Article

Best Buy deploys directional audio for latest Call of Duty launch

The retailer used a high-tech approach to prevent the bombast of "Advanced Warfare" from permeating the store.

December 18, 2014 by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

Last month, Activision released the latest in its "Call of Duty" video game series. According to the company, the series has generated more than $10 billion in revenue since the first installment was published in 2003. And according to industry research firm NPD, "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare" has already become the best-selling video game of the year.

For many people, Best Buy is their retailer of choice for new video games. Merchandising such a game is both an opportunity and a challenge — it's not a quiet game by any means, so the retailer needed to make sure the audio wouldn't spill out into the rest of the store and detract from the experience of, say, someone looking at TVs or toasters.

The retailer partnered with audio specialists Turtle Beach to design special merchandising units with embedded directional sound speakers. According to Turtle Beach, the displays were installed in 987 store locations in the U.S., one per store. Shoppers only hear audio from the speakers when they are standing in a "sweet spot" directly in front.

We chatted with Todd Savitt, VP Sales & Marketing for HyperSound at Turtle Beach, about the installation, which the company said only took a few weeks.

RCE:What were some of the decisions surrounding the use of audio in this campaign?

Savitt:Best Buy places tremendous value on innovating its in-store experience across every customer touch-point. For Activision’s "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare" display, this meant finding a way to add audio content to the video display without disrupting employees and customers in nearby product areas, which in Best Buy, posed a unique challenge. HyperSound provided Activision’s "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare" end-cap kiosk with a perfect solution: virtual reality audio zones.

RCE:Audio is unique in that it has a point of diminishing return — you can't have dedicated audio for every product in the store, otherwise the noise would be unbearable. Who decides where and when to use it?

Savitt: Noise pollution is a real issue for retailers, especially when incorporating multimedia elements to in-store applications. If you added traditional speakers to every product display within Best Buy, for example, the overwhelming cacophony of noise would certainly drive customers and employees out the door. Daunted by the challenges of adding sound in brick and mortar settings, brands often resort to eliminating audio from their product displays altogether. Major retailers, like Best Buy, often deploy in-store audio strategically and on a case by case basis, as to not retract from the overall store ambiance. Activision’s "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare" kiosk is an example of such a decision, allowing the uniquely focused audio as it did not bleed into other areas.

RCE:"Call of Duty" is well known for being a "loud" experience. How is this being tempered to be pleasant in-store?

Savitt:"Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare"’s audio is both engrossing and bombastic, certainly not a "soft" experience. To temper this, HyperSound speakers create a listening experience similar to wearing headphones. This allows the sound to be heard at its intended volume, but for targeted listeners only.

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