Will Fear of Missing Out Spur Sales for Fragrance Company?
I received a curious marketing email from Scent Matchers, a company that re-creates discontinued fragrances. Last year, I purchased a replication of my dad’s favorite aftershave from years past. Here are the details:
In an attempt to inspire FOMO (fear of missing out) in customers, the email includes lines like, “Keep in mind, after we close, you will NOT BE ABLE TO ORDER FROM US AGAIN,” and “Again these are full priced orders, but I don’t feel too bad about that, had we been making loads of money we wouldn’t be going out of business (haha).”
This email reminds me of the rug retailer a few blocks from my office that has been going out of business for as long as I can remember. Is the business really closing, or is this a sneaky marketing ploy? The Scent Matchers’ website doesn’t mention anything about the business shutting down.
A more interesting question is, Will it work? Will customers panic that their favorite fragrances will disappear once again and order in bulk? Or, are consumers more savvy than that, and will they see through the possible deception?
Tricking Customers is Always a Bad Business Move
If the company remains open after the New Year, customers will lose respect for the business and stop trusting it. Scent Matchers might enjoy a bump in sales before Christmas, but they will have exhausted the potential from existing customers. Customers may prefer to find a new favorite fragrance instead of supporting a company that thinks it can earn business through tricking them.
