Holiday Music & the Retail Experience

Every year we survey our listeners about their holiday habits–from how they celebrate, to where they shop, and what they buy. And every year they tell us that music is a critical ingredient for a successful holiday season. In our most recent survey, listeners ranked music above food, gifts and even traditions as an important holiday ingredient.[1]

We imagine this is because holiday music is everywhere during this time of year. Popular songs like “Jingle Bells,” “Mr. Snowman” and “All I Want for Christmas” are tunes most of us can hum or recite by memory. Even those who don’t listen to holiday music are likely to hear these familiar songs played in TV commercials, stores and restaurants throughout November and December in the U.S.

The fact that holiday music permeates nearly all our brand interactions during the holidays got us thinking about why. Especially for brick-and-mortar retail stores, whose competition with eCommerce and mCommerce largely depends on the quality of their in-store experience, what rationale goes into playing holiday music in the first place? Is it because it’s what consumers expect? Does music actually influence purchase patterns during the critical fourth quarter? Or, is in-store holiday music too overdone and are brands risking customer loyalty?

To answer these questions, we invited Danny Turner, Global Senior Vice President of Creative Programming at Mood Media, to talk with us about how he advises brands to be more strategic about their music choices. At Mood Media, he leads the team in charge of working with brands across all sectors to identify and create the right playlists to get consumers “in the mood to interact.”

We know what you’re thinking, and we can’t believe the holidays are almost here either. Instead of living in denial for the next four weeks, try popping in your earbuds and firing up this episode. There’s no better way to brush up on holiday marketing best practices.