Customers remember the box, not you: when local brands overlook the scent dimension

A serum bottle displayed on the shelf at Watsons. The packaging is pristine white, with a clean font and a light yellow hue at the shoulder of the bottle. A customer picks it up, opens the cap, takes a whiff, and then puts it down. They remember that scent for a few seconds, but when they get home, what they recall is "the yellow serum I smelled yesterday," not the brand name. This is not just an issue with one product. It is a systemic issue affecting most domestic Vietnamese cosmetic brands that are building identity on one leg.

Why scent is a memory asset

Among the senses, smell is the only channel that connects directly to the limbic system, the area that processes emotions and long-term memories. It does not pass through the thalamus like sight and hearing. Therefore, a scent can evoke memories and emotions before the brain has time to recognize and name it.

Psychologist Rachel Herz, in her research on olfactory memory at Brown University, noted that memories associated with scents are often recalled with stronger emotions. The feeling of "going back in time" is also clearer compared to visual or auditory memories. This is the mechanism that luxury brands have long exploited, but most domestic brands in the beauty industry have yet to see this as a strategic issue.

When almost every product can be copied in terms of formula and packaging within months, the hardest thing to replicate is often the least invested in. That is a consistent sensory signature, where scent is an invisible layer of identity.

Similar crises and the third dimension left empty

The Vietnamese cosmetics market is importing over 1.3 billion USD annually, a 17% increase compared to the previous year (according to the General Department of Customs, 2023). Domestic products account for less than 10% of market share. In this context, many domestic brands choose the shortest path to compete. They invest in beautiful packaging and social media advertising, hoping that differentiation will come from visual appeal.

The problem is that everyone is doing that. When fifty serum bottles on the shelf all have minimalist designs, clean fonts, and neutral colors, no one truly stands out. The visual aspect is saturated. However, the olfactory dimension is still being neglected, and that is the whitespace that any brand entering first will gain a significant advantage over time.

A brand is the feeling in the gut of the user, not the logo, not the packaging.

Marty Neumeier, The Brand Gap

If a brand is a perception, then each time a customer opens a jar, it is a moment when the brand reaches them through a channel that most competitors are neglecting. Ignoring this dimension is giving up the identity territory to others.

Scent identity is not about choosing pleasant smells

The most common misunderstanding is confusing "choosing a scent for a product" with "building a scent identity for a brand." These two tasks are fundamentally different.

Choosing a pleasant scent is a product decision. The fragrance mixer often decides based on market trends, raw material costs, and blending capabilities. As a result, each product in the line may have a different scent, or worse, the same scent that no one remembers as a brand identifier.

Building a scent identity is a brand decision. It starts with the question: what feelings does this brand want to evoke, and in what usage context? And which scent can become a distinctive asset, as understood by Jenni Romaniuk, meaning it is both easily recognizable and not confused with others.

A brand can decide that the entire line of night skincare will share a common scent: oud, light jasmine, and a hint of soft musk. Each time a customer opens a product in the evening, that signal is repeated. According to the mental availability mechanism described by Byron Sharp, this consistent repetition helps that scent become a recognition point for the brand. It is no longer just a characteristic of one product.

Cocoon and the lesson on consistent feelings

Among Vietnamese local cosmetic brands, Cocoon is a rare example that has built a consistent sensory system. This brand not only invests in packaging or the story of local ingredients but also has a clear sensory personality: fresh, natural, approachable, and not overly complex. The scent profile across many products accurately reflects that personality, creating a connection between visual and olfactory senses.

The measurable results in a specific product line are noteworthy.

Three questions to answer before choosing a scent

If you are building or repositioning a cosmetics brand, here are three strategic questions that need answers. Answer them before talking to the fragrance creator or formula mixer.

• What feeling does this scent represent, not what ingredients it contains. "Shea butter scent" describes the formula. "The feeling of being cared for like at home, a quiet evening" is the positioning of the feeling. The latter is the brief for the fragrance creator.
• Can this scent be consistent across the product line? If each product has a unique scent due to formula or cost reasons, you are not building an identity. You are selling each product individually, with no relationship to one another.
• Does this scent have the potential to become a distinctive asset, or is it just a pleasant scent? A distinctive asset, as defined by Romaniuk, must be familiar to customers who have used it, yet unique enough to avoid confusion. A scent that is too generic, such as neutral rose or bergamot orange, may be pleasant but fails to accumulate a unique identity for you.

Packaging is still important, but not enough on its own

That does not mean investing in packaging is wrong. Packaging is the layer of visual identity. It attracts customers to stop at the shelf and creates the first impression in just fifty milliseconds, according to research by Lindgaard and colleagues (Behaviour and Information Technology, 2006). But packaging is what customers see, while fragrance is what they feel and take home.

A complete cosmetics brand must excel in both dimensions. Visual identity builds recognition on the shelf and on screen. Olfactory identity builds recognition in real usage spaces, every morning and evening when customers open the bottle. These are two touchpoints with very different frequencies and emotional intensities. Neglecting the second dimension leaves open the opportunity to build the greatest brand value that this industry has.

Customers remember the box because they see it. But they remember the brand because they feel it, every day, through a scent that their brain has learned to associate with your name.