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Supre-sonic branding: the power of in-store music

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Michael Burrows is director of Brand Music, international award-winning innovators of sonic branding, jingle and radio campaigns. Michael also sits on the board of the Advertising Institute of Australasia.

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What is it about the sound of brands that gets me going? Why do I spend so many hours loitering in shopping centers with my ears pressed against windows trying to gauge the soundscapes or lack of soundscapes permeating from within?

The other day I happened to walk into the tween megsatore Supre, you know the one with teenie-boppers and not so teenie-boppers (my wife included) dancing around the store flicking through racks of fluorescent rock n roll garb and size 8 hot pants that makes you feel like your watching a Cindy Lauper video clip.

Anyway, amidst the sixteen candles ambience, I noticed how clever the marketing department must be. They have an actual radio show complete with advertising, pre-programmed into the music, so while you are rummaging you are also being subconsciously coerced to time-warp to the left towards the latest dresses and Duran-Duran headband apparel. This was retail branding at its electro beat best.

While I can’t hang around there too much for obvious reasons, it is a great example of a brand reading their market correctly and building in a sound to capture the soul and energy of the shopping experience. The sound of the cash registers (which seemed to even be in the same key as the music) were opening and closing rapidly just ahead of the beat, so they must be doing something right.

Has anyone seen (or heard!) another retail brand with something similar going on?

2 Comments

Gerry
  • Wrote on 7 May, at 11:15AM
I did my PR Masters thesis in Audio Branding, so I share your aural brand fixation - and think it's a hugely overlooked and high potential area. A UK company that uses sonic branding really well is the coffee house chain Beanscene, whose MD I think personally programs his own internet radio station playlist, which is used across 12 or so retail units; sound can be infinitely more vibe-alicious than vision.
brandmusic
  • Wrote on 7 May, at 03:19PM
Gerry, you are right, the aural branding movement is certainly growing throughout the world as brands begin to search for their voice. I will look into the Beanscene brand and find out more. Id love to read your thesis. I hope you developed your own sonic logo for the document.

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