Kathleen Firment,
strategist!
The ask:
Find a new insight about the industry of your choice.
The industry:
Music retail
The methodologies:
Casually strumming $2,000 guitars, asking countless questions to unsuspecting musicians, and lurking on r/guitar into the early hours of the morning*
*Shadow Shopping, Informal Intercept Interviews, Desk Research, Social Listening.
WHEN I WAS A TWEEN, I WAS IN A PUNK COVER BAND.
Back in those days, I spent lots of time in music stores. It felt like it was time to make my return.
So, I went down to Guitar Center to begin my research.
It was my assumption, as it would be for any store, that purchasing behaviors would follow a pretty standard routine:
browse
compare
ask
buy
But within the first few minutes of me arriving, I heard a guy jamming on a test guitar. Nothing crazy, just fiddling around a bit.
A few minutes later, he was approached by another guy.
They exchanged numbers, planned a jam for a weekend, and said goodbye. Simple as that.
SOme other behaviors I observed:
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Customers lingering around, casually.
-
People watching each other play the instruments.
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The staff not interrupting or intervening.
-
People testing gear, and leaving without buying anything, including the guy who was jamming.
The in-store experience looked less like what I expected, and more like this:
enter
plug in
socialize
buy (?)
at Guitar Center, all rules go out the window.
Practice is usually private.
Retail is usually efficient.
Strangers usually avoid each other.
I chatted with some employees at customers, and this is what they told me.
“There’s kind of...no ‘etiquette’ in here. You got kids who can barely hold a guitar and guys who could be on tour, and they’re all just playing. Nobody’s judging. I’ve seen someone sit at the same drum kit for hours and no one says a word.”
-Guitar Center Employee
“Happens sometimes. Someone starts playing, and even one of us on staff have just jumped in, added a harmony...thrown a solo over it. Half the time the customer won't even realize they weren’t playing alone at first. Next thing you know, they’re in a band for ten minutes.”
-Guitar Center Employee
“One time, this guy came up and complimented me. I haven’t played seriously in almost a decade, so it caught me off guard. We started talking and exchanged info. I don’t know if anything will come of it, but it felt good.”
-Guitar Center Customer
The Insight:
Music stores turn strangers into bandmates.
Instead of advertising their products, Guitar Center can advertise what actually happens inside. This campaign invites people in, and gives them a reason to stay.
Inside, Guitar Center can implement in-store experiences that make playing together even easier.
Boards in every store to post what you’re looking for.
Or find it already waiting.
Grab a wristband if you’re open to playing. A simple signal that says:
“feel free to jump in.”
