• Washington Post, Tuesday, February 21, 2006 11:16 AM

Product packaging is emerging as the new frontier in marketing as companies are developing new techniques that appeal to all five senses. And while marketers are experimenting with a variety of new techniques, packaging that emanates specific aromas seem to be taking the lead in the constant battle for consumers' attention. Companies are incorporating scents into plastic bags and bottles so a shopper can smell shampoo or chocolate without opening the top. Newly developed scented ink allows ads and catalogues to capture a consumer's attention with an unsuspecting whiff. "Consumers have to be given a good reason to buy a product," said Chris Lyons, publisher of Package Design Magazine. "Certainly, knowing or having a sense of what it smells like can help that." One of the companies at the forefront of this new trend is AriZona Beverage Co., which is currently testing a way to embed an appealing aroma inside a bottle cap to improve the taste of its beverages and the drinker's experience.

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