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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.
Costa Coffee has built one of the UK’s largest and most recognisable coffee estates, with a strong focus on convenience, accessibility and consistency. Our observations and suggestions could support and further enhance the in-store experience as the brand continues to expand across multiple formats and locations.
Music was present in-store but sat very low within the environment, often becoming difficult to distinguish against general café noise and customer conversation.
The soundtrack itself felt fairly neutral and unobtrusive, but lacked a clear sense of identity or atmosphere. During the visit, it was difficult to identify specific tracks or even the overall musical direction until occasional vocals became audible above the surrounding noise.
Staff mentioned that stores may receive monthly CD-based music updates, though the soundtrack appeared to function largely as background filler rather than a deliberate part of the customer experience.
Digital screens were present behind the serving counter, primarily displaying menus and pricing information.
While functional and clear, the content appeared largely static during the visit, creating an opportunity to use screens more dynamically throughout the customer journey.
Subtle motion content, seasonal campaigns, loyalty messaging or limited-time offers could help create a more engaging and contemporary in-store environment while supporting promotional flexibility across different formats and locations.
Develop curated playlists that reflect Costa’s warm, approachable café environment while improving consistency and atmosphere across the estate.
Adjust volume, scheduling and audio balancing so music remains part of the customer experience without overpowering conversation or operational activity.
Introduce subtle motion content and campaign-led messaging to help stores feel more modern, engaging and connected throughout the day.
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 Costa Coffee’s relaxed, familiar and comfort-led café atmosphere - blending soulful indie, mellow groove and warm contemporary tracks to create an environment that feels calm, modern and welcoming.
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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