7 minute read
Ambient Scent
Is Ambient Scent What Casinos Need Moving into a Post-Pandemic World? Research Says Yes. By Damien Connelly
t’s a good bet that people are going to
Ibe more concerned with cleanliness and air quality as we emerge from COVID-19. The global gambling market is expected to rally back from $465.76 billion in 2020 to $516.03 billion in 2021 and while players coming back to brickand-mortar casinos means big dollars, it also means the return of stubborn, high-traffic odor issues.
So how are casino managers alleviating guests’ anxiety and reassuring returning players as lockdown restrictions lift?
Studies show that 63 percent of people are looking for fresh, clean-smelling atmospheres and casino managers are listening. More and more gaming facilities are turning to ambient-scent providers to target their biggest odor challenges – restrooms and cigarettes – and bring a breath of fresh air to the gaming experience.
Improving the Go
Restrooms are one of the most obvious high-traffic spaces that need the ‘scents of clean.’ Research shows that 94 percent of adults believe odor contributes to a restroom’s dirtiness and nearly one
in three customers won’t return to a business with
dirty bathrooms. And if losing a customer isn’t bad enough, casinos are at higher risk of damaging their reputation in the process. When customers have a negative experience with a bathroom, including bad odors, 50 percent tell it to their friends.
But eliminating stubborn restroom odors is not as easy as just pumping out scent. Today’s sophisticated ambient-scent providers use highly specialized, proprietary technology that neutralize unwanted odors on the molecular level.
Leading scent providers Prolitec and Ambius, explained how new technology is having an impact on casinos’ guest experience. Prolitec provides
their “Genie” line of fragrances specifically to target malodor challenges and Ambius offers their Premium Scenting services to augment their Hygiene360 line.
Prolitec Vice President of Fragrance Sandra Barvaux explained what makes a clean scent effective: “Each Genie fragrance is carefully crafted to reinforce the perception of a sanitary environment by conveying a clean, fresh, healthy and hygienic feel,” Barvaux said. “It’s the technology that makes us unique.”
And this ‘hygienic feel’ is backed by testing. The world’s largest private fragrance and flavor company tested the Prolitec Genie line against restroom malodors and proved them to counteract
restroom malodor by reducing its perception in all fragrances by more than half and some more than
70 percent.
This technology captured the attention of Potawatomi Hotel & Casino in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Featuring more than 2,000 slots and 1.1 million square feet (about the area of Chicago’s Millennium Park), the gaming facility wanted to communicate to guests the cleanliness of their facility, especially high-traffic areas. The casino reached out to Prolitec to employ Genie scenting technology in their restroom areas, improving customer satisfaction and retention. After installation, guests report Potawatomi restrooms feel clean and safe, which has encouraged them to keep coming back.
“I enjoyed everything,” a guest said. “They take pride and are very onto keeping the facility safe, clean and taking temperatures at all times. I would do it all over again.”
Ambius’s Janice Nath, one of their elite designers, echoes the importance of giving guests the reassuring feeling of cleanliness and safety.
“Gaming businesses are turning to companies such as Ambius for resources on creating smarter, healthier spaces. Revamping protocols to ensure the indoor environment is clean, safe and hygienic by properly disinfecting surfaces, purifying the air and providing hand sanitizer is crucial. High-traffic areas such as restrooms and playing areas, which are vulnerable to additional dirt, odors and germs, should also incorporate Premium Scenting,” Nath said. “Premium Scenting creates a sensory experience allowing guests to see, feel and smell that a space is clean. By reinforcing these hygiene practices, gaming businesses will lessen consumer anxiety and reassure guests that their health and safety is a number-one priority.”
Odor Woes Up In Smoke
Bathroom malodors are only part of the challenge that casinos deal with. The University of Nevada conducted a study to find on average how many smokers can be found at casinos. Data showed that in larger gaming facilities, it’s expected an average of 20.9 percent of gamblers will be smoking at a casino. Small, rural casinos are higher at around 36.5 percent.
With this much smoke in the air, ambient-scent providers target smoke malodors at the source to reassure both smokers and nonsmokers alike that the casino is clean and refreshing.
Snoqualmie Casino in Washington State offers 51,000 square feet of gaming space, with anywhere from 4,000 to 6,000 people passing through the casino each day. To combat the smoky odors, they employ ambient scent. Harold Ellebracht, director of facilities at Snoqualmie, emphasized just how much finding the right scent helped the casino.
“We are a smoking establishment, which has its unique challenges,” Ellebracht said. “We have issues with smoke odors in the fabrics and the carpets, and that’s why we needed the scenting system. We wanted something that was not overwhelming in the casino, something that would blend into the background, that would be an enhancement to our environment, rather than being the focus.”
The scent effect was so successful at blending in as a subtle enhancement that it wasn’t until a power surge occurred that Ellebracht realized how happy his guests were with the atmosphere. The surge cut the power supply to the HVAC system, where the Prolitec diffusers were installed, leaving the systems turned off.
“All of a sudden, I’m getting a lot of complaints about the smell of cigarette smoke in the casino,” Ellebracht said. It was then that Ellebracht decided to check on the scent systems and, to his surprise, they were off. When the system was turned back on, the malodor issues went away, along with the complaints. “It was at that point that I knew the system was working,” Ellebracht said.
Today, Snoqualmie continues to focus on providing the best gaming experience for their guests, without having to worry about the impact of smoke odors. Prolitec is an example of a fullservice provider, meaning their technicians perform regular maintenance to ensure the system is working efficiently.
“I have a lot of things on my plate and I don’t think about it,” Ellebracht said. “It’s been a fantastic deal the whole way around.”
When The Chips Are Down, You Can Depend On Scent
Creating a reassuringly clean atmosphere can be a big win for casinos. As players return, looking for a break from the anxiety of COVID-19, a pleasantly scented, odor-free atmosphere can give them feelings of reassurance and relaxation.
And when players feel comfortable, they stay longer and yes – spend more.
The Journal of Psychology and Marketing shows that pleasant scents can increase money spent in slot machines by up to 53 percent. Furthermore,
research indicates that a pleasant scent can cause customers to linger longer and spend more in
general.
“Everything smells like something, so it ought to be something good,” Prolitec CEO Richard Weening said. “Scent is an excellent way to reinforce a refreshing atmosphere, encouraging people to stay and play.”
Companies like Prolitec and Ambius have been using scent to get people to “stay and play” from casinos in Las Vegas to Macau, the gambling capitals of the world.
Sudhir Kalé, marketing consultant for many casinos in Macau, such as City of Dreams and Star World, explains why this type of scenting has such a powerful impact on people and increases the likelihood guests will stay. “Our sense of smell is the only [sense] that circumvents our rational sense of thinking and connects directly to the emotions,” he explained.
In fact, research echoes Kalé’s sentiments, reporting that nearly 75 percent of the emotions we generate on a daily basis are affected by smell, which encourages guests to feel good, spend money and increase revenue.
Casinos aren’t rolling the dice on player satisfaction as we emerge from the pandemic. They are turning to ambient-scent providers to alleviate lingering uncertainty in the air, and reassure guests their spaces are clean and safe. And happy, reassured players are indeed the real jackpot.
