Retailing’s good vibrations

Associated Press

PUTNEY, Vt. – If Billy Straus’ life had a soundtrack, it might include a tune from jazz master Dave Brubeck, maybe folkie Joni Mitchell, something from the a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock, or any track from The Beatles’ “Abbey Road” album.

It’s a lighthearted whimsy Straus is typically too busy to contemplate. Most of his time these days is spent figuring out the music that best captures the personality of some of America’s biggest retailers.

Think up a mix of music – jazz, rock, hip-hop, New Age – that a company wants its customers to associate it with. Get the licensing from the music publishers. Put it on a compact disc. Package it with the retailer’s name. Sell it for 10 bucks a pop, or give it away to customers.

That’s what Straus’ Brattleboro, Vt.-based company, Rock River Communications, does.

“To some degree, we’re the guys that sat up late in the dorm rooms making mix tapes,” said Straus, 40. “That’s what it is at its core – what we’re trying to do is make great mix tapes.”

Only the compilations are now called “branded lifestyle soundtracks.”

Examples are The Jackson Five on Eddie Bauer’s collection of soul artists. Or Tito Puente performing on BankOne’s mix of salsa and mambo. How about Jimmy Cliff singing reggae for a Pottery Barn compilation?

What the companies are trying to sell isn’t so much a product as a “vibe,” Straus says: Every time you listen to, say, the group Styx, you might think of a Volkswagen Beetle. Blondie might remind you of an embroidered pillow.

“What it’s reinforcing is the idea that (retailers) are providing the building blocks of a lifestyle,” he says.

Since its first holiday collection at Christmas 1995, Pottery Barn has made 34 CDs collections, Straus says, all of which have sold well.

Starbucks Coffee Co. started out with a jazz collection six years ago. It now has its own in-house music department, and it recently came out with its 51st CD.

Intimate lingerie retailer Victoria Secret was years ahead of other retailers with a romantic mix released in 1988 that ultimately sold 15 million copies. Ice cream maker Haagen-Dazs put out a compilation of love songs six years ago called “Dedicated to Pleasure.”

Jared Spool, founder of User Interface Engineering in Massachusetts, said the idea – also known as affinity branding – definitely works. He said any affinity branding, be it through CDs or otherwise, was a psychological process, conditioning a consumer to think a certain way about a certain product.

“If you can associate your favorite musical artist with some music, and whenever you hear the music you think of this product, you’ve got something there,” Spool said. “Those positive feelings about that music translates to everything good you might feel about a company or a product.”

Pottery Barn won’t release specific sales figures for its CDs. But spokeswoman Leigh Oshirak says the fact that the company continues to release more compilations is an example of the idea’s success in promoting the image it favors: comfortable and homey.

Companies are also using music on the Internet to develop a certain image or vibe.

Volkswagen turned to Straus’ other company, Websound, for help in capitalizing on a recent successful advertising campaign, which features edgy rock music.

Called simulated customized live streaming, Websound helps come up with a music play list, then pipes that music continuously through Volkswagen’s Web site in the form of an Internet radio broadcast. And there’s a CD – “Music From Volkswagen Commercials” – for sale.