The moment you walk into any restaurant, three of your five senses are immediately engaged: sight, smell and sound. Taste and touch come later. Restaurateurs spend a lot of time, thought and money to appeal to the sight sense with great visuals – décor, signage, and lighting. The customers’ sense of smell will hopefully be immediately excited by the aroma of great food about to be served.
But what about the ears? Is the sound or hearing sense being stimulated in the same way as sight and smell? More and more restaurants are keying in on the importance of music as a way to enhance the customer experience and differentiate their brand from the competition.
People eat out as a form of entertainment.
While they may not be coming to a restaurant for the music, when it is present it can greatly enhance their enjoyment and time spent at your restaurant. Outfit your restaurant’s experience with the right soundtrack, and become the restaurant known not only for its great food and service, but as a fun, entertaining escape as well.
Research has shown that the music played during a shopping or dining experience can affect the customer’s mood and attitude, the amount time they spend in the restaurant, and even how much they spend. But beyond that, the music playing in the restaurant can have the same effect on customer’s impression of the brand as the other things they see, feel, smell and taste when they visit. Many people refer to this as the vibe of the restaurant. Music is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to enhance the vibe of any restaurant.
As music has such a large part in my life and career, I’m always so tuned into music playing out and about. If I’m like this, you can bet there are others too that are taking notice and paying attention. Is what you’re playing sending the right message? Is it crowd appropriate? Does it make people want to stay or if expletives or bpm’s come up does that drive someone to get up and walk out?
I’ve walked out of shops before, because the music wasn’t either on or it was too loud, so these are all things to take info consideration, and which might be secretly letting you down! Too often whoever is picking the music is more interested in their choices vs what the consumer will enjoy. While I’m all for a Mariachi table side, if it’s a french restaurant or a cool cocktail bar, it’s totally out of context.
Music styling is something we offer for a variety of industries and business’, so if you think you might need some help with this, then get in touch and we can help you out!