Bruno Brookes - A Point of Sale | Immedia

According to a 2009 Institute of Sales Promotion (ISP) study, every year an eye-watering £25.6 billion is spent on point-of-sale material.

That includes £14.4 billion on plastic and cardboard promoting the ubiquitous BOGOFs (‘buy one get one free’ to you and me).

Why do I mention that statistic? Because I believe a lot of these billions pumped into visual displays is in fact wasted if retailers don’t also pay attention to sound – in particular, the sound of their brand.

Just as every brand conjures up certain visual images in a consumer’s mind, so it also has sounds associated with it. The sound of a high-street fashion retailer is very different to that of a high-end restaurant, for example. The point is, many brands are leaving ‘their sound’ to chance.

Often it depends on what members of staff decide to bring in from home, or which local radio station the store manager happens to prefer. This gives little thought to the impact sound has on shoppers: is what they’re hearing making them linger or head for the door? Is it creating an atmosphere that encourages them to buy? Is it – coming back to the ISP study – making them notice all those on-shelf promotions?

It’s a scientific fact that the eye follows the ear. It means sound is the most effective way to engage shoppers on the move, and a good music strategy is a great prompt to get shoppers noticing everything else happening in store.

There’s also a wealth of research showing that the right music strategy delivers tangible benefits, too – from better staff morale to increased sale volumes and more people ‘trading up’ to higher-priced products.

We’ve created this new website to showcase some of the ways those benefits manifest themselves, and how any retailer, large or small, can create a sound for their brand. I hope you find the site interesting. We'd love to know what you think. And if you're looking to create a commercially successful music and sound solution soon, you know where to come...

Bruno Brookes

http://www.immediaplc.com/

via immediaplc.com