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Music, signage and atmosphere influence how long customers stay, how they feel, and how they perceive a brand.
In coffee shop environments, these elements are especially important. They help create a welcoming atmosphere, influence dwell time, and enhance the experience.
Black Sheep Coffee has built a strong challenger-brand identity within the UK coffee market, combining bold visual branding with a more energetic and personality-led customer experience. Our observations and suggestions could support and further enhance that positioning as the estate continues to grow.
Music was clearly a considered part of the environment and contributed positively to the atmosphere in-store. Volume levels felt well balanced - audible enough to shape the space without overpowering conversation.
The soundtrack leaned mellow, soulful and laid back during a Saturday morning visit, helping create a relaxed but still distinctive atmosphere.
There is an opportunity to build even further on this strength through more structured curation and scheduling - maintaining the relaxed atmosphere while adapting energy levels throughout different dayparts and trading periods.
The store made good use of digital signage, with ordering and promotional screens integrated into the customer journey alongside static menu boards.
The screens supported operational flow well and helped reinforce the modern, fast-paced feel of the brand. The combination of digital ordering and visual messaging suited the high-throughput city-centre coffee environment.
There is an opportunity to further connect visual content with the atmosphere created by the music - using screens to support seasonal launches, limited-time drinks, loyalty messaging or more personality-led storytelling that reflects the brand’s rebellious positioning.
Continue developing a soundtrack strategy that reflects the brand’s challenger positioning - balancing soulful, contemporary and culturally relevant music with consistent scheduling across the estate.
Introduce more intentional dayparting to support changing customer behaviours throughout the day - from calmer morning coffee visits to higher-energy lunchtime and evening periods.
Use digital screens and audio together to support campaigns, product launches and loyalty messaging, creating a more connected and memorable customer experience.
Based on your brand, audience and environment, here’s an example of how your music could feel with Startle.
This playlist has been designed to reflect Black Sheep Coffee’s confident, modern and slightly unconventional brand identity - blending soulful electronic, alternative groove and contemporary indie influences to create an atmosphere that feels warm, stylish and culturally aware.
The intention is to:
Choose from our library of over 100 professionally crafted playlists spanning genres, moods and sectors, or opt for curated soundtracks designed just for your brand.
We offer simple, scalable digital signage to promote seasonal ranges, upsells and brand storytelling - helping keep content fresh and visually engaging for regular customers.
With Startle Studio, you’ll have full visibility and control of all your coffee shops’ music and signage schedules from a central platform, ensuring consistency across every location.
We’ve worked with hospitality brands to create more thoughtful, atmosphere-led customer experiences that encourage dwell time and strengthen brand identity.
We partnered with BEAR Coffee to help develop a soundtrack that reflected their warm, community-focused brand while supporting the evolving atmosphere across their cafés.
As BEAR expanded their estate, they wanted music that felt distinctive, human and consistent with the personality of their spaces - helping bridge the gap between daytime coffee culture and more social evening environments.
This approach included:
Finding our brand sound has been an exciting journey, and the support from the Startle team has been incredibly valuable. They nailed it from the start, and we’ve been happily listening to these playlists ever since.
Marketing Manager
Book your discovery call to explore how music and signage could enhance experience, consistency and engagement across your estate.
On this call we’ll:
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