Audio Marketing is much more than background music

A few days ago, we came across this article written by Celestino Martinez for PuroMarketing.com, one of the most widely read marketing blogs in the Spanish-speaking world. It appropriately clarifies and summarizes the implications of Audio Marketing and its importance for all types of companies that want to communicate and create deep connections between their brand and their customers:

It is highly likely that music predates speech in the history of human evolution. What is beyond doubt is that our brains react to any exposure to it. Some effects of music have been known for thousands of years, from its use in certain cultures as a vehicle to enter trance states to the well-known saying that it "soothes the savage beast."

The latest discoveries in neuroscience have revealed that music stimulates several regions of the brain simultaneously, especially the one responsible for emotions. Applied neuroscience in marketing, known as neuromarketing, has shown and confirmed some surprising effects of Audio Marketing, which we could define as the use of sound or music to influence consumer behavior. In most marketing techniques, the goal is to help sell a product or a brand. As we will see, in some cases, the use of these techniques crosses the line of ethics.

We can remember music we have heard before birth.

According to Martin Lindstrom in his latest book, "Brandwashed," a study conducted by Peter Hepper from Queen's University of Belfast found that babies, between two and four days old, were soothed by listening to the main theme of a TV series that their mothers had watched during pregnancy. One could think of the relaxing effects of music, but they didn't show the same behavior with other musical themes.

Music induces emotional states.

We all have songs or music that puts us in a good mood, relaxes us, or makes us sad. Retail chains and shopping centers are well aware of this.

In an Asian chain of shopping centers, they designed a series of actions targeting pregnant women, considering them an interesting customer profile due to the significant number of purchases associated with motherhood. In addition to sprinkling baby powder in the baby product areas, an olfactory marketing technique, they programmed relaxing music from the era when these women were girls. They aimed to evoke positive childhood memories.

In addition to increasing sales, there was another "side effect" that no one expected. One year after starting these actions, many mothers reported that their babies relaxed and calmed down upon entering that shopping center, not others.

The infants were able to reproduce the pleasant sensations they had in their mothers' wombs based on the combined music, scent, and their mothers' more relaxed heartbeats.

Music increases the production of the "happiness hormone."

Music stimulates various regions of the brain. When the music relaxes us or we enjoy it, our bodies increase the production of endorphins, a hormone that boosts joy and eliminates pain, creating a sense of happiness and well-being. Obviously, this state enhances our willingness to buy. This is one of the reasons for using Audio Marketing in commerce.

The rhythm of music influences your activity.

Our hearts tend to synchronize with the rhythm of music, specifically with the lower tones. In pop and rock music, these sounds are often the beats of the bass drum. That's why slow music relaxes us and makes us take things more calmly.

Store managers utilize this because they know that the longer customers spend in the store, the more opportunities for purchases. However, during peak customer traffic or in sales with only one chance for a purchase (such as hospitality or fast food), faster rhythms are used to keep customers "flowing" or even to make them chew faster.

Music provides intimacy.

One of the most widespread uses of music in commerce is to provide a certain level of privacy. The goal is to allow customers to speak or comment without being heard by other customers or salespeople. It also creates an atmosphere that helps "break the ice" and facilitates action.

Sounds matter too.

Certain Nike stores in the USA use basketball bouncing sounds and other sounds related to the practice of the sport as ambient elements.

Some supermarkets have conducted experiments, for example, in the fishery sections, where instead of masking the smell of fish, they combine it with scents of Provencal herbs and sounds of the sea and seagulls, transforming the shopping experience in this previously unpleasant section into a journey to a small fishing port on the French coast.

Music makes you travel.

According to an experiment conducted by researchers at the University of Leicester in the wine section of a large supermarket, 77% of consumers bought French wine on the day when French music was used as background music. Interestingly, sales of German wines were concentrated on the day when the background music was German.

Music attracts your "tribe."

In niche stores, that is, those targeted at very specific customer profiles, also known as "tribes" in marketing jargon, music acts as a distinctive element and even as an attraction to the outside world.

The quality of music can make you thoughtless.

You've probably experienced this before: you're driving in your car, listening to your favorite music at a high volume, and when you have to park, you instinctively lower the volume. This is not a coincidence; it is because music, or any loud and/or jarring noise, impairs concentration and thus the ability to make rational decisions.

So, the next time you're in a commercial environment and the volume or sound quality bothers you, they might be trying to provoke an impulsive purchase.

Music as a deterrent.

Surely, you have been horrified or have not even entered a store where you found the music volume to be too high and the music style uncomfortable. This is not accidental. This type of ambiance is intended for customers who typically listen to this type of music at that volume, generally in clubs and pubs.

This ambiance is designed to make customers, usually teenagers, feel comfortable while making their parents prefer to wait outside or not come at all. In other words, this ambiance pushes parents out of the store.

Timing matters.

Customer orientation is crucial in Audio Marketing. Therefore, well-designed ambiances take into account the customer's mood and differentiate, for example, between a Monday and a Saturday, a spring day and an autumn one, three in the afternoon and eight at night, or Valentine's Day and Christmas, programming specific music for each day on a daily basis, considering these moods as a starting point and aiming to improve them.

Audio Marketing is much more than background music.

Background music still exists but with greater possibilities. However, large companies like Inditex have specialists in their marketing departments who treat musical ambiance as another element of branding (Audio Branding), as another part of the brand's identity.

These companies have music and marketing experts who create daily selections for their stores, taking into account many of the aspects discussed in the article. In some cases, these systems can be customized for each location, based on specific situations such as the level of foot traffic or other factors.

With the incredible growth of technology possibilities, we will see this important part of Sensory Marketing evolve and expand even more. Therefore, Audio Marketing is sure to generate a lot of discussion in the coming years.

Source: Comunico, luego Vendo