Now, steak-scented billboard to entice hungry drivers

Imagine driving along the freeway and suddenly getting a whiff of what smells like a grilled steak—welcome to scent marketing, a concept proving popular with an increasing number of businesses.

America's first scented billboard, depicting a towering fork piercing a giant piece of meat, has been erected on the River Highway in Mooresville, North Carolina, pumping out the smell of grilled steak to promote the Bloom grocery chain's new line of beef.

A high-powered fan attached to the base of the billboard pole disperses the aroma of black pepper and charcoal by blowing air over cartridges loaded with fragrance oil.

Another US company, ice-cream chain Emack & Bolio's, has also boosted sales by setting up an "aroma billboard" sending out the scent of waffle cones to attract customers to its store in the Hard Rock Hotel in Orlando, Florida.

The company behind both billboards, ScentAir, says it's only a matter of time before we see similar signs in Australia, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

ScentAir's Terry Jacobson said the power of smells could not be overestimated.