Soundings: Four ways that sound can affect the bottom line

Four ways that sound can affect the bottom line

• The most effective TV advertising links emotional engagement to brand identity. A well constructed music track promotes positive emotional engagement even if the product or the video is of no immediate interest.

• Thought for the day: Narrowcast advertising in a supermarket will reach more potential customers than visual display advertising – and a live voice can make subtle judgements about information content in real time to blend neatly with the changing ambience and customer profile over the course of a busy day.

• Ambient noise affects people’s behaviour. Distracting sounds in an open plan office can reduce work efficiency by up to two-thirds.

• And overbearing music in retail premises can reduce takings by a quarter: potential customers walk away before they even cross the threshold. However, choice of music and tempo is a subtle art: get it right and you have increased footfall and increased sales; get it wrong and you have exactly the opposite.

Andrew Peggie