Warm Welcome Magazine - September Issue

Page 28

The perfect playlist for your business The hospitality industry, along with

leisure and retail have been some of the most impacted sectors since the start of the Covid pandemic. Now that shops and venues are starting to reopen across the country, it has never been so important to create a welcoming atmosphere for new and returning customers… but how do you create the right atmosphere? Besides the general architecture of a venue, to offer warm welcome it is essential to create the right balance of lighting, interior design and hospitable staff. But by far the most important element of this balance, and one that can be overlooked, is music. Music can set the tone, reflecting the style and atmosphere of your brand instantly. Following sight, sound is the strongest impulse in cross-modal psychology according to Professor Charles Spence, head of Oxford University’s Crossmodal Research group. Crossmodal perception occurs when two or more senses interact with each other, which can heavily influence a customer’s ‘Approach or Avoid’ reaction. This is the vital difference

between a potential client being attracted to your venue or avoiding it completely. Creating the right ambience can lead to much richer multi-sensory memories and experiences. Top tier brands are now exploring sensploration to investigate how their sales could improve dramatically as the links with sound become more apparent. Additional research has also shown how the impact of the tempo, the tone and genre of music can have an effect on customer foot traffic. Slower music will naturally reduce the speed of customer movement through an establishment whereas fast paced music may decrease the amount of time a customer spends in an establishment, if not used in the correct manner. Another example presented by Professor Charles Spence is how in a food establishment the pitch of music can affect a consumer’s experience. High pitch music may bring out the sweetness of a dish whereas deeper tones may bring out the bitterness of a dish, maximise superadditive and allow senses to work together to enhance an individual’s experience. The tone, along with genre of music, can impact purchasing choice and price points. In the same manner that the quality of linen or cutlery can affect a customer’s impression of an establishment – the right music within an environment has a direct connection with the amount a customer may be willing to spend. Auracle Sound has been live streaming commercially licensed music channels to businesses across Europe

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since 2006. An established and reputable service with years of industry experience Auracle has offices in London and Berlin servicing the UK and Europe directly. They have a wide knowledge of the market forces and what it takes to get the music right. Thousands of new music releases are showcased everyday around the world from major labels, independent artists, digital distributors through to music blog aggregators - there is just too much choice for many businesses. To assess what music sets the mood best for a venue an abundance of time is needed. This is where Auracle Sound’s expertise can help. They supply the retail, hospitality and leisure industries with over 40 live channels in every conceivable genre of background music. These channels are frequently updated and randomised to create a spontaneous soundtrack each day. By building an ever expanding library of music with unlimited updates Auracle forgoes the repetition experienced from traditional hard disc services with more limited playlists. For Auracle Sound it is imperative that the initial library is large enough for the listener not to sense any repetition both for staff morale and repeat customers. With the advent of better broadband IP - audio streaming has become a reality. Auracle offers larger licensing limits which gives the customer a greater selection of music starting out and access to unlimited updates.


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