Tesco - Music, Advertising & Silence

Watching TV last night and during a break from ‘Undercover Boss’ (You’d think DHL was on the brink of collapse thanks to Channel 4) a 10 second Tesco ad popped up for Petrol, now I’ve noticed in lots of Tesco advertising for their short bursts like cleaning events, petrol prices, insurance etc the whole campaign is based around music.

This is a theme that’s run pretty much all year round from Easter Bizarre Inc ft Angie Brown – 'I’m Gonna Get You', to Christmas and the Pointer Sisters with 'I’m So Excited' and has been for some time.

Using music in advertising isn’t anything new of course, from classic Levi’s Ads like 1996’s Shaggy – Mr Boombastic  to a more recent example of Cadburys Dairy Milk using Phil Collins – In The Air Tonight, but that’s not my point.

For a brand to use music so heavily within their advertising and not have it in store seems like a missed opportunity to me and one that would definitely be worth exploring.  

I noticed in my local Tesco’s during Christmas that they were playing Christmas music from a ghetto blaster on top of one of a gondola end. I’d say around 50% of the people I passed within ear shot were either tapping their shopping basket or singing along to the words, I mean we all know pretty much every Christmas song by now right?

For me it completely changed my shopping experience at Tesco’s and I think it changed a lot of the customers too. Christmas music is one of those things that splits opinions as does music itself, one man’s Madonna is another man’s Justin Bieber, but enough about Christmas.

The point is, music in store, for me, brings a store to life. Your brand is everywhere, from billboards to packaging, from in store to online, what you hear is just as important as what you see, ask our clients like Caffe Nero and Jack Wills, they’ll tell you what music means to them and its importance to their brand.

 

Is music right for Tesco's?

 

Absolutely, and not just seasonally. If Tesco see the value in music for their advertising then why not in their stores for colleagues and customers to enjoy, and to bring some much needed theatre to an otherwise silent store, and with the launch of thier digital download store coming soon where better to shout about it? 

 

We have a number of players but one in particular which we think would be ideal for Tescos, as it updates via the internet but not on a retailers secure network, is our brand new Smart Player, no waiting for CD's to update your player, I mean you don't even buy CD's so why would you expect your store to be updated by them. Our Smart Player is an industry first so to find out more you'll have to call us, at Imagesound we're always making great technological changes and this, we think, is a game changer, we're so sure you'll love it we'll offer multiple site free trials.

 

Oh and just an update on DHL, they didn't go bust so don't worry if you posted a package with them, everythings gonna be just fine!