When you play music during exercise, there’s a good chance it’s upbeat in lyrics and tempo. The psychology behind this is relatively straightforward. Music lights up areas of your brain that cause you to feel emotions, depending on the memories, feelings and new experiences you have with a certain song. Music has the ability to make you feel the high of highs and even the low of lows, which makes it an important, powerful tool for customer engagement.

When it comes to the best brand experience, there are a few companies that stand out from the crowd. These companies maintain a number of elements that serve to engage and interact with its audience. For many big name brands, music is one of the most diverse, useful elements that build the best brand experience for their customers. According to the IFPI Global Music Report (2016) “The global music market achieved a key milestone in 2015 when digital became the primary revenue stream for recorded music, overtaking sales of physical formats for the first time.” If the report can tell you anything, it’s that Millennials place a lot of importance on their ability to access new music, even if it’s as a part of a brand experience.

But who are the companies that have used  digital music as part of their brand experience strategy?

Many companies may not realise this, but they have the ability to evolve their brand by providing free legal music. Companies like Uber and Starbucks already connect with their customers by offering free and legal music.

Most consumers have already researched your store online (if it’s new to them) before they’ve stepped a foot inside the brick and mortar. But what if the brick and mortar is where you’ve spent all your time building your brand?  If you’re not seeing the ROI you want, it could have something to do with the mobility of your brand and its lack of effective customer engagement. What has worked in the past may no longer be working for your audience as Millennials take over the buyer’s market.

Branded entertainment is the process of combining a brand’s marketing strategy with entertainment, and is also known in the marketing world as "advertainment". This new marketing has been used again and again in movies, to the point where it began to look something like this:

The 2016 Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) statistics have showed that music streaming services have doubled from $23 million to $46 million, which now gives digital music the main hold of the market share, accounting for 62%. Australia has also seen the revenue for recorded music increase 3.2% globally, according the the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. This is an impressive climb in supporting artists and the music industry overall. It is no surprise that these 5 companies have used streaming services as part of their brand experience.

Companies like Honda and Dropbox are taking the centre stage in their industries by integrating music into their brand engagement model. By introducing musical elements like playlists and music communities, these companies are gaining Millennial momentum. Music streaming services have logged that “sponsored listening resulted in a 12% lift in brand awareness and a 30% lift in purchase intent for advertisers” (Fast Company).

The effects of music on a brand has been explored widely and applied successfully by companies like Converse, Coca Cola, Marriott Hotel and even Wendy’s. Companies are able to speak to a great number of individuals instantly, and without seeming to be marketing at all, thanks to the power of music. Music has proven to be a beneficial tool for these companies in an effort to increase customer engagement and build their brand.

Creating an engaged audience is made much easier when they are connected emotionally to your brand. By using music in your brand strategy, you are appealing to the emotions, memories and even affecting heartbeat rhythm, all while tying in your brand. It’s a powerful customer engagement strategy that only few companies are beginning to understand the full potential of. It’s no longer about putting a jingle to your radio add, or playing your favourite CD at your brick and mortar.

You don’t need to be a music producer to offer music as a reward to loyal customers. Build your brand engagement by introducing an element of music, whether it’s tickets to the latest gigs or a subscription to music streaming services. It’s not always about running discounts or cash back offers. In fact, consumers are beginning to demand experiences from brands more than ever, according to Momentum Worldwide.

Here are 5 ways to incorporate music in your loyalty program to build brand engagement and give the consumers what they want: