Marketing Nostalgia and Music

Hours before boarding a plane for Bamako in 1989, I purchased the B-52s’ then-newest album, Cosmic Thing. I listened to it all the way to Mali, and I listened to for the next two years as I worked in the sub-Sahel of West Africa. Meanwhile, the B-52s supplied the fitting soundtrack with songs like “Follow Your Bliss” and “Roam.” When I met the woman who became my wife, we moved in together to the tune of “Loveshack.”

I will remember this music for the rest of my life. That is not just a sentimental comment; there is a powerful connection between musical memories and a person’s coming of age.

Indeed, of all types of memories, music is the most powerful. Researchers have found that even after all other ways of communicating have shut down, such as in those with dementia, people still recall and respond to music. Music memory is stronger than verbal memory because music, unlike language, is not located in a specific area of the brain. It is processed throughout many parts.

And of all music memories, music that was popular when a person was a teen and young adult is the easiest to recall. That’s because those years are such a powerful time in developing autonomy: heading off into the world, learning to drive, and finding love. I’ve already warned my boys that they will have Slipknot and Avenged Sevenfold rattling around their noggins for decades.

Petr Janata, a cognitive neuroscientist at University of California–Davis, explains, “What seems to happen is that a piece of familiar music serves as a soundtrack for a mental movie that starts playing in our head. It calls back memories of a particular person or place, and you might all of a sudden see that person’s face in your mind’s eye.”

Just a few bars of the right music can set a tone, making nostalgic music a powerful marketing tool.

Music as Time Machine

Virgin Airlines did an excellent job of appropriating Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Relax” for their twenty-fifth-anniversary ad campaign. In fact, this campaign has been so successful that it prompted the band to make a comeback.

Know to Whom Who You are Singing

Understand your audience, and what songs will appeal to them. But be careful that you are not so focused that you turn off one audience while appealing to another. (Golden oldies may appeal to one cohort, but simply sound old-fashioned to another.) Be careful what you choose. Vitamin-maker Centrum has received grief with their strip tease “Silver” campaign video that aimed to make viewers feel young, but instead makes them feel even older.

Make it Your Own

The adage is that everything in marketing is recycled. True, old ideas can be re-used effectively, but they usually work best when given a new twist. For its sixtieth birthday, Adidas used The Four Seasons’ 1967 hit “Beggin” in their campaign, but gave it a house party twist. The song is remixed by DJ Pilooski, and the scene includes David Beckham, Katy Perry, Missy Elliott, and others. These revamped songs say, “we’ve been around, but we aren’t old.”

Some argue that as music tastes fragment and there are fewer collective musical memories in a generation, this type of nostalgia marketing will fade. That seems a premature obituary to me. As long as music remains a door into human emotions, marketers will find a use for it.

How sound and music can influence your marketing

Co-posted with Lisa Lococo, consumer behavior analyst

Everything you do in marketing sends a message. Do you pay attention to the sound of your business? Studies have shown the importance of sound, especially music, and how it subconsciously influences consumer behavior.

Music can help your business in two ways. First, the right music enhances your brand, giving it an added dimension and broader appeal. Second, understanding how music affects the mind can help marketing and sales.

Most marketers think about sound. Almost any store or restaurant you go into is playing (mostly pleasant) background music. But some businesses are marketing with music better than others.

Merely creating a “pleasant” environment isn’t enough; music must be the right speed and type to enhance your brand. Scientists have been studying the effects of specific beats and tempos for some time. One study by Ronald E. Milliman showed that playing slow music in a supermarket decreased the speed at which customers shopped, increased the number of impulse purchases, and boosted sales volume. A recent study by Leo J. Shapiro and Associates shows that almost 20 percent of consumers say the right music encourages them to spend more time in a store. More than 40 percent say that the wrong music encourages them to leave.

Michael Morrison of Monash University compiled some salient case studies. Borders Books maximizes customer in-store time with slow-tempo music that literally slows down shopper’s movements. NikeTown’s music is as energetic and inviting as the rest of the Nike brand, playing a big part in shoppers’ multi-sensory store experience. Victoria’s Secret stores play classical music in an effort to enhance their image of being high quality, prestigious, and luxurious. (Please, no comments about tunes in double D major, or avoiding A flat).

And it must be noted that neuroscience has proven that music and memory are closely related. “What seems to happen is that a piece of familiar music serves as a soundtrack for a mental movie that starts playing in our head,” said Petr Janata, a cognitive neuroscientist at University of California–Davis. “It calls back memories of a particular person or place, and you might all of a sudden see that person’s face in your mind’s eye.”

Or you might see the store you were in the last time you heard that tune.

So while other marketers are focusing on displays and headlines, spend more time focusing on how you pitch your business. You might like what you hear.

How Music Influences the Mind

Co-posted with Lisa Lococo, consumer behavior analyst

The majority of branding and marketing efforts define visuals (logo and colors) and messaging (tagline and headlines), and pay scant attention to sound. This is changing. Since the early 70s studies have been showing–or rather telling–just how sound, especially music, influence emotions. The New Age movement was quick to jump on this melodious bandwagon, so to speak, but I can’t help but wonder how it can apply elsewhere.

Research has found that certain sequences of notes, known as binaural beats, can induce states of euphoria, sedation, meditation, hallucination, and creativity by altering the listener’s brainwave activity. I think of it like Flower Power without the acid. The idea behind the beats is entrainment, the phenomenon that brainwaves tend to align with certain frequencies caused by sensory stimuli. Studies back this up, showing a definite connection between the beats and the brain.

Emotions affect attitude, findings not lost on the medical community. Dr. Claudius Conrad, a senior surgical resident at Harvard Medical School, is beginning the first study of music’s impact on sleeping patterns of acute-care patients. Music is more commonly being played at the bedside of healing (and terminally ill) patients, and during surgical procedures. There is no evidence that music can cure, but a calmer, more content patient is welcomed all around–especially by the patient.

Interested in not just hearing about binaural beats, but hearing the actual beats? Several companies are in the business: I-Doser, My Mind Shift, and Binaural Beats for example. Their CDs claim to be able to influence your brain (see good blog entry) by releasing dopamine and activating the pleasure centers in your brain. Having a bad hair day? A hangover? Dying? Don’t be so down. Turn up the volume and turn that inner frown upside down.