Creative Mastermind for Week 2/24: Mood Media

Greetings and Happy Monday everyone! Ok, Monday may not be the happiest day of the week for most people, but none the less I hope you're having a good one. As we are starting to near the end of February, there's only one thing that is usually on people's minds: SPRING. Here in Ohio, we got a lovely sneak peek of it for a portion of the weekend, but now old man winter has come back and sadly, he demands we wait at least a few more weeks before the warmth can come back to stay. During this brief heat wave, I noticed a lot that people's attitudes changed for this amount of time. Personally, I think the warmer weather puts people in a better mood and makes them feel better. Sure, it's ok to be a fan of snow and cold- but this season has just really been overkill for much of the U.S. Anyway, as I said people's attitudes seemed to change and with that comes a change in creativity.

Over the weekend, I noticed things like people exercising with their mp3 devices, sitting outside, and even rolling the windows down in their cars to blast some music. Please note, the high was about 56 degrees and for Ohio this is a BIG deal after dealing with weeks of below zero temps. I did notice something different though. I work at a retail store in a local mall and we play music in the store. Lately it's been just contemporary hit music, but I noticed that this time it's more upbeat, feel-good, and happy music. Music playing in stores in not a new concept, but the idea of mixing it up based on relevance or mood is a whole new ball park. This is why I have selected the company Mood Media as this week's creative mastermind!

First, I have to be honest and say that I have never heard of this company until last week when I was watching episodes of Undercover Boss. Thinking that Mood Media was a broadcast company like Clear Channel or CBS, I clicked on this episode out of curiosity. I then discovered that Mood Media is actually a digital media company which supplies audio and visual services to retailers and businesses. While on my break at work I happened to notice that music which plays at my store is from the company Muzak, which is now acquired by Mood Media. Muzak, by the way, is the company that provided those soft tunes elevator tunes you've probably heard in fancy hotels or large commercial buildings. I was so inspired to see that a company "literally" lives up to its name in terms of keeping the music in line with the mood. 

Now if you're thinking, "there's nothing creative about playing random music in a store", Think again! After

studying broadcasting in college, and having my own radio show I can tell you that formatting is everything when it comes to incorporating music into everyday lifestyles. Mood Media does a great job in keeping each client's music preferences in line with their store's environment. For example, you won't hear Lady Gaga playing in a kid's clothing store, but you might hear One Direction or Carly Rae Jepsen. Music in the stores tends to gravitate towards a certain age group that is parallel to the store's customer range. It's up to services like Mood Media to see that the tracks played are attractive to the group of customers the store reaches out to.

Over the years I've read many articles about how music influences consumers while shopping, especially around the holidays. Yes, there's a reason why stores play Christmas music in late October. Studies have shown that by playing the Christmas music, people are more inclined to purchase holiday items at that moment, thereby spending more money. Mood Media really dedicates the time to make sure the content played for clients is a fresh variety that appeals to customers. That's where the creativity comes in, but it's a lot of work to keep a good collection of music that is "hip" and "fresh". For example, my store tends to play a little bit of everything and attracts to ages 18-50. Yesterday for example I was hearing songs like "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson, and then they played "22" by Taylor Swift. It's a very broad range in terms of selection and Mood Media seems to do a great job of keeping that balance so that the music is appropriate and upbeat.

What I feel is so creative about Mood Media that earns them the title of Creative Mastermind, is their ability to create the atmosphere in which shoppers feel (pardon the pun) "in the mood" to make purchases. Music has such an influence on our brains that I don't think science quite fully understands yet. Music can create persuasion which can turn into action and I think it's really clever how a company can take that concept to help others boost profits. Now, I'm not trying to put the fear of shopping into your mind or trick you into spending more money because a song tells you to. Why do people listen to music anyway? To feel good! That's what retailers are doing for their shoppers. Mood Media observes the trends in music and can adjust accordingly to give consumers the best shopping experience possible at their favorite store. 

Spicing up the music and audio for the perfect shopping experience allows for Mood Media to make the Creative Mastermind list! If you have an idea for a Creative Mastermind, share your suggestions either by leaving a comment on this post OR share it with The Creative Cabana on Facebook & Twitter. Be sure to LIKE and FOLLOW those pages if you haven't done so already! This week I'll be walking you through the steps of creating your own website! This is perfect for anyone looking to build an online portfolio or wanting to build a website for your small business so don't miss out. So long for now friends and have a great rest of your day!

*I do not own the companies Mood Media or Muzak. All rights pertaining to each company belong to their respective owners and were used only for discussion and praise in this post. I also do not own any songs or rights related to: Michael Jackson, One Direction, Carly Rae Jepsen, Lady Gaga, or Taylor Swift. All artists and songs mentioned were used as examples only. I also do not own Clear Channel, CBS, or the TV Show "Undercover Boss". Images used in this post were taken from search results on Google Images. All credit for respective photographers and content owners is given here and with no intention of collection of profits from used information or pictures. No Copyright Infringement Intended.