Casper and the power of curated in-store music

Activaire’s relationship with Casper began early in the DTC brand’s venture into brick-and-mortar stores. What started out as a handful of stores is now nearing the hundred-store mark, with Casper products also being sold in 2000 partner stores nationwide. 

Casper embraces innovation and is constantly iterating to provide customers with a unique and valuable experience. With this mindset, we have a collaborative relationship with the Casper team and see the in-store music as a crucial and constantly evolving part of their brand. 

We often test out different approaches based on trends we see within the stores and cultural and local trends. 

Casper was curious whether their customers responded better to single-genre playlists or our highly curated custom playlists. Therefore, we tested genre-specific playlists against Activaire custom-curated music in a four-week trial. The goal was to see if tried-and-true genres such as Pop, Jazz, and Indie had a greater effect on sales than the custom brand-centered playlists.

We design Casper’s custom playlists around the unique traits of their brand and products alongside their customer demographics and themes of comfort, innovation, and cultural trends. Our curation team hand-picked each song for its ability to communicate these values. While our custom work combines multiple genres, we consider them a new and unique genre, “Casper Music.” 

The modern customer wants an experience where the brand lives in a carefully considered environment that inspires and delights. 

The trial took place in eleven stores across the country. The results showed a significant increase in sales in all eleven stores with our custom curation, compared to the genre specific.

Why was this the case? Coincidence? We gathered a handful of factors contributing to why going the “extra mile” with music selection can have a huge retail payoff. 

• Flow state and entrainment: Highly curated music can create a flow state and “entrain” the listener’s mind, which means it can synchronize their mental state with the desired experience. This can enhance concentration, focus, and engagement with the brand’s messaging.

• Emotional connection: Highly curated music is carefully selected to evoke specific emotions and create a connection with the listener. By aligning the emotional tone of the music with Casper’s brand story, it becomes easier for customers to relate to the brand and develop a positive association with it.

• Unique and memorable experience: Standard genre-based playlists often offer a predictable and familiar musical experience. In contrast, highly curated music provides listeners with a unique and memorable experience. The brand can offer positive and lasting associations with its products in-store. This can lead to increased brand loyalty and repeat purchases as customers subconsciously connect the fresh and unexpected music experience with the quality of the products. 

• Brand alignment: Highly curated music allows Casper to align its brand values and personality with the music selection. By choosing songs that reflect the brand’s identity, ethos, and target audience, Casper can reinforce its messaging and create a cohesive brand experience across different touchpoints.

• Enhanced storytelling: Music can enhance storytelling by creating an atmosphere, setting a mood, and reinforcing the narrative. Casper can effectively tell its brand story through highly curated music and create a more immersive and engaging customer experience. The music becomes an integral part of the storytelling process, making it more compelling and memorable.

• Differentiation from competitors: Standing out from competitors is crucial in a crowded market. A unique musical experience can attract attention, generate curiosity, and influence customers to choose Casper over other brands offering standard playlists. Just like the sights and smells of a store can leave a lasting impression, music is just as memorable, if not more.

Overall, the Casper case study suggests that expertly curated music contributed to Casper’s success by fostering an emotional connection, creating a memorable experience, aligning with the brand, enhancing storytelling, and gaining a competitive edge in the market.

Read more about music curation here.

If you’re interested in learning about how music can help you catch some Z’s, check out this blog post.