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Music, signage and atmosphere influence how long customers stay, how they feel, and how they perceive a brand.
In pub environments, these elements help shape the atmosphere, influence social energy throughout the visit, and enhance the experience across different trading periods and occasions.
Marston’s operates one of the UK’s largest and most diverse pub estates, spanning community pubs, family dining venues and sports-led environments. Our observations and suggestions could support and further enhance consistency and atmosphere across such a varied estate.
Music was present throughout the venue at a comfortable and balanced volume, delivered through wall-mounted speakers positioned around the room.
The soundtrack during the visit blended classic pop, soft rock and laid-back contemporary tracks.
The atmosphere during a Friday evening visit reflected a broad customer mix - with older guests finishing meals while younger groups gathered around the bar area. The soundtrack generally supported this well, though there is an opportunity to introduce more intentional daypart and audience-based programming across different venue types and trading periods.
The venue used screens primarily for live event content, including sports coverage, alongside smaller promotional screens behind the till area displaying offers and transaction information.
The screens supported the operational side of the customer journey effectively and suited the social, sports-led environment of the pub.
There is an opportunity to develop this further through more coordinated use of signage outside of live sporting moments - using screens to support seasonal campaigns, food and drink promotions, entertainment schedules or loyalty messaging throughout the day.
Adapt playlists throughout the day to better support changing customer behaviours - from daytime dining and family visits to evening drinks and late-night trade.
Use music strategically to help differentiate community pubs, sports-led venues and food-focused locations while maintaining overall brand consistency.
Coordinate digital promotions, event messaging and entertainment content with the overall mood and energy of the venue to create a more connected guest 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 the warm, social and familiar atmosphere associated with modern British pubs — blending timeless classics, soulful soft rock and feel-good contemporary tracks to create an environment that feels relaxed, welcoming and easy to spend time in.
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 to support different trading periods.
We offer scalable digital signage to automate your sports promotion and make the most of F&B offers and key campaigns. Promote, entertain and engage.
With Startle Studio, you’ll have full visibility and control of all your pubs’ music and signage schedules from a central platform, ensuring consistency across your estate.
We’ve worked with large pub operators to create more engaging and consistent guest experiences across complex multi-site estates.
We partnered with Mitchells & Butlers to help deliver a more scalable and centrally managed music experience across a diverse portfolio of pub and restaurant brands.
By aligning playlists more closely with different customer occasions, venue formats and trading patterns, Mitchells & Butlers were able to create environments that felt more consistent, welcoming and reflective of each brand’s atmosphere.
This approach included:
Working with Startle has been a very positive experience for Mitchells & Butlers. They understand the important role that music and atmosphere play in shaping the overall guest journey and helping our venues feel welcoming, engaging and on brand. Their solutions support us in delivering a consistent, high-quality experience across our estate, while still allowing our teams to focus on what matters most – great hospitality.
Head of Electronic Leisure
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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