Music soothes the soul, calms the savage beast, and back in the day, it was playing in the background when we shopped, stood in an elevator, it was even played in the background of large factories. It wasn't just any music, it was Muzak. It was music that was designed to relax or excite, change the mood, get you to shop till you drop, or work and not watch the clock.
Yep, you could be sobbing whilst walking into Final Clouds Funeral Home to arrange Aunt Glady’s moment of resting in peace, kleenex tissues mopping up the tears, when all of a sudden you open the door and specially prepared Muzak hits your ears and calms you down, so you’re ready, willing, and able to slap that plastic down on the latest and greatest final resting place.
A shopping spree with the crazy out of control five-year-old becomes a true sanctuary of peace as soon as you walk through the mall doors and the Muzak playing specially orchestrated Christmas music? Lifted your burdens, you made peace with the crazy child, and soon, you're ready to hand over your hard earned cash with a smile for the latest and greatest of whatever you didn't need.
Yes, dear listeners from the 1930’s right up until the 80’s, Muzak was in our ears and according to some, altering our behavior to get us in the mood to shop and work at superhuman levels.
Muzak had its own orchestra and developed background music using what was referred to as “stimulus progression”, customizing the pace and style of the music provided throughout the workday in an effort to maintain productivity in the workplace.
But people started to wake up. A growing awareness among the public that Muzak was targeted to manipulate behavior resulted in a backlash, including accusations of being a brainwashing technique and court challenges in the 1950s.
In the 80’s, a famous rock star Ted Nugent made a bid to buy the company so he could close it down. He famously said, "Muzak is an evil force in today's society, causing people to lapse into uncontrollable fits of blandness". Nugent further said, "It's been responsible for ruining some of the best minds of our generation."
Stimulus progression even made its way into websites, and yes, in the early days of Online Extravaganza Business Showcases, you could click on a link, grab a nice cup of hot chocolate or a glass of red, cuddle up with a blanket, and scroll through endless amount of words and pictures whilst being serenaded by stimulus progression in the background.
And that folks, after my history lesson, brings me to the point of my Words of Wisdom from TheCamel today.
Back in the day when there was but a few websites and people had patience, where FB likes and TikTok 5-seconds of joy did not exist, music, endless Wikipedia text, and encyclopedia product descriptions had a place in the first web impression business.
But now? NOT! Nobody is going to be sitting there with a cup or glass of joy and diligently studying all that information you believe is important. If they don’t get there in a six-second rush of “show me what I need”, then “send me to where I book and buy”? They will click off in a heart beat and move on to another site that will fulfill their needs and desires.
Yes, we have to be strong as there will still be a few customers out there that would love music, a breakdown of “About Us” that reads like a report from Ancestry Dot Com. But, you have to be strong and tell them it no longer belongs. Websites are all about tell them, show them, as fast as you can get to the point, and then, give them an exit via a Credit Card take away, a booking a table, or making an appointment app.
Your design advice should be driven by the lyrics of a great song by KC and The Sunshine Band, customers should be humming in the background, “That’s the way, ah huh ah huh, I like it”
Hugs to all.
TheCamel.Co Words of Wisdom Takeaways (Just in case you don't have patience LOL)
- Website design must stick to SHOW and TELL what customers want to book or buy.
- Give enough information that will lead to a purchase/booking or a call to action to contact.
- Steer away from gimmicks like Music (not even for funeral homes) or flickering lights.
- Make the design exciting but focus on the fact it's now a Marketing Machine not just a Website.
- Don't be afraid to tell your customers something wont work.