• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, January 18, 2015

In perhaps the strangest manner ever, Connect Marketing Owner Clint Powell is asking brands to smell themselves in an effort to determine what makes them tick, how customers perceive them and how customers feel when they are exposed to the brand.

Likening the whole thing to that new car smell -- which, let’s be honest, is just cancer-causing upholstery glue -- Powell writes: "Your emotional connection -- your story -- the way your customers feel about you -- the need you meet -- the way you make their life better. That is vital to knowing who you are as a company, where your company’s strengths are, and what you need to be building around. The worst thing you can do is assume you know your customers ‘why.'"

He concludes, writing: "So how does your company smell? Spend some time figuring it out and I promise your business will grow and you will find that because you know what you’re really good at your goal setting, expectations, and overall employees and customer satisfaction will improve."