“This project stood out for its vivid and sensory approach to elevating the product. When you create a place that draws people in by speaking simply to their emotions, it’s a powerful communication tool.” —juror Keri Elmsly

“The installation is gorgeous, but making a brand like Glade cool and relevant is the real feat here. One for the consumer packaged goods record books.” —juror Ben Hughes

Overview: The Museum of Feelings smelled like millennial spirit. To show its target audience that scent has the power to change how they feel, the interactive New York City pop-up experience used fragrances to evoke emotions and turn them into art. Each scent-driven exhibit provoked different emotional responses that became part of the data in the building’s displays—only after users experienced firsthand that scents could spark feelings like energy, joy and optimism was it revealed that the 60-year-old brand, Glade, was behind the new-age experience. 

•The Museum of Feelings was the experiential component to the Feel Glade campaign.
•The 58,858 visitors who attended—some waited for more than four hours in line—spent an average of 37 minutes in the museum. 
•The project took one year to complete.

Comments by Sarah Dembkowski: 
What are the project’s core features? “The Museum of Feelings’ unbranded exterior was equally dramatic day or night, using a custom algorithm to display the feelings of Manhattan like a mood ring. Inside, fragrance-inspired exhibits translated emotions into LED lights, a massive kaleidoscope, rings of energy and tranquil clouds. MoodLens, the museum’s digital extension created in partnership with Twitter, was the world’s first ‘living’ selfie, changing color to reflect the user’s mood. The emotional selfies could also be experienced on a mobile device through a microsite that analyzed the user’s motion input. MoodLens selfies populated a Living Gallery, enabling on-site and online visitors to track the emotional status of cities around the world through data visualization.”

What was the thinking behind the navigation structure? “The 5,300-square-foot structure was developed with architecture and design firm Rockwell Group, multimedia studio RadicalMedia and the Tate Modern art gallery. A simple, yet modern design was utilized to drive interest, awareness and visitor traffic through a thoughtfully choreographed arc of five multisensory, scent-inspired exhibits. The experience culminated with a retail space filled with brand ambassadors in custom wardrobes designed by fashion designer Chromat, as well as curated fragrances that invited further interaction and exploration. An interactive scent table invited visitors to experience scent in a tactile, personal way.”

Are there any technical features you’d like to call attention to? “We used several sources of geo-focused real-time data. Location-based weather conditions, such as temperature, humidity and wind speed, were aggregated. Index and stock value ranges were pulled from the New York Stock Exchange. Keyword search sentiment was sourced from Twitter. The resulting data mix was assigned to one of eight key emotions. For the museum’s exterior, a color was assigned to the building each hour, and users creating unique MoodLens selfies had their photos manipulated based on these inputs. For example, if it was snowing in New York City, and the stock index was positive while people were tweeting positive sentiments, the output would be a joyful green color.”