Is AV the missing sensory link?

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Listen … What can you hear?  The missing piece in the Brand experience puzzle is so often the audio.  It’s easy to see and touch the beautiful interiors our customers will observe and feel, you can assess the level of customer service they will experience and easily smell and taste the cuisine and wine they will order, but so very often, what they hear is just overlooked or added as an afterthought.  To deliver a truly memorable experience, audio has to be weaved seamlessly into this sensory mix to create a coherent, holistic result.

There is a growing body of evidence which supports the fact that audio affects your mood and emotions and as such can change the way in which you react and behave. Our brains receive so many subtle cues from what our ears pick up, that a great deal of our conscious and unconscious moods and behaviour are attributable to what we hear.  Audio is a critical strand in determining how guests will feel when they experience a venue, not just at the time, but for many years to come.  Music is a powerful tool in evoking memories.  When we hear songs from the past they can stir powerful emotions and transport us back in time. Like stepping into a time machine; you can feel everything as if you were actually there.

It’s not just about what is played, but also the way in which we hear it which can affect us emotionally. When we listen to a warm rich sound with depth and clarity, it can envelop you with feelings of opulence and quality, like sinking into a big comfortable chair from which you don’t want to get up. Conversely, a sound that is thin, scratchy and sharp is irritating and something you wish to shut out and move away from as quickly as possible.  So getting the delivery of the soundtrack right in a venue is just as crucial as getting the soundtrack itself right.

As the relationship between music and memory is so powerful, and the quality of the sound we hear affects how we react to it, it’s all the more reason to get the right audio associations for your client’s venue and to deliver these in the right way.  This will help to ensure that wonderful memories are created and will continue to be conjured up in the minds of their guests for years to come.

CGA Integration is a leading AV systems integrator in the Hospitality sector.  We design, specify and install quality sound systems to deliver flexible AV solutions.  At CGA we are keen to empower designers to understand what is possible with AV so that you, in turn, can plan and fully integrate AV into your designs, giving your customers a truly holistic sensory design solution for their guests to experience.

Audio is such a powerful tool, whether you are delivering brand continuity between venues, rejuvenating a spa or creating conference facilities to delight tech savvy millennials, AV is a crucial piece of the sensory jigsaw.

Here at CGA we can work with you in a number of different ways to best fit your project:

Project Specific - We can attend formal meetings with you, and your client if prefered, to address specific AV challenges presented by a defined project.
AV possibilities -  Alternatively we can meet with you at your offices to present to you and your team, speaking more generally about the possibilities of AV; including both the latest technological developments and the opportunity for troubleshooting.

Enabling your team to discuss AV opportunities or difficulties with us, either generically or more specifically for projects that they are working on or tendering for, will help to give them the insights they need to create totally integrated sensory design solutions.

To speak to us about how CGA Integration can best work with you please call us on +44 1344 456500 or email us on info@cga-integration.co.uk to see how you can start to fully unlock the power of AV.

CGA Integration … Making hospitality sound great!

Why? What’s the point of fitting sound systems in hospitality venues?

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I get very absorbed in speakers; choosing the right speakers, in the right number, placing them in the right location and even making them the right colour.  Speakers are important.
 
But let’s go back a step further and consider; what’s the point of fitting sound systems in hospitality venues?

Long before the written word was widespread, communication was aural as well as oral.  Our prehistoric ancestors used sound and rhythm to communicate and over time this communication evolved into songs and stories.  Although there has been a shift towards written communication, (albeit more recently via email, text and social media), aural communication is still an intrinsic part of our everyday soundscape.  Research has even shown that music is a huge influence on both our mood and our mental state.  Sound is important.

We humans make noise.  Sometimes we want music to disguise the sound of the other humans around us, to help us to feel that our experience is more pleasant or personal to us; reducing the impact or presence of others.  Just look at the number of people wearing headphones as they move around in crowded areas or sit on a busy bus or train.  We often choose sound to relax, and in a Spa environment for example, music can be utilised to replace the everyday noise of life, giving guests a completely contrasting soundscape to create relaxation and escapism.

Conversely if you have no background music at all, eating or functioning in silence or with just ambient human noise around you can feel quite unnatural, especially for the generations who have grown up with continuous music and noise as the backdrop to their lives.  Silence can create a ‘library effect,’ which can make individuals feel ill at ease, scared to make a noise, and as such failing to relax or express themselves.  So fitting a quality flexible sound system can enable you to create the right audio background, helping your guests to feel how you want them to feel in your hospitality spaces. 

Creating the right playlist for your Brand and playing this in the right format through a well designed and installed quality sound system, reinforces a venue’s Brand and its Brand values.  From relaxed to energised to engaged, different hospitality spaces may require a different soundscape; sound and especially music have an important part to play in creating the right environment for restaurants, lobbys, spas, meeting rooms and bars alike.  Like a well crafted marketing campaign, creative interior design or superior customer service, quality sound can work together with the other elements of your venue to help you to stand out for all the right reasons. 

Now more than ever getting sound right is key.  Guests are now exposed to good quality sound in many aspects of their everyday lives; surround sound, THX & Dolby cinemas, great sounding car stereos and certain mobile devices. They will notice if the sound systems in your venue do not come up to the standards they now take for granted.  To create a great sound in your venue you need to consider all aspects of audio; volume, hardware and music quality, what you are playing where and when (as this may vary by time of day), coverage (and ensuring that this is even as guests move throughout a space and between spaces) and balance between sound frequencies (bass & treble). 

Considering our prehistoric ancestors again, audio is a sense that very much wired into our body’s ‘fight or flight’ response.  Get the sound in a venue wrong and your customers will not be able to relax.  They might not be able to tell you that sound is the issue, but they will not stay for long or return very quickly. Get it right and all the elements of your venue will fit together like a well crafted sensory jigsaw, helping your guests to immerse themselves in your hospitality experience and truly relax.

Chris Gunton
Managing Director CGA Integration

CGA Integration … Making hospitality sound great!