Scent & the City

Rising from Vienna’s central square is the breathtaking Stephansdom, among the world’s tallest cathedrals. Underground there’s a railway station, Stephansplatz, that’s astounding for its own peculiar reason. It stinks to high heaven, giving new meaning to Vienna’s power to steal one’s breath away.

We found opportunity in that stench (caused by a bonding agent that prevents the sandy ground from sinking into the netherworld).

We wondered: What if Stephansplatz were deodorized? Answer: It would pass the sniff test a quarter-million times daily and provide the ideal setting for introducing Austrians to Borotalco, a super-fragrant, double-effective deodorant by Bolton. The brand—already a market leader in Italy—sought to bust into the Austrian market.

So we transformed Stephansplatz from “foul central” into a mystery scent oasis. The team spread the scent in the ventilation system. It wafted across platforms, through trains, and up 23 escalators.

Noses noticed. As travelers wondered if their nose was playing tricks, the team used 100+ digital screens to tickle curiosity. For three days, screen messages invited people to “Take a deep breath!” Soon, once-stinky Stephansplatz became a U-Bahn must-stop.

The “Stephansplatz mystery” made headlines. On the fourth day, the team ended the mystery by splashing the Borotalco logo on “oasis” screens, distributing samples, and conducting interviews.

The campaign garnered 1.7+ million media impressions, and led Austrians by the nose to Borotalco. In under a month, it gained 2% market share; in 3 months, it met annual sales projections, becoming a top-selling deodorant in Austria’s largest drug stores. Now Bolton wants to spread mystery scent oases across Europe.

The Great Viennese Smell-over

Teaming up with the public transport operator and a scent expert, we spread Borotalco’s distinctive scent through the ventilation system for three days, giving Stephansplatz a thorough “smell-over.” We knew we’d make 250,000+ passengers breathe a lot easier each day.

As we seduced noses, we built curiosity, giving commuters an eyeful. We scrolled phrases across the station’s 100+ digital screens: “Take a deep breath!” “Smell anything different?”

Word quickly spread. Overnight, Stephansplatz became the most aromatic stop in town, a respite for weary noses. People gravitated there to sniff freely.

For three days, the mystery deepened. Passengers posed questions on trains and on social media. Vienna’s largest daily, Heute, which is distributed in railway stations, asked the question tickling everyone’s nose: What could possibly make once-reeking Stephansplatz smell so damned good? And then, on day four, which was International Fragrance Day — the Big Reveal: We splashed the Borotalco logo across Stephansplatz screens and distributed 19,000 samples throughout the week.

The campaign transformed a horrid-smelling underground station into a Scent Oasis, doing millions of noses a favour and making a new scent the talk of Vienna. Austrians followed their noses to sales counters.

•Borotalco captured 2% market share in under a month

•In 3 months, it met annual sales projections

•Austria’s biggest drug store retailer reported it was the 15th best-selling deodorant (out of 240) during launch week

•Reached 1.6 million passengers in 7 days, and 1.7+ million Austrians via social media and Austria’s biggest print outlets, like Heute and Kronen Zeitung

•100% of interviewed passengers welcomed the scent

•Ranked as the 7th most remembered product launches in 2014 (by Regal Magazine, Austria’s largest B2B retail publication)

•Bolton is now launching scent oases across Europe

After the campaign, Stephansplatz resumed its usual stink. But the Borotalco brand intends to have a lingering effect. This summer, Bolton will return to Stephansplatz in commemoration of Europe’s first scent oasis and plans another round of relief for passengers.