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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.
Pret has built a strong and recognisable brand around freshness, convenience and everyday quality. Its positioning sits between premium coffee culture and fast-paced food-to-go, with a customer base that values both efficiency and experience.
Music was present throughout the store at a comfortable volume, although it often became difficult to hear clearly during busier periods due to customer chatter and ambient noise.
The soundtrack leaned towards easy-listening contemporary pop, creating a pleasant and unobtrusive backdrop that suited the environment well. However, because the music sat so far into the background, it wasn’t contributing strongly to the overall atmosphere or helping shape a more recognisable brand experience.
There was no digital signage present within the store beyond static menu boards behind the counter.
The simplicity suited Pret’s clean and operationally focused environment, but there is an opportunity to introduce more dynamic visual communication in subtle, brand-appropriate ways.
Small-format digital screens could support seasonal menu launches, sustainability messaging, subscription promotion and product storytelling without overwhelming the space or disrupting the simplicity of the environment.
Develop playlists that reflect Pret’s modern, premium and approachable positioning while adapting naturally across breakfast, lunch and quieter periods.
Use music more intentionally to create warmth and personality while maintaining the fast-paced operational feel customers expect.
Explore understated digital signage for seasonal campaigns, sustainability messaging and product storytelling across the estate.
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 Pret’s calm, modern and quality-focused brand identity - blending contemporary indie, alternative soul and laid-back electronic influences to create a warm and relaxed atmosphere that still feels current and urban.
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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