Interac Kicks off Sound Shopping Campaign Intended to Help Canadians Spend Mindfully
With inflation and rising interest rates adding pressure to many Canadian households, recent research commissioned by Interac found that six in ten shoppers (62%) are looking for tools which encourage intentional spending. As a brand that aims to help Canadians stay in control of their money, Interac set out to explore creative ways to help.
Music has traditionally been used to fuel purchase behaviours in retail, and given its recent development of a sonic ID, experimenting with how sound could positively impact and help add mindfulness to the shopping experience felt like a natural extension. Sound Shopping was created with this in mind. The integrated Sound Shopping campaign is informed by research, runs across multiple channels and has an original music track at the heart of the experience. The intent of the track is to trigger a more mindful shopping experience, tapping into the emotional response and behavioural impact music can have, as tempo, mode and instrumentation are leveraged in different ways.
To put the track to the test, shoppers across the country took part in an innovative research study whereby half the participants listened to the Sound Shopping track, while a control group listened to the standard pop style music that customers typically hear in stores. The participants observed that the Sound Shopping track made them feel calmer than those who listened to popular music and was associated with a 98% purchase satisfaction rate.
“Exploring the interplay between music and shopping behaviours is very meaningful in relation to our brand purpose of helping Canadians get more out of life by being in control of their money, and also reflects the interests and needs of our primary consumer audience who are actively on the go in their daily lives and seeking tools to help them with their finances. They also over-index in both music and shopping affinities, making this approach a natural fit to their needs and interests.” said Matt Houghton, Director of Digital and Integrated Marketing at Interac.
The track is available to listen to on Spotify and is being promoted through an integrated media plan that is geared towards sound-on environments, including Truview for Action video ads on YouTube, Tik Tok ads with influencer collaborations, and ads on the Spotify platform. In-mall posters will also feature a scannable Spotify code reaching consumers in the shopping environment itself.
The look and feel of the programme leverages the brand’s key colours in a graphic treatment that combines sound waves into the form of a pulsing shopping bag. “The creative design articulates the notion of music meeting spending behaviours in a clear yet impactful way. Most people are familiar with the idea of music encouraging shopping in store, as a brand that stands for control, our goal was to encourage mindfulness instead,” said Wain Choi, executive creative director at Zulu Alpha Kilo.
Canadians can visit Interac.ca/en/sound-shopping to put the Sound Shopping track to the test for themselves on their next shopping trip. They are also invited to browse a variety of tips and advice for mindful spending published on In The Know. The integrated Sound Shopping campaign was developed for Interac by Zulu Alpha Kilo and Hill+Knowlton Strategies, with French adaptations by The French Shop. The custom track and sonic identity was developed by sonic branding agency Sixième Son; Media for the campaign was executed by Media Experts, Hill+Knowlton Strategies executed Research and PR and SJR Group developed supporting online content.
