Sending smells

‘Until now, no one has figured out how to deliver scent as a true messaging platform,’ explains Harvard professor and oMedia founder David Edwards. In our visually stimulated world, consumers are used to sending texts, pictures, videos and voice notes to each other, and oNotes is hoping to bring scent into the contemporary conversation. Using the oNotes app, people can share the smells around them by choosing from an extensive list of pre-captured scents. Once received, a message will release a scent on the desktop oPhone or on a wearable oBracelet. ‘We are starting to build the platform with diverse partners in the fashion, food, literary, entertainment and automotive fields,’ says Edwards, who has worked on a partnership with Magnum on a range of scented wraps using oNotes.

The Big Picture: Find out how brands and marketers are using scent to stand out using our Big Idea interview with Professor Charles Spence.