Every time Apple opens a new Apple Store, like the one that will open in Madrid in 2024, the company follows the same strategy: generate an aroma, a smell. Alongside careful decoration and professional attention, there are details that go unnoticed and which, in reality, are the key to the success of the brand. But not because of the way it perfumes the stores, but rather the boxes. For this reason, Apple is the largest importer of deodorants and perfumes in the world.
It’s hard to believe. Of course, this is a shocking statistic that urgently requires explanation, which we will dive headlong into.
Import technology, but also deodorants and perfumes
For some time now, the smell that Apple products give off when you open them for the first time has become a topic of discussion. For some people, even obsessionas demonstrated by the existence of Mac scented candles which appeared a few years ago.
Some time ago, on the podcast UnderUnderstood, which features two former iFixit employees, he investigated the theory that Apple products They are packaged with fragrance inside
The key comes from ImportYeti, a web service that lists companies that import products around the world. Classify them according to their suppliers, transaction volume, sector and country, among other variables. The file you have from Apple shows a series of very striking results. Below is the diagram:
Main product import blockages by Apple. At the bottom left, the section corresponding to deodorants and perfumes.
Some interesting inside information is revealed here. Among them, we find a set of headphones with microphone, lithium batteries, telephone sets, electrical elements and other electronic components. There are also data processing machines and equipment. So much for what is normal for a consumer electronics company. Samsung, in fact, has refrigerators, dishwashers, industrial equipment, auto parts and consumer electronics in its portfolio, as you would expect:
Largest importers of deodorants and perfumes in the world, w ith Apple in first and distant position.
But in Apple’s case, what gets the most attention is something called Personal deodorants, essential oils and other fragrances. Are we still talking about the same Apple? Indeed. Of course, this is not a section you expect to find when talking about Apple.
But it doesn’t stop there: when we venture into this game, we see to what extent Apple is the largest importer of perfumes in the world with 1,569 shipments since 2015. Almost double that of the second company, Royal Caribbean Cruises (a cruise line).
The reason for so much apple scent
Immediately, the hosts of UnderUnderstand wondered why Apple was the largest importer of perfume in the world. In their research, they found an answer on Quora given by Samad Siddiqui. This user indicates in his LinkedIn profile that he worked for over ten years at Apple, most of the time as a Genius. He answers the question of whether Apple has created a scent for the packaging of its products:
Yes. There are engineers who develop the scent that you can smell when you open the box of an Apple product. It is a curious essence with very different and complex elements.
This is not a joke. Siddiqui elaborates further in another Quora answer: where it points to products rather than stores as the origin
Apple stores don’t have a specific scent, but product packaging contains it. Think about all the boxes of Apple products that open every day in every Apple Store.
This smell is a complex combination of three or four different scents… it’s the smell of a new Apple product. It permeates the store and sometimes mixes with the smell of wood in the stores. It’s very distinctive. I’ve never felt it anywhere else.
So, according to this former Apple Genius, There is no perfume that company employees spray on every morning. in their stores. This is a smell deliberately created for the packaging, so that the user perceives it when opening the box. As a result, Apple Stores smell this way. And they generate a series of unique cognitive conditionings and sensations.
It would be great to know the creative process behind the creation of this perfume but it seems to be a secret like the Coca-Cola recipe. Apple has a habit of diving into the depths of an industry for their own creations, as happened with the Apple Watch. Of course, we are faced with an exciting topic about which only a few within the company can learn more.
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