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Visual stimulation is a reaction whereby the viewer is emotionally affected by the visual imagery in front of them. Most brands need to ensure that they sufficiently engage visitors to stores or websites. It is especially true if their customer experience is positive and memorable; it may increase the likelihood of customer retention.

According to expert marketer Neil Patel, 85% of a consumer audience is more likely to buy a product or service after watching a video or another form of visual. It also improves a consumer’s capacity to remember relevant products or imagery in the future. For instance, brain science specialists Brain Rules state that 10% of information retained is still memorable three days later. When visual is involved, the figure moves as high as 65%.

Visual stimulation is ideal as consumers find visuals are quick and easy to digest, and depending on how these visuals are chosen and utilized. The visuals can deliver a message, tell a story, set a mood, or evoke an emotion in the people they’re designed for. Experts believe that images are processed as much as 60,000 times faster than text. In essence, a picture can tell a thousand words, so if brands apply the same approach, the result could be that customers will be affected instantly.

Understanding the link between providing compelling visuals and the scientific reaction in the minds of consumers is only likely to improve the impact on your audience. Research providers The Wiley Network claims that between 50% and 80% of the brain focuses on visually processing information such as the visual memory of shapes, patterns, colours, and movement.

It’s also essential that visual imagery is striking and impactful as the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies claims that it only takes 150 milliseconds for the brain to process an image. Additionally, a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that it only takes another 100 milliseconds for the brain to connect any meaning to the picture.

In 2018, a study into the habits of consumers was carried out by professional services provider PwC. An insightful finding from this study was that there appears to be a distinct connection between a customer’s experience with a company and their intention to stay loyal to the same brand, with 73 per cent of people in the survey claiming that they would be loyal to a brand if they had a good customer experience with them in the past.

Building customer loyalty for your brand is important both for the brand and the consumer. While the brand reaps the benefits of further spending from the same customers returning, the customers that are continuing to return are clearly enjoying the product or service the brand is providing. Additionally, it’s more cost effective for the brand, as marketing consultancy providers Bain & Company claim that it can be anywhere between five and 25 per cent more expensive to entice new customers than it is to appease existing ones.

According to consumer experts Retail Customer Experience, brands that provide a superior customer experience are likely to bring as much as 5.7 times more revenue than brands that don’t. With this in mind, it could be worth gauging the thoughts of your customers in relation to their experience with your brand. In this post, we focus on how the choice of in-store background music could be the difference between keeping and losing valuable customers.

But, as a manager or employer, it’s crucial that you keep members of staff engaged, focused and motivated when working from home.

In simple terms, a customer experience is a holistic perception of how a consumer has encountered your brand. Depending on the type of brand, a customer experience could involve a number of elements.

In highstreet shops and many other bricks and mortar business spaces, in-store music is a key part of the customer experience. A report by the Journal of Marketing found that 70 per cent of retail customers polled said they preferred shops that played music. Additionally, 63 per cent said that they were actually likely to spend more money in shops that played music.

Traditionally, an online customer experience would be based on how easy a website is to navigate and whether there’s sufficient support available for customers that require assistance. However, to enhance the digital shopping experience, many retail businesses now  incorporate music into their websites.

A positive offline customer experience is generally based on three factors: branding, atmosphere and customer service. And you may not realise it, but music actually has an effect on all three of these elements.

Branding –
Creating an identity helps to make your brand recognisable and memorable, and it also increases your chances of connecting with your target audience. In-store music plays a role in this process, as the type of music you play can improve the experience of your customers while reflecting your brand’s style and audience.

Atmosphere –
By creating an enjoyable atmosphere for your customers, you’re encouraging them to return in the future. People have increasingly high expectations when it comes to shopping experiences, and as well as being able to find the products they’re after, they want the time they spend in shops to be enjoyable and capable of generating feelings, changing mood and taking the customer back to past memories.

Customer service –
The soundscape of retail outlets can impact on people’s perception of how they’re treated. The right tracks have the potential to lift people’s mood, making them feel more relaxed and generally happier.

In the case of employees, it can also increase motivation. Both of these things can help to make any interactions between shoppers and workers more positive and enjoyable.

Encouraging loyalty among your customer base can be difficult so you should carefully consider your choice of in-store music and ensure it reflects your brand and resonates with your target demographic.

Once you’ve started playing a specific genre of music in your stores consistently, customers may connect with it on an emotional level and recall it long after they’ve left your shop or business. Not only does this mean that the music could resonate with customers as being something relevant to them, but it could mean that they will hear the music in the future, recall the brand and return to it.

Supporting this idea, a study by the University of Leicester found that companies that use music which fits with their brand identity were 96 per cent more likely to be remembered by consumers than businesses that play poorly chosen music or no music at all.

As governments around the world told people to stay home due to the coronavirus pandemic, many businesses and workers had to adapt working from home.

With the easing of lockdown, many companies have decided to gradually ease their workforce back to the office. However, with business insights company Prodoscope suggesting there has been a 47 per cent rise in productivity among those working from home, there’s a strong argument for allowing staff to work remotely on a long-term basis.

But, as a manager or employer, it’s crucial that you keep members of staff engaged, focused and motivated when working from home.

When an employee is engaged, the quality of their work and performance is likely to be at the highest possible standard.As an employer, you should do all you can to get the most out of your employees by ensuring that they’re engaged in their roles. By doing this, you will not only benefit your business, but you will also create an involved, vibrant and focused workforce.

To keep employees engaged while working from home, you could:

Organise regular catch-ups –
Staying in contact with employees can help them to feel engaged and motivated. It can be easy for employees to feel detached from their work and their colleagues, but by scheduling regular catch-ups – preferably via video calls – you can create a structure to promote a sense of teamwork and belonging.

Encourage an office environment at home –
Many remote workers have chosen to replicate their office set ups in their homes. As a manager or employer, it can’t hurt to encourage this, as it’s only likely to benefit employees by making them feel more like they’re at work.

Set and track targets –
Whether employees are working from home permanently or temporarily, it’s far easier to keep them motivated if they have targets to work towards. Once you’ve established these targets, you can keep track of them and discuss them during your catch-up meetings.

Organise educational courses –
Professional development is something that many people want in their career, so it’s important to offer your employees the opportunity to build upon the skills they already have. There are many courses available online, including free ones, so it couldn’t be easier to provide additional training to your workers, and it benefits everyone, as you can actually make them feel more valued and present evidence that you’re investing in your workforce.

Make time for casual activities –
It goes without saying that the most crucial part of working from home is the work itself, but if you don’t make any time for casual communication, workers are likely to become mentally and emotionally drained, and this could hinder the working relationship you have with them.

During lockdown, online quizzes became popular, and it’s easy to conduct one yourself. Simply arrange a video call with multiple members of your team, prepare a selection of questions and use the quiz as an opportunity to wind down with your team at the end of the week.

Request feedback –
Nobody was prepared for the impact that the pandemic has had, but the ability of many companies to adapt almost instantly was impressive. However, this isn’t to say that all of the processes companies put in place to cater to employees working from home were correct.

As an employer, you should be open to the concept of constructive criticism and the possibility of tweaking your approach. As part of this, it’s useful to give your employees the opportunity to offer their thoughts.

Promote a sense of community with dedicated, branded live radio –
It’s more difficult to cultivate a sense of team spirit and togetherness when employees are working remotely, but there are effective steps you can take to help with this. For example, you could take advantage of a branded live radio channel that your workers can stream via your apps or website. As well as playing carefully selected music that will appeal to your employees and reflect your brand, you could use live radio to keep your workers connected with the brand and each other, up to speed on company developments, industry news, training and more.

You could also create podcasts for your workers that offer in-depth, conversational content covering anything from training needs to expert insights. Your employees can then access this content at a time and place that suits them. Additionally, you could consider running interviews and phone-ins with management, as it will help to bridge the gap between employees and management, encouraging members of staff to feel better connected to the company.

Ask us about Nationwide Live!

Background music has long been used by many companies as a way to help keep employees engaged and increase productivity. As mentioned previously, one way to encourage employees to listen to background music if they’re working remotely is by using a branded live radio channel.

Music is commonly associated with altering mood depending on the type being played and its ability to resonate with the listener. Research from a number of studies suggests that background music could benefit businesses by motivating employees to work harder. For example, an experiment by Scala Radio involving 2,000 people found that productivity improved by 15 per cent when workers were listening to music during working hours. Other findings from this study were that over a quarter of UK workers use music to block out background noise and that 47 per cent of people polled said they work better listening to music.

Claims that music helps to keep employees focused are supported by research carried out by the University of Central Florida. In an in-depth study of how the brain reacts to music, the researchers explain that the hippocampus section of the brain is stimulated, causing an increase in endorphins, which leads to reduced stress and anxiety.

Marketing Executive 

Do you have a can-do, creative thinking attitude with a passion for marketing? Do you have ideas to share and want a company that will take them onboard? We would love you to join our team.

This is a brilliant opportunity to work with a unique service offering and to join a friendly award-winning creative team where you will be able to develop your experience.

AVC Immedia has offices in Newbury, Aberdeen and Houston TX and works with global brands including JD, Subway, BMW MINI, IKEA, Shell and FIFA. You will be able to make your mark within the business as a key part of the management team whilst helping to achieve the business’s bold objectives.

As part of the Commercial Team you would;

• Create the group marketing plans to achieve the business objectives – with input from the Commercial and Management Team
• Manage and drive the external SEO agency in the production of User Focused Content and strategic website copy to increase brand awareness and drive digital traffic
• Take ownership of the website and blog content whilst reviewing Google Analytics and assessing ways to improve visibility and the user journey. Including sourcing relevant imagery, uploading and banner creation.
• Copy writing for case studies,  press releases and blog content. Working with the Video production team to create video case studies where possible
• Plan, create and implement social media campaigns reflecting the services and brand.
• Development and implementation of the social media calendar to promote activities and services within the group
• Working closely with the relevant teams to create proposals, presentations or bid documents for customers and prospects whilst working to tight deadlines
• Liaising with all departments to develop the monthly Board Pack
• Report monthly on marketing activities, ROI and learnings
• Create adverts and material for external printers and relevant publications
• Ownership of the company Sage CRM for segmentation to engage customers as part of a targeted strategy

Must Haves

• Positive can-do attitude
• Resourcefulness
• Ability to multi task whilst being organised
• Team player and able to work independently
• Copy writing skills
• B2B experience
• Ability to use image manipulation tools including Adobe Photoshop
• Proficiency in the use of a CRM’s (ideally Sage) to increase engagement with our audience

Advantages

• Passion for music, video, animation
• HTML knowledge
• CSS illustrator skills
• Better Proposals software

We have offices in Newbury and Aberdeen however the right person could work remotely. This position is UK based only. Please send your CV including expected salary to Laura.b@avcimmedia.com by FRIDAY 14th August 2020.

Music has a profound effect on our lives – it can evoke certain memories, emotions and thoughts and can make us feel happy or sad. It’s frequently been suggested that playing Mozart to an unborn baby could make them smarter.

In a survey of 4,500 people conducted by Totaljobs, it was found that a huge 79 per cent of employees said they would benefit from listening to music at work, however, over one third of employees aren’t allowed to listen to music during the working day.

Interestingly, 61 per cent of people stated that they listened to music at work to boost their productivity and happiness.

Though this survey data speaks for itself, we wanted to look more in depth at some of the benefits music can have on employees and their working life.

Increased productivity

Science and research has shown that music can boost your productivity, particularly when working on a repetitive task. Working in a noisy office where there’s lots of different noises can reduce your productivity. The sound of phones ringing, background chatter, typing on keyboards, etc. can be distracting. However, music creates one single sound for your mind to focus on, potentially helping you get your mojo back.

According to Dr. Lesiuk, workers that listen to music complete tasks more quickly than those who don’t and can also come up with better ideas. A person that is stressed might make a decision very quickly, whereas someone who’s calmer might be able to take a more logical approach to finding the best solution.

Further research, initially reported by CBS News, states that just under 90 per cent of employees would work better while listening to music, while over 60 per cent say that it makes them happier.

Reduced stress and brighter mood

Listening to music can result in a happier, calmer you. A chemical called dopamine is produced in your body when you listen to a song you really like. This is the chemical that is released when you’ve won something or worked hard to reach a goal and can provide you with a rush of minor euphoria.

It is dopamine that could put you in a better mood at work and make you more productive. Increased dopamine can also improve your alertness and make you feel less tired.

But it isn’t just this chemical that allows music to have an impact on your body. Music can naturally slow your pulse and heart rate, lower your blood pressure and decrease the levels of stress hormones in your body.

Improved concentration

Not only will music drown out the conversations of others in the office, it could make it easier for you to concentrate on your task. According to the survey, 48 per cent of those questioned stated that music was an interruption but it helped them to focus.

If you’re listening to music to improve your concentration, you need to be careful. According to this research, a high level of noise can impair creativity by reducing your brain’s ability to process new information. Instead, a moderate or low level of noise can enhance creativity and allows you to focus on your work. This could make background music a better choice for an office environment.

Listening to the wrong music could be detrimental to your productivity. This is because different types of music engage separate areas of the brain. If the ‘wrong’ area is engaged, it could result in lack of concentration.

According to the survey, the most popular music genres for the workplace are pop/chart and indie music. Interestingly, only 7 per cent of people choose to listen to classical or instrumental music.