What Six Hours in a Bath & Body Works Made Me Realize About Marketing

Two things to start—

First: Hello and welcome to my marketing blog! I hope you find what I have to say about marketing at least slightly more interesting than some of the other things you could be reading online (like the latest Buzzfeed article on Pumpkin Spice Latte-flavored recipes, which, by the way, look absolutely DELICIOUS! But it’s not like I still have the article opened in my web browser right now or anything.) 

Second: I just spent a whole lot of money on a salad that had about five pieces of spinach and arugula in it.

 I’m not even joking either.

I swear I couldn’t even see the salad in the bowl as it was being brought to my table.

Sad day.

So why did I even buy it in the first place?

Oh, right, because it was advertised pretty well and because it promised pumpkin seeds and apples on top.

Which makes me a prime example for how effective pumpkin-anything advertisements are in terms of getting consumers to buy something.

I mean, just ask Bath & Body Works about how much profit they’ve made since the Fall 2015 Collection released.

So let’s get right into that, shall we?

Let me just say, I’ve been working at Bath & Body Works for about six months now and I have never seen so many people get worked up over a Pumpkin Pecan Waffle scented candle.

Like probably not even for the real food.

So in the six hours of my shift today, after selling marshmallow scented candles and countless bottles of pumpkin latte body wash to both women and men alike, I realized how genius the marketing executives for Bath & Body works are.

 In this new line, there are tons of fragrances with names like: 

“Perfect Autumn Day”

“Pumpkin Cupcake”

“Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin”

“Lakeside Sunrise”

"Marshmallow Fireside"

“Flannel”

and loads more.

Kind of makes you hungry and oddly at ease, right?

No?

Then I’m sure “Plum Cider Warmth” or “Cozy Vanilla Cream,” will make you feel nice and cozy.

Well it did for one of the customers that I helped out today, anyway.

I was introducing her to the new Flannel candle, which smells like a mixture of a men’s cologne and fabric softener, and when I held the candle out for her to smell it, she closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and said,

“Aw! This smells just like my dad!”

Two minutes of small talk later, I was ringing her up at the Cash Wrap and sending her out into the world with a brand new candle that smelled like the father she hasn’t seen since she moved to Burlington.

Interesting, considering I just finished reading “Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy” and remembered Martin Lindstrom’s study that found people make purchases based off of emotional responses tucked neatly away in our subconscious.

This can also be seen as a somatic marker, which is a bookmark in our brains that connect an expereince or emotion with a specific, required reaction.

So after my shift ended, I went on the Bath & Body Works website and found their homepage loaded with somatic markers that taps into people’s emotions.

Just look at some these brilliant Ads:

Every single one of these ads seeks to recreate some type of holiday tradition tied in with Autumn, whether it be visting the pumpkin pathc, going apple picking (for us vermonters we know how sacred apple picking is!), going trick or treating or building campfires.

The advertisments set out to appeal to the emotions of consumers by reinventing familial traditions and inviting consumers to make their product a part of those traditions. 

In addition, their marketing promotes short-term immediate gratification. 

For example, this advertisment tells Bath & Body Works customers to treat themselves, with a "shop" button (not pictured) located just underneath the pumpkin. 

With phrases like, "your most loved moments," and "Grab your jacket and join us!" accompanying each ad, it is hard not to wonder about the scents and fragrances that promise the experience of a pumpkin patch in a bottle.

So next time you pass by a Bath & Body Works, try and remember what it is that brings you into the store.

Don't be surprised if you come out with six new fragrances and smell like you've been working in a candy factory all day.

$$$$

Ariana

P.S- Let me know if you make any of these in the comments below. You're welcome.

 Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipes