Supermarket in herttoniemi, helsinki opts for a relaxed and immersive sound space
There aren’t many supermarkets in the world that can boast Genelec loudspeakers, but K-Supermarket Herrtta in Helsinki is no ordinary supermarket. The store is part of the K Group, Finland’s second largest fruit and vegetable trade operator and one of the largest in northern Europe. K-Supermarket supplies around 250 stores in the most sought-after market segment, offering customers an exclusive shopping experience with a range of selected products and local specialties. At K-Supermarket Herrtta, the independent retailer Markus Ranne manages the store and has decided to innovate further by opening the doors to sensory marketing: through a combination of scents and sounds he attracts customers to stay. To do this, he consulted sensory marketing specialists based in Helsinki.
Sevende Aromas is tasked with setting up the environment, and Genelec 4000Series louspeakers were used to do this.
“Sounds influence comfort and purchases in many businesses and environments, such as supermarkets, hotels, offices, bars and restaurants. Hearing, on a scale of importance is the third sense,” says Eero Niskanen, founder and CEO of Sevende Aromas. “Studies have shown that the right mix of sounds within an environment, increases sales by 30% and also improves productivity. If we focus on the creation of room fragrances, studies show that customers stay longer within the same, that is up to 40%. Fragrance is therefore a key element of branding. The customer will want to relive that experience again and again. K-Supermarket Hertta was interested in expanding its business strategy by choosing both experiences.”
Sound designer Aki Päivärinne explains that the goal was to create a relaxing, immersive sound environment to be included in the newly revamped fruit and vegetable department, and to instead incorporate stereophonic sound for the sweets department. “This was a very interesting task, as I had previously created monophonic sound for the store, also for the alcohol and soft drink departments.”
“I use a lot of computer programs and electro-acoustic modeling software in my work. Specifically, since the speaker placed in the fruit and vegetable department is not symmetrical, I created a spatial model within the software to calculate delay times that require 3D audio images.”
The installation consists of twelve Genelec 4030 speakers positioned equally above the chiller or suspended elements, while eight 4020s grace the beverage aisle and four more are positioned in the candy aisle. In addition, eight fragrance dispensers are strategically placed for a pleasant fragrance experience. The control tool is kindly provided to us by QSC, and it is the Q-SYS Core 1 10f a processor with a touch screen interface to manage level control in the various zones.
“For the audio experience in the fruit and vegetable department, I envisioned a surreal and very colorful world of fruit,” said Päivärinne. “I thought of lush forests, exotic animals, very different weather phenomena along with poetic musical intervals given by a saxophone, light, sea and harmonious clouds – all creating a relaxed atmosphere.
I talked it over with store manager Markus Ranne and fragrance designer Eero Niskanen and immediately got to work. After an initial listen, I made some small changes to the dynamics of the material, and now the audio performance is fantastic. I’m very pleased with the result.”
The reason for this choice? Päivärinne said, “I have used Genelec loudspeakers in other projects over the last ten years and they are very good products. In this case, the 4000 Series turned out to be the optimal solution, capable of creating an immersive sounding atmosphere. The design is not bad at all, which doesn’t hurt!”
Along with the fragrances, created by Sevende Aromas-who also handled the systems integration-the result had a positive influence on sales, as confirmed by a study recently conducted by Helsinki University. “The study compares the results recorded in a store that adopts a marketing strategy with those of similar size that follow the more traditional line, where traditional marketing strategies are used, however,” Niskanen said. “In supermarkets implementing sensory marketing techniques, there was an increase in all aspects and increased customer satisfaction.”
Sensory marketing demonstrates its effectiveness in several aspects: sales, customer loyalty and customer satisfaction through appropriate music choices.
“Sensations shape people, not the other way around,” Niskanen said. “As a result, people return to those places they call home. The most important sense is sight, followed by smell and hearing. Together, these three senses combine to characterize human behavior, 75%. Sensory sensory marketing techniques that involve the use of smell and hearing, along with sight, lead to confident results.
“We used quality fragrances and worked together with renowned sound designers to create a captivating atmosphere,” Niskanen says. The soundscape consists of natural sounds and musical elements. To create the right atmosphere, it’s important to get close to a natural sound and that’s why we relied on quality audio, choosing Genelec because of their crystal clear sound, even at very low frequencies. There is no doubt that Genelec played a decisive role in the result.”
