Ahead by a Nose

The sweet smell of success was in the air at the Frankfurt Book Fair this year when Bonnier Publishing revealed the latest thing in children's books - a new kind of smelly book.

Using new technology based on micro encapsulation, the scents are touch activated, can be made to replicate any smell, from pineapples to old trainers, and crucially for books, have a shelf life of up to three years.

Bonnier Publishing has set up a new division, Smellessence, and will launch with three adventure story books and a charity-led title, with more to come in 2012.

"This is advanced technology and the smells it creates are so real they take children's reading to a magical new level," says Perminder Mann, newly appointed managing director of Smellessence, a role she will focus solely on starting Jan. 1. "We've come up with something completely new for books. We wanted to make books more toy-like and this is a powerful way to do just that."

Smellessence has the sole global licence for the technology for use in books, which has only been used so far in the textiles and cosmetics industries. "It's a big licensing opportunity for us," says Mann. "We are aiming to use the smell technology on printed material, in innovative ways across the whole Bonnier Publishing group and wider if opportunities allow. We are open to consider sub-licensing this technology to any of the other Bonnier companies.

"We also plan to take the brand outside the book and get it into a range of different products. We'll have a major release in March, so stay tuned!"

Smellessence is the latest innovation to flow from Bonnier Publishing's development group, Blink.  The brainchild of Bonnier Publishing CEO Richard Johnson, the Blink team explores new opportunities, gauges markets and writes business plans for products that have synergies among the different publishers within the Bonnier Publishing group. It is currently looking at major U.K. license opportunities in the U.K. and will shortly be announcing a major license deal with Mattel.