

The Campaign

Givaudan is the world's leading fragrance house. They create scents that go into everything from perfumes and shampoos to floor cleaners. To enhance their corporate image they now wanted to apply their skill sets to do some good.

The Brief

We created the 'Smell A Memory' kit – a therapy kit that is personalized and custom-created for individual patients. Based on each patient's family history, ethnicity, age and personal stories. Givaudan's perfumers, in consultation with therapists and rehabilitation experts, tailor-made and bottled unique smells such as Bedtime Stories, Kampong Grass, Seaside, My First Pencil and so on... all with the express purpose of evoking memories. Thus getting reclusive disconnected patients to react and connect again.

Results

The Smell A Memory kit is a ground-breaking idea. While aromas are used to uplift moods in therapy, this is perhaps the first time smells are being used to evoke emotional memories. We had multiple therapy sessions with good reactions from the patients. The scents recalled stories and incidents from their past, provoking conversations. Overall, there was increased interaction from previously disconnected patients. We are currently in talks with doctors and occupational therapists at Singapore's leading psychiatric facility and one of the country's largest hospitals to do more extensive trials. Givadaun plans to roll out the idea globally by developing specialized kits for UK, France and Brazil. The corporate image of Givaudan and the power of the smells they create has gone from the niche fragrance world to over 40 million free media impressions.

Execution

Presentations and demonstrations were made to a large number of doctors and occupational therapists, including the country's top psychiatric specialist - who welcomed this ground-breaking treatment tool.

The Situation

Our sense of smell is one of our most visceral instincts. It has an instant and powerful connection to memories, especially emotional memories. Alzheimer's and memory loss, caused by dementia, affect 35.6 million people. What if we could use smells to evoke memories in people suffering from Alzheimer's? Could they perhaps 'smell a memory'?

The Strategy

We partnered with Singapore's leading psychiatric facility, one of the country's largest hospitals and multiple healthcare providers to implement 'Smell A Memory' kit trials.