Return to all postsReturn to all resources
Startle's Mid-Year Updates

Startle's Mid-Year Updates

Written by
Adam Castleton
Published

July 17, 2023

Category
Startle news

It's been a busy few months at Startle. Take a look at what we've been up to...

Can you believe we’re already over halfway through 2023? We’ve seen a new King crowned, Liverpool hosting Eurovision, the sad death of the legend Tina Turner, and many other memorable moments already.

We’ve been pretty busy at Startle working to make our customers happy - we wanted to take some time to blow our own trumpet (music pun intended), if that’s okay.

Atmosphere Monitoring 

We've focused for years on the importance of background music on influencing behaviour and mood. But the choice of music is just one piece of the puzzle when creating the perfect atmosphere. 

That’s why in February, we launched our Atmosphere Monitoring product. 

This exciting development gives you invaluable insights into your retail or hospitality environment and allows you to automate powerful changes to your atmosphere. From automatic volume changes to playlist adaption and relevant signage, the tiny sensor provides you with data on busyness, temperature, energy and local weather to give you an accurate idea of what’s going on inside your venue. 

We’re very proud of the product, and we can’t wait to watch it continue to help brands feel more informed and provide the perfect environment for their customers. 

To find out more about Atmosphere Monitoring, head here

Atmospheres that Sell Book Launch

Creating something as deeply subjective as a store, cafe or restaurant atmosphere without a strong understanding of human behaviour is silly. That’s why behavioural science is at the core of everything we do.

So, in June, we launched the world’s first behavioural science book specific to the retail and hospitality industries, Atmospheres that Sell - Using Behavioural Science to Create Branded Atmospheres in Retail & Hospitality. 

Stacked full of useful information, examples, and thoughts about how to run your sites more like an extension of your brand and marketing function, a critical tool in achieving your commercial objectives. 

If you’re not already familiar with what behavioural science is or where it comes from, you’ll probably find the first chapter helpful (no spoilers). But beyond this, just dig into the chapters that sound interesting to you as each one will take a single insight and explore how it may be helpful to retail and hospitality businesses. 

To get your hands on a copy, head here.

Inside preview of a couple of pages from the Atmospheres That Sell book

Nudgestock 2023

If you follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter, you might have noticed us mentioning Nudgestock 2023. 

Nudgestock, part of MAD//Fest, is the world’s biggest festival of behavioural science and creativity, attracting all with a thirst for knowledge and an appetite to understand the human animal. So, of course, we had to be a sponsor.

But this wasn’t any ordinary sponsorship. As well as providing music for all areas of the event, carefully curated with behavioural science in mind, we challenged attendees of the event to join us in an epic showcase of air guitar skills. 

We had limited stock of our exclusive air guitars, but luckily our rockstar Tim was on hand to oversee the performances (even joined for an epic one by Rory Sutherland).

The day was a blast - to find out more, head here

Close up shot of hand placing index and little fingers on the air guitar instructions sheet

Startle stats!

Care for some fun statistics? 

Infographic showing stats for Rock and Roll Bingo, Ultimate DJ and Season Ticket between January and May 2023
January-May 2023

Technology

Besides our tech team working hard every single day to ensure our customers are happy and fixing any bugs, they’ve also been cracking on with some exciting projects. 

Towards the end of 2022, we launched our new and improved Schedule. These changes were designed to improve functionality, tackle existing customer challenges and make the Startle experience better for everyone involved. Rolling this out has continued into 2023, with some of our biggest customers now really making the most of the up-to-date features. 

Behind the scenes, real-time updates have been a big improvement on our side, as our music and player information now updates in real-time (or as close as we can get it). Although it’s not noticeable to the customer, it’s been an under the hood project to help make everything run smoother for you. 

And looking forward, our tech wizards are working hard on making the Startle experience even better for customers. Focusing on incremental UI updates to Studio including redesigns of some pages (you’re going to love our new playlist previews and management section), they’re hell bent on improving consistency and ease of use, so keep an eye out for more snazzy changes in the coming months. 

Best New Artist goes to...

We’re so excited about some of the new brands we’ve started working with this year, and we want you to know you’re in good company. 

Amongst other exciting brands we’ve helped Lush to standardise their music offering, Mitchells & Butlers to bring their customer experience up to date, Total Fitness to have music with energy, Belushi’s invest in technology that really works for them, Jaguar Land Rover to have the perfect playlists all over the world, and Farmfoods to have a delicious soundtrack.  

Phew! That's a lot for 6 months or so. We're so excited to see what the rest of the year holds.

Heard enough?

Ready to create standout customer experiences? Get in touch to find out how we can use music and tech to help you achieve your goals.

Request a quote
Rotary phone

Heard enough?

Music is powerful, but using it with intention takes skill. Chat to our team today to find out how our behavioural-science backed, curated playlists could help you achieve your goals.

Tell me more
Woman dancing

Heard enough?

Seeing is believing. Engaging your customers through vibrant visual displays can be a game-changer in your retail or hospitality experience. Chat to our team today to find out how our dynamic digital signage solution could help you achieve your goals.

Tell me more
Woman's face

Heard enough?

Live sport has been at the heart of many pubs for decades. Chat to our team today to find out how Arena, our automated, all-inclusive sports promotion platform, could help you achieve your goals.

Tell me more
People watching sports in a pub

Heard enough?

Your environment is always changing. Chat to our team today to find out how using our invaluable insights to auto-adjust your atmosphere could help you achieve your goals and fine-tune your operations.

Tell me more
Happy woman eating in restaurant

Heard enough?

Replicate a perfectly curated atmosphere across an entire estate, all from a single platform. Chat to our team today to find out how using Studio could help you achieve your goals.

Tell me more
Technoology

Heard enough?

Creating something so deeply subjective as an atmosphere without a strong understanding of human behaviour is kind of silly. Chat to our team today to find out how behavioural science can be applied to help you achieve your goals.

Tell me more
People walking

Heard enough?

Dedicated management, free player replacements, 24/7/365 support… what you want, baby we got it. Chat to our team today to find out how relentless our Relentless Support™ really are.

Tell me more
Man with headphones

Heard enough?

Creating a standout retail experience isn’t easy. Chat to our team today to find out how we can use music and tech to create a till ringing atmosphere and help you achieve your goals.

Tell me more
Clothes on rack

Heard enough?

Creating a standout restaurant experience isn’t easy. Chat to our team today to find out how we can use music and tech to serve up the perfect atmospheres in your restaurants and help you achieve your goals.

Tell me more
Restaurants kitchen

Heard enough?

Creating a standout coffee shop experience isn’t easy. Chat to our team today to find out how we can use music and tech to brew the perfect atmospheres for your cafes and help you achieve your goals.

Tell me more
Cafe

Heard enough?

Creating a standout pub experience isn’t easy. Chat to our team today to find out how we can use music and pint-sized tech to create the perfect atmosphere and help get the drinks flowing.

Tell me more
People celebrating in pub

Heard enough?

Creating a standout hotel experience isn’t easy. Check out (or in) how we can use music and tech to create the perfect atmospheres and help you achieve your goals by chatting to our team today.

Tell me more
Restaurant table with cutlery

Heard enough?

Creating a standout gym experience isn’t easy. Chat to our team today to find out how we can use music and tech to get your atmospheres into perfect shape and help you achieve your goals.

Tell me more
Gym equipment

Heard enough?

Creating a standout salon experience isn’t easy. Chat to our team today to find out how we can use music and tech to create an atmosphere with the perfect finish and help you achieve your goals.

Tell me more
Salon equipment

Heard enough?

Creating a standout office experience isn’t easy. Chat to our team today to find out how we can use music and tech to create atmospheres that work as hard as your customers.

Tell me more
Co-working space

Heard enough?

Creating a standout spa experience isn’t easy. Chat to our team today to find out how we can use music and tech to create the perfect peaceful atmosphere and help you achieve your goals.

Tell me more
Towels and insense

Heard enough?

Creating a standout ship experience isn’t easy. Chat to our team today to find out how we can use music and tech to create the perfect atmospheres for your cruise ships and help you achieve your goals.

Tell me more
Beach with cruise ship in background
Startle's Mid-Year Updates

Adam Castleton

With 15 years of experience working in technology, Adam is our strategic and savvy CEO. It’s his job to lead Startle, ensuring that we have a positive impact on both our customers and our team, by delivering innovation and growth in a positive culture. When he’s not at work, he tries hard to switch off by spending time outside with his wife and kids - his self proclaimed ‘happy place’ is having a wander in the forest on a sunny day.

Say hello on LinkedIn

Hey, we've just met you and this is crazy. But here's our number +44 (0)203 397 7676. So, call us maybe?

  • Number of locations *