SmoothFM lives the brand with experiential relaxation station in shopping malls
SmoothFM is giving shoppers in Sydney and Melbourne the chance to escape their everyday lives for a five-minutes in a ‘relaxation station’.
The new experiential campaign, created by UM and Ensemble features a custom-built booth which was installed overnight in the Macquarie Shopping Centre in Sydney which invites shoppers to have a “sensory experience”.
Users enter the ‘pod,’ lie on a comfortable mattress and enter their current mood (happy, mellow, loving or stressed) onto an iPad. The pod then plays a five-minute selection of music from Smooth’s playlist based on the answers.
It will be moved around the country to other Westfield centres in Sydney and Melbourne.
The songs are introduced by presenters Smooth Mel Doyle, Cameron Daddo, Richard Wilkins and David Campbell, while giving the user some built-in massage therapy while they relax.
Smooth FM commissioned the largest neuroscience study earlier this year, which proved being relaxed helps user engagement with content. The relaxation station aims to support the findings by distracting the user completely from everyday life in order to encompass them in a relaxing environment.
Tim Hodgson, Ensemble Managing Director said: “This project is a great demonstration of a brand driving an emotion in its audience through an immersive activation. The experience has been created with a globally imported and modified piece of technology, tailored to the Smooth FM’s requirements, to deliver the ultimate moment of relaxation… something we all need more of!”
Leanne Glamuzina-Gibb, Nova Entertainment’s group marketing manager said: “It’s an interactive, not intrusive experience. We had previously used massage therapy when promoting the Smooth FM brand but the opportunity to trial the station was missing. We wanted to bring those two worlds together. People have busy lives, so popping in for five minutes gives enough time for people to relax.”
Nova has bought the ‘pod’ technology from a company in Germany and are planning to use it for various executions in the future across all of Smooth FM’s partnerships, including marketing to media agencies who have the opportunity to host the station.
Glamuzina-Gibb said: “It’s both a consumer and a trade execution. We market to agencies to include in their media buys, but there’s a focus on the consumer side of things – a social sharing aspect, where we invite users to share their experience on social media. We are relying on word of mouth to get people talking about it.”
Smooth topped the Sydney FM radio ratings for the first time last month.
Danielle Sen
“Smooth FM commissioned the largest neuroscience study earlier this year”? Largest in what context? Globally, nationally, by radio stations based in Pyrmont?
User ID not verified.
Now people can literally take a nap while listening to their music.
User ID not verified.
I know SmoothFM’s isn’t to everyone’s taste – but, it’s a brand with a clear purpose and a clear market positioning that meets a real consumer need. If only half the brands we worked on achieved that we’d all be a lot happier.
User ID not verified.