Hotels Use Scents and Sounds to Evoke Memories
精選香味音樂 飯店挑引顧客回憶
By Susan Stellin
The next time you walk into a hotel, close your eyes, listen and inhale. There may even be a water fountain you can run your fingers through or a treat you can taste.
下次走進大飯店，請閉上眼睛傾聽並吸氣。飯店裡甚至可能有噴泉，讓你的手指劃過淙淙流水，或有免費招待，供你品嚐。
That is because the latest trend in hotel design is to appeal to all five of a guest’s senses, offering what may be described as a “sensory stay.”
那是因為飯店設計的最新趨勢，是迎合客人的所有五種感官，提供或可形容為「感官停留」的服務。
From infusing the lobby with a light fragrance to playing a customized soundtrack that changes throughout the day, the goal is to create a memorable experience that guests can smell, hear and feel.
從讓大廳充滿淡淡的幽香，到播放隨著每天不同時段精選的音樂，目標都是創造一個能讓顧客聞到、聽到、感覺到的難忘經驗。
“The future of hotel branding is when there are no logos, no advertisements blasting, but I can just feel I’m there,” said Martin Lindstrom, author of “Brand Sense,” which explores the notion of sensory branding.
「未來的飯店品牌沒有圖案標誌、沒有廣告轟炸，卻能感到我就在那裡。」研究感官品牌概念，著有「品牌感」的馬丁‧林茲壯說。
Retailers were among the first to use music and scent to influence customer behavior – diffusing a chocolate smell, for instance, to entice customers to buy candy – but the hospitality industry is pursuing a more subtle agenda.
最早用音樂和香味來影響消費者行為的是零售業等業者，例如釋出巧克力香味，來引誘消費者購買糖果，但服務業追求的是更複雜微妙的目標。
“They want to create a point of difference,” Mr. Lindstrom said, explaining that a well-chosen playlist or fragrance not only creates a pleasant experience at the hotel, but can also evoke positive memories through CDs or scented shampoos guests take away.
林茲壯說：「他們想創造一個相異點。」他解釋說，精選的播放曲目或香味，不但能創造下榻飯店的歡樂經驗，也能透過CD或顧客帶走的香郁洗髮精喚起美好回憶。
“If you had that shampoo at home,” he said, “it would release the whole emotional feeling you had during your journey.”
「如果你家裡有那種洗髮精，」他說：「它就會釋放出你在旅行期間的整個情緒。」
Some of the hotel chains that have created signature scents are Westin Hotels and Resorts, whose white tea aroma spawned a line of retail products and appeared in fragrance strips as part of an advertising campaign; Omni Hotels, which infuses its lobbies with a lemongrass and green tea scent; and the Morgans Hotel Group, owner of boutique hotels, like the Royalton in New York City, each with a unique fragrance.
已創造代表性香味的連鎖飯店，包括威斯汀飯店集團（他們的白茶香衍生一系列零售產品，並在一項廣告行銷活動中出現在香味紙條裡）、奧麗酒店（他們讓大廳充滿檸檬香茅和綠茶香），以及擁有紐約美倫酒店等精品飯店的摩根酒店集團，每家都有獨特的香味。
These scents can be delivered through heating and cooling systems or toaster-size devices provided by companies like ScentAir
這些香味可透過冷暖氣系統分送，或者用香氣公司等廠商提供大小如烤麵包機的儀器散布。
“The scent is subtle, so it’s not like people walk in and say, ‘Wow, that lemongrass and green tea really smells great,’ ” said Caryn Kboudi, a spokeswoman for Omni Hotels. “They might notice the lobby smells great or it smells fresh.”
奧麗酒店發言人卡琳‧柯波迪說：「香味若有似無，所以客人不會一走進來就說：『哇！檸檬香茅和綠茶聞起來真香』。他們可能會注意到大廳聞起來很棒或很清新。」
Hotels have also taken pains to avoid fragrances that may provoke an allergic reaction, which is why Westin stayed away from florals or citrus, said Sue Brush, senior vice president for the brand.
威斯汀飯店集團資深副總裁蘇伊‧布拉許說，飯店還費盡心思，避免香味引起過敏反應，這也是威斯汀飯店不用花香或柑橘香的緣故。
Omni has taken its sensory branding initiative beyond the lobby, adding blueberry-scented stickers to newspapers distributed to guests and outfitting some hotels with in-room “sensation bars” stocked with items like eucalyptus bath salts.
奧麗酒店集團不止在酒店大廳呈現感官品牌，還在分送給客人的報紙貼上藍莓香貼紙，並為旗下許多酒店的客房配置「感官吧」，供應尤加利精油沐浴鹽等產品。
Like many hotels, Omni is also paying more attention to the music played in public spaces, developing playlists that are customized for each property, as well as the time of day.
一如許多飯店，奧麗對在公共空間播放的音樂也投注很多心力，根據每個場所和每天不同的時段精選播放曲目。
“We realized that when business travelers are getting out the door in the morning, we need to be putting a little bit of beat in their step,” Ms. Kboudi said, explaining that this has led to a move away from classical music or jazz during the morning shift. “At night, then we go into something that’s a little bit softer and slower, a little more mellow.”
柯波迪女士說：「我們了解，商務旅客早上出門時，我們得讓他們的腳步輕快一點。」她解釋說，因此早班期間不放古典樂或爵士樂，「晚上，我們就播柔和一點、節奏慢一點、甜美一點的曲子。」
Allen Klevens, chief executive of Prescriptive Music, a consulting business that helps clients develop these types of soundtracks, said hotels are looking to distinguish themselves by shunning the ubiquitous sound of smooth jazz and even playing tunes guests do not necessarily recognize.
Prescriptive Music是協助客戶開發這類音樂的顧問公司，該公司執行長艾倫‧克雷文斯說，飯店為使自己與別人有所區隔，正避開無所不在、柔順平緩的爵士樂，甚至播放客人未必聽過的音樂。
“If you hear music such as Sheryl Crow or Dave Matthews, that’s a familiar sound to most people,” Mr. Klevens said. “But to really create a vibe or that feeling of being different, you’re not going to know that artist, you’re not going to know that sound, but you’re going to say, ‘Wow, where can I get that CD?’ ”
「如果你聽諸如雪瑞兒可洛或大衛馬修的音樂，那是大多數人都很熟悉的樂曲，」克雷文斯說：「但要真的創造一種氣氛或與眾不同的感覺，你不必知道那位樂手，你不必知道那個音樂，你會說：『哇！我到那裡可以找到那張CD？』」
In fact, guests can sometimes buy a CD or download the songs online.
事實上，飯店客人有時可以上網買到CD或下載音樂。
But with all this emphasis on appealing to guests’ five senses, there is a risk of inducing sensory overload. “The sound needs to add value to the customer experience,” said Julian Treasure, author of the book “Sound Business” and head of the Sound Agency, a consulting business based in London. “I have visited a number of boutique hotels where you feel there is a little bit of self-indulgence going on.”
但過分強調吸引顧客的五種感官，有導致感官過度負荷的風險。著有《聲音商業》一書的倫敦顧問公司「聲音社」負責人朱利安‧崔瑟爾說：「聲音需要對顧客的經驗加值，我造訪過幾家精品飯店，覺得那裡有點自我放縱的味道。」
Mr. Treasure said companies should examine the entire “soundscape” of their hotels – not just the music playing in the background, but also the noise reverberating around rooms built with hard materials like wood and granite. And when it comes to sound design, he said he did not think guest rooms should be off limits.
崔瑟爾表示，公司應該檢討整個飯店的「聲境」，不只檢討飯店播放的背景音樂，也應檢討用木頭和花崗岩等堅硬建材建造的客房四周所反射的噪音。而談到聲音設計，他說，他不認為客房就不可改造。
“At the moment, the only way you can change the soundscape is to turn on the television, which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea,” he said.
「目前唯一能改變房間聲境的方法是打開電視，但並非人人愛看電視，」他說。
原文參照http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/09/11/business/11scents.html
2007-09-24/聯合報/B4版/UNITED DAILY NEWS 呂理甡 原文請見9月24日紐時周報五版右上
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