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Retailers Get the Message Loud and Clear: Sound Does Matter

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At Starbucks, where brand is everything, the retailer wanted a customized music program that could not be changed by in-store personnel and that would also boost sales of its namesake CDs. Play Network (Redmond, Wash.) served up a high-octane blend of music that keeps coffee drinkers coming back for more.

Repeat this like a mantra: It's all about the retail experience. The Internet may not be replacing bricks-and-mortar retail, but it's certainly been a wake-up call. Retailers understand that to draw customers into their stores, and keep them there, they need to make the experience meaningful, fun and exciting.

Ironically, here's one instance in which the Internet is actually helping offline stores enhance their brand experience, through advances in audio technology. Where stores once piped in taped music from a limited set of channels into their retail environments (Muzak of old comes to mind), several companies are now acting as virtual DJs — using Internet-based technologies to individualize stores'musical repertoires.

New technology allows music to be customized to change with the daily ebbs and flows of customer demographics. Let's say a retailer with 1000 stores across the U.S. wants to play jazzy music in the morning and adult contemporary in the afternoon — but just for stores on the East Coast. After all, most of its morning shoppers are of the above-50 crowd, while in the afternoon, shoppers are more in the 35-40 range. For its West Coast stores, it wants modern rock in the morning and Caribbean beats in the afternoon. And in Texas, it's country music all day, every day.

Sound too good to be true? It's not. Several companies are making it easy — and affordable — for retailers to play the music they want, when they want, in as many locations as they want. And new systems are making it possible to completely control the musical experience, even to the point that in-store employees cannot change the station or volume. In short, the power of sound is now firmly in the retailer's hands.

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According to Rowland, a free-standing store was part of Pleasant Company's business plan 13 years ago. It helped fulfill her dream of providing fun, high quality educational materials to girls — what she calls “giving girls chocolate cake with vitamins.”

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Times have changed. A decade ago, music was considered part of the background. Today, music is part of a well-thought-out branding strategy. Gordon Majack, a music consultant with AEI Music Network Inc. (Seattle), says, “The marketplace is getting so competitive for retailers that where it used to be sufficient to play the right music, now they are looking for every single edge they can possibly get.” One edge that many music providers now offer is customization beyond what was previously possible.”

AEI has developed the ProFusion Digital Delivery System to customize retailers'in-store musical experience. As part of the package, retailers receive 20-hour digital music CDs and videos with downloadable updates. The entire music or video library can be stored on the hard drive, allowing for continuous, non-repetitive playback. And retailers can specify music and video strategies either regionally, by city or by individual location.

But AEI is not the only company to offer such technology. Axis, the brainchild of DMX Music (Los Angeles), is an Internet-based music-delivery system built on IBM's Digital Media Distributor. Axis can specify a different music mix to be sent to each store location at pre-designated times during the day, on select days of the week, or according to seasonal or promotional requirements.

To ensure an optimal musical fit for its clients, DMX's Music Application Program (MAP) helps subscribers analyze their business image, demographics and desired energy level. Once these factors are determined (i.e., the “MAP”), DMX develops a library of CDs that might represent five or six styles of music.

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DMX has worked closely with shoe retailer Nine West to develop the Axis technology. With several distinct shoe lines under its umbrella, including Nine & Co., Easy Spirit and Enzo Angiolini, Nine West wanted to completely customize and control the music played in its 1100-store chain. Not only is the music appropriate for each store's unique demographic, but it leaves in-store personnel with one less thing to worry about.

Likewise, Play Network (Redmond, Wash.) has developed a program to give retailers complete control over their in-store music. “At Starbucks, brand is everything,” says marketing representative Stephen Dorsey. Play Network worked with Starbucks to create a custom, pre-set music program that requires in-store employees to merely hit “play.” Moreover, Starbucks sells private-label CDs, and the pre-programmed music reinforces the CDs they're selling.

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