Vietnam Airlines' 'Elegance': Unique scent and ambition to 'anchor' passengers' memories

(Chinhphu.vn) - As the first airline in Vietnam to introduce its own branded scent named "Elegant", created from ingredients imbued with Vietnamese identity such as Lotus, Green Rice, Tea, Grapefruit and Mandarin, Vietnam Airlines marks its transformation from a mere carrier to an experience brand, where each journey is not only felt by sight and hearing, but also touches the sense of smell and emotions of passengers.

Every time we step through the plane door, we usually expect a familiar scent: the smell of filtered, recirculated air, the distinctive cabin scent, the coldness of metal. But from November 1, something is different.

‏A gentle, elegant, refined, and surprisingly familiar scent, like a warm afternoon tea, where the lotus scent gently spreads in the wind, pure and gentle like the scent wafting over a summer lake. That is LotuScent, the olfactory greeting that Vietnam Airlines has just officially launched, and is also the first airline in Vietnam to own its own identifying scent.‏

Is this just a luxury "fragrance" detail? Or is it a carefully calculated strategic move, hidden behind a complex technical problem that not everyone sees?

The Power of Primitive Senses

In the context of a very vibrant aviation market with competition mainly on price, flight time and some accompanying services, Vietnam Airlines understands that, with its high-end positioning, it will need to choose a different path. The airline does not only compete with what customers see, but also starts competing with what customers remember.

And nothing holds memories more powerfully than scent. Science has proven that smell is the most primitive sense, a "shortcut" that goes straight to the emotional and memory center of the brain. A scent can evoke a memory that has been dormant for 20 years or forgotten emotions.

‏Customer experience masters like airlines and many international 5-star hotel chains have realized this early on. They create exclusive scents not to sell a product, but to create a "memory anchor".

‏With LotuScent, Vietnam Airlines drops an invisible anchor into the subconscious of passengers. The airline hopes that, many years later, when you accidentally smell a similar scent, your subconscious will automatically "play" back the feeling of relaxation and class of a 5-star flight.‏

The scent will be released during two special moments - welcoming and seeing off passengers - as a unique "fragrance ritual", helping to create a feeling of relaxation at the beginning and at the end, as a memory of a beautiful and complete journey.

As shared by Vietnam Airlines Deputy General Director, Mr. Dang Anh Tuan: "Not only do we pay attention to tangible elements, we also invest in intangible experiences, where emotions and brand impressions are spread.

The challenge of distilling "Vietnamese soul"

If they only needed to create a luxurious scent, Vietnam Airlines could easily choose a French Lavender or Middle Eastern Agarwood formula. Their task was much more difficult: How to "bottle" Vietnamese culture? How to create a scent that is both pleasing to the Vietnamese, evoking a sense of closeness and pride, and also attractive to international visitors, evoking sophistication and worth exploring ?

‏With perfume artist Rei Nguyen and a team of Vietnamese experts, Vietnam Airlines has created a symphony in which each note is a heritage. It is a scent that is both familiar and new. The main note is the gentle Tam Coc Lotus, which is the DNA of the brand (Golden Lotus) and a symbol of elegance. The note of depth is the deep Thai Nguyen black tea, evoking the hospitality culture of the Vietnamese people that is both warm and sophisticated. The note of surprise is the fresh young Com Lang Vong. And to balance it all, bringing the initial refreshing feeling, is the coolness of Thanh Tra grapefruit, Lai Vung grapefruit, and Doan Hung grapefruit.‏

By choosing these ingredients, Vietnam Airlines has told a cultural story, a tribute to the roots of Vietnamese culture. For international visitors, it is the most delicate welcome to Vietnam. And for Vietnamese people, it is the feeling of "coming home".

‏This strategy sounds very effective, but it also comes with extremely strict operational requirements that not every airline can copy.‏

Scent is highly subjective. A scent that smells great to one person may not really please another. Especially in a closed and cyclical space like an airplane, choosing a scent that is just enough, elegant, and gentle enough to please hundreds of people requires delicate consideration.

‏But the most important thing is the technical and safety issue. This is not about spraying perfume in the cabin. Unlike an open-plan hotel lobby, an airplane cabin is a closed, pressurized space, using recirculated air filtered through HEPA filters.‏

As Vietnam Airlines describes LotuScent - the scent used in the aircraft cabin called "Fragrance follows the wind to the sky" - in order to "stay" in the air, it must pass a series of the most stringent aviation safety tests: the formula is non-toxic, does not cause allergies even when inhaled continuously, and is absolutely non-flammable.

‏Then there’s the technical challenge. How does the scent diffuse evenly throughout a giant Airbus A350 or Boeing 787, with HEPA filters constantly cleaning the air? It requires a specialized diffusion system, calculated to spread the scent during the two “golden” moments of the journey: boarding and departing passengers.‏

‏Finally, there is the issue of ensuring consistency. A brand scent will fail if it is not consistent. Vietnam Airlines has carefully calculated this. From the original scent tone, artist Rei Nguyen and the design team continue to research and develop separate scent variations, suitable for each service space, the goal is to ensure a unified identity and a harmonious experience across the system. In the future, these variations will be deployed at other important touch points such as business lounges and airplane restrooms.‏

‏Investment in invisible details, commitment to top-notch operational capacity to perfect a 5-star experience imbued with Vietnamese culture... is what defines the class of Vietnam Airlines.‏

The national airline has spent many years upgrading tangible values ​​such as new fleet, new uniforms, service quality, business lounge, classy Check-in Lounge... The maturity of the brand is the time for LotuScent to be born, creating a new "invisible" piece, connecting all those separate experiences with a single emotional thread, contributing to the completion of a complete flight journey, where each sense is delicately cared for.

‏This is not just a service improvement but a mindset shift. Vietnam Airlines is moving from a mere transport business to an experience brand, winning the hearts of high-end customers.

PT

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Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/nha-cua-vietnam-airlines-mui-huong-doc-ban-va-tham-vong-tha-neo-vao-ky-uc-hanh-khach-102251031151417491.htm