Overview
Mood Media partnered with PANBlast to elevate its visibility among retailers, restaurants and hospitality brands while establishing the company as a leading voice on the future of customer experience.
As consumer expectations evolved and retailers sought new ways to differentiate, Mood Media wanted to own conversations around in-store experience, sensory marketing, retail technology and the changing role of physical locations. The company also sought greater visibility within the quick-service restaurant market and a steady stream of thought leadership that would resonate with both customers and media.
Over nearly three years, PANBlast delivered a comprehensive PR program that combined original research, executive thought leadership, customer storytelling and proactive media relations to position Mood Media as a trusted authority on experiential retail.
Challenge
Mood Media operates at the intersection of retail technology, customer experience and marketing, serving some of the world’s most recognizable brands. However, many of the trends influencing its business are highly competitive media topics, including AI, retail innovation, customer loyalty and changing consumer behavior.
To achieve its goals, Mood Media needed to:
- Increase overall brand awareness among retail, restaurant and hospitality decision makers
- Build greater visibility within the QSR market
- Establish consistent thought leadership around customer experience and in-store engagement
- Create a steady stream of newsworthy stories beyond company announcements
Strategy
PANBlast developed a multi-pronged PR strategy centered on proprietary research, customer success stories and executive thought leadership.
Turn Consumer Insights Into Industry News
One of the most successful pillars of the program was original research.
PANBlast partnered with Mood Media to identify emerging retail and restaurant trends, develop survey concepts, write questionnaires, manage fielding through research partner Dynata and analyze results to uncover compelling media narratives.
Several studies became significant coverage drivers, including:
QSR Drive-Thru Experience Survey
As restaurants increasingly invested in digital ordering and AI-powered drive-thrus, PANBlast helped Mood Media explore what consumers actually value in the drive-thru experience. The resulting survey revealed that order accuracy and speed remained top priorities, while consumers held mixed opinions about AI-powered ordering.
The findings generated coverage in outlets including Chain Store Age, QSR Magazine and Food On Demand while reinforcing Mood Media’s expertise in restaurant customer experience.
Retail Atmosphere and In-Store Media Study
To demonstrate the business value of sensory experiences, PANBlast helped launch research examining how music, visuals and store design influence shopper behavior. The survey found that nearly two-thirds of shoppers felt in-store media strengthened their connection to brands and that younger generations were particularly influenced by atmosphere.
The study generated coverage across retail, marketing and advertising media, including eMarketer, Chain Store Age, Cosmetics Business and Supermarket Perimeter.
Holiday Shopping Trends Survey
PANBlast also helped Mood Media capitalize on seasonal news cycles through research examining consumer attitudes toward holiday music, decor and sensory experiences. The survey challenged assumptions about “Christmas creep” and generated timely coverage in Retail Brew and RetailWire during the critical holiday retail season.
Together, these research initiatives transformed Mood Media from a commentator on retail trends into a source of original industry data.
Bring Customer Success Stories to Life
Recognizing that retailers and restaurants learn best from peer examples, PANBlast worked closely with Mood Media’s customers, like Claire’s, Kendra Scott and Moe’s, to identify stories that demonstrated the real-world impact of experiential retail technology.
One standout example was Mood Media’s work with The North Face on its immersive London flagship store. PANBlast secured an exclusive interview detailing how the retailer used audio, video and experiential technologies to create a multi-sensory brand experience that brought the outdoors into the store environment.
The story resonated strongly with retail, customer experience and digital signage media, generating nine unique pieces of coverage across outlets, including Chain Store Age, Retail TouchPoints, Retail Customer Experience, Digital Signage Today, Loyalty 360 and Fashion Network.
Establish Consistent Thought Leadership
Alongside research and customer storytelling, PANBlast maintained an always-on media relations program that included reactive commentary, trend pitching, contributed content, executive interviews and announcement support.
The strategy positioned Mood Media executives as experts on emerging topics such as experiential retail, customer engagement, digital signage, QSR innovation, in-store media and the future of physical retail.
By combining timely commentary with proprietary data and customer examples, PANBlast ensured Mood Media remained relevant to journalists covering rapidly evolving retail and restaurant trends.
Campaign Results
Over three years, PANBlast helped establish Mood Media as a leading voice in retail experience.
By combining proprietary research, customer storytelling and executive thought leadership, PANBlast helped Mood Media strengthen brand awareness, increase visibility within strategic markets and establish itself as a trusted authority on the future of in-store media.
Program results included:
- 196 pieces of coverage totaling more than 1 billion impressions
- 136 high-impact placements featuring substantive messaging, quotes, interviews and thought leadership (meaning about 70% of all coverage was high-impact)
- 40 top-tier placements in Forbes, The Washington Post, Newsweek, Fast Company, Associated Press, Fortune, Adweek, Axios and Vogue.
- The campaign also generated sustained visibility in key trade publications, including Restaurant Business, QSR Magazine, Retail Dive, Vogue Business, Nation’s Restaurant News, Hospitality Technology, Retail TouchPoints and CX Dive.
Client Perspective
“PANBlast helped us seamlessly execute our PR strategy with a team that felt like an extension of our own internal staff. We created phenomenal work together and achieved great results thanks to their proactive partnership. During our partnership, we reinforced our brand awareness and positioning, secured high impact media placements and established consistent thought leadership.
PANBlast is a rare agency partnership that understands your agenda from day one.
They have built a powerhouse team, and every single person we’ve encountered has been impressive. They are an absolute dream to work with because they just get it. They’ve truly become trusted advisors and colleagues to our team.”.
— Jaime Bettencourt, SVP, Global Account Management and Marketing, Mood Media
The PANBlast team supporting this program included SVP Grace Williams, VP Kelsey Sowder, Director Abby Lewis, Account Supervisor Annie Cumming, Senior Content Specialist Gizzelle Sandoval and Account Executive Rylee Pohancsek.