Slip on your trusty headphones…

Or flashback to your favorite karaoke bar. Even something as simple as a corny tune can remind us of music’s uncanny ability to bring us through every range of emotion. From gut-wrenching grief to unadulterated ecstasy, the subliminal messages we receive from the sweet sound of a familiar song can bring about a seriously powerful shift in our moods.

But did you know that music can actually change your mind too? That’s right. It can influence your purchasing decisions and even change your experience with a product. But that’s not all, music in advertising reveals some of the most effective and influential branding strategies. This subliminal experience of music’s effect on consumers’ minds can be better understood when looking through the lens of a phenomenon that I call BRANDcebo, or the placebo effect of brands. 

BRANDcebo is a psychological phenomenon which occurs when a consumer believes so strongly in a particular brand that they experience real, physiological changes when using that product. The first step of the BRANDcebo model is called priming, or preparing consumers for a certain reaction by communicating with the subconscious mind. 

So, how do we get in touch with the elusive subconscious? With its keen power to connect to our emotions, and even fly under the radar while doing so, music is the quintessential superpower for this very task. Let’s “hear” a few examples…

Deciding

Get an earful of this: every time you visit your neighborhood grocery store, there is music playing peacefully in the background. Normally, you might notice and not give it a second thought, as you carry on plucking a sleek bottle or two of wine off of the tightly packed shelves. One experiment put this idea to the test. Can in-store music change purchasing decisions? 

Researchers played French and German tunes near the wine display on alternating days and tallied up the results of purchases from each of these two nations after two weeks. There were some pretty striking results. On the days that French music was playing, more French wine was sold and on the days when German music was playing, more German wine was sold. The simple sounds in the background actually altered buyer behavior by influencing their purchasing decisions. All without the customers knowing that their subconscious was involved.

Experiencing

While we are on the topic of wine, let’s ponder how listening to music affects our experience tasting it. Imagine you’re in a crowded bar playing pop hits. Or maybe you’re dining in a classy restaurant with a live jazz guitarist. Maybe you can already anticipate where I am going with this… In another experiment, researchers gave participants the same wine to sip on while four distinctly different music selections played in the background. One was powerful and heavy, another was subtle and refined, the next was zingy and refreshing, and the final piece was mellow and soft.  

Here comes the fun part. When asked to describe the flavor of the wine, researchers discovered that the participants were actually more likely to describe the taste according to the type of music they were listening to while sipping. This subtle priming exists below the radar of the subjects’ perceptions. That means, evidence shows that music can actually act as a subliminal message and alter how a product is perceived.

Priming

This is priming in action. It happens when a subject, audience, or even a consumer is prepared subconsciously for a certain response as a result of a particular influence. The music resonates in a way that gears a person up for a specific action, like buying wine, or experiencing wine in a deeper, more sophisticated way. Utilizing music’s powerful subliminal effects is just one way to harness the power of tapping into the subconscious mind. 

Used correctly, music can act like a siren’s song, luring consumers into an entirely new frame of mind. Perhaps it makes them feel more connected with a brand and therefore ready to purchase. Or maybe it envelops them in emotions that allow them to associate the brand with a good, positive experience. We don’t even need to know that it is happening for it to work!

Connecting

This is just one step in the BRANDcebo model, which takes brand awareness to the next level by infusing it with the power and creativity of the subconscious mind. When the BRANDcebo effect is successfully achieved, consumers personally identify with the brand, and experience positive emotions that lead to a physiological reaction – and that, my friends, is the power of placebo. 

Using the subconscious mind can be far more convincing than a splashy slogan or rock solid testimonial. So, next time you ask your copywriter to write something that convinces your audience that your product is the best on the market, consider how you can make them feel it, or in this case, hear it too.

This is merely an introduction on what music in advertising can do to take brands from a name on the shelf to a name in their home. To access the full range that BRANDcebo can bring to your brand, read the book here.