TV Atmosphere

Lance Hood (FranPro) 0:01

Hi everyone . Today I would like you to meet Brittney Yarborough , the Director of Strategic Partnerships for Atmosphere . Tv Atmosphere is the number one TV service for businesses , playing in 50,000 plus locations worldwide . This technology is a free service that can have a positive impact on your business and your bottom line . Brittney , welcome .

Brittney Yarbrough (Atmosphere) 0:24

Hi , thank you for having me , lance .

Lance Hood (FranPro) 0:28

So one quick question why TV ?

Brittney Yarbrough (Atmosphere) 0:35

I would say . My question back would be why not ? No , I think that , with my background being in marketing , seeing the evolution of businesses , of where and how their marketing has just evolved over time , I think back to going into businesses , going into establishments and seeing them have paper posters taped to the desk or the tables and having little signs everywhere and those are still great . But now we're going into digital solutions . With that being said , why not turn your TV into a marketing money tool for you and your business or establishment ? That's kind of where we have turned ourselves into a business . Honestly .

Lance Hood (FranPro) 1:21

Right , and screen time is such a big deal , like your phones are reminding you hey , your screen time is up . They talk about how many hours a day people watch TV , and so everybody naturally loves TV , they love screens , and this is something that can do a lot for your business . And it's not just that you're putting something out there that's available . You're setting the mood and the atmosphere . You're using it as a tool of customer engagement , pacifying people , holding people , entertaining people , creating a vibe , just a warm , welcoming vibe . You can discuss anything you can talk about . You can have things on there in all your locations playing at once that let people know that they could buy one of your franchises . It's just a cool way to do business . Out of everything that you would talk about with atmosphere , what's your favorite thing ? What do you think is the most valuable thing that we can discuss about atmosphere ?

Brittney Yarbrough (Atmosphere) 2:20

I think for me . Selfishly , I like to put myself in people's shoes . So if I was a business owner using our service , the marketing feature that we have with the in-house marketing tool is probably the most intriguing thing about this or feature about this product in my opinion , because , again , people say what's in it for me ? Putting up your promotions or something like now hiring or showcasing that you have an event going on these are things that business owners can do with . Our solution it's giving them money , it's driving awareness for them , it's increasing that customer engagement and ultimately putting more money in their pockets . That's something that I love talking about and also probably my favorite thing about the company .

Lance Hood (FranPro) 3:12

Right ? Well , with all the stuff that's happening right now , things are always changing in the business environment . What are some things that you've noticed that are changing ? How are things different than they used to be ?

Brittney Yarbrough (Atmosphere) 3:27

Well , I think , to be honest , right now , people are hurting , companies are hurting and business owners are hurting , and when I say that I mean financially it's . I hate to keep talking about it because I feel like it was so long ago , but COVID really changed the way that people do business and the way customers actually engage with businesses . It's an interesting thing , and I think that I'm always looking at the positive in situations , but it is something that a lot of businesses have to take a financially hit for , unfortunately . With that being said , we , when we first started this , we actually had a like . We were a subscription based business . Our model was to do digital signage . For that in-house marketing , it was $50 a month and during those times of just the way the world is right now , the way the world was a year ago , two years ago we switched our model to making it free .

Brittney Yarbrough (Atmosphere) 4:30

We have noticed that that has made a huge impact on our customers who are business owners , but that's something that we always keep in mind and it's something that we're always doing . That pulse check on is to see how our customers are doing , how business owners , operators and brands are , how they're operating , how they're doing . Okay , I think , right now , too , something that everybody's looking at is they're looking at that bottom line . They're trying to figure out what can I cut , what doesn't make sense , what's something that's not a necessity , that doesn't matter , and cable cost is one of the top lines that a lot of people are cutting off . With that being said , a lot of people have blank screens in their businesses , which is something where we came in and ultimately became a service .

Lance Hood (FranPro) 5:19

Right . Well , I looked at it like this is people probably think of TV as a way to create atmosphere for the business . It's something that's playing so that people either engaged or they're just pacified and they're not worrying about how they have to leave , made their wait for a service to get done or something , or they're waiting for the food to come out . But I also look at it as when you're dealing with normal cable , you're paying money for that service and your competitors ads can be playing on that . So it's like you're paying money to have your competitors advertise in your business while your customers are there watching it .

Lance Hood (FranPro) 5:58

It seems crazy . When this is free and you can put your own advertisements on there , you can talk about your franchise company , you can talk about your positive customer reviews , and when you talk about positive customer reviews , you start to generate more positive customer reviews because you put the idea into the head of oh yeah , I haven't left a review for this company yet , and then your employees see that their positive review is on the screen in front of other customers , which feels pretty good . And I mean there's so many things that you can use this for , and not only is it customized to you and it's in a format that is not putting competitor ads on there , but you're actually using it as a tool where it makes you money versus costs you money .

Brittney Yarbrough (Atmosphere) 6:43

Exactly . That's something that I think is unique too about our business model , or our business , is that we're not just an entertainment company . We're also a communication tool for business owners . So you can use your TV screen and communicate with whoever it is . If you want to communicate with your , let's say , your employees and you're trying to showcase them or support them and , like we just said , a customer review , putting something up with their name in it or anything like that , you can also communicate with customers .

Brittney Yarbrough (Atmosphere) 7:17

Put up there , you know you have like , let's say , I'm a small business owner in Georgetown , texas , and the Georgetown , I guess , warables , they come in a little baseball team , minor league baseball . I can actually put up on my screen within two seconds Congratulations on your big win . What did I say ? Georgetown ? I don't know what I said . Seahawks , warables , something like that , yeah , but you know what I mean . It's so customizable and it's that little extra , going the mile of communicating with your customer , that a lot of these , specifically the younger generation , are looking to get from businesses . They want to feel like they're a part of it and they're looking and searching for that sense of belonging and kind of creating that environment where you're speaking directly to them . Even if it's as simple as through your TV screen , or whatever the case may be , it goes a long way , especially in today's world .

Lance Hood (FranPro) 8:14

Absolutely . And they say , whenever there's a picture out or a picture on the wall or something , what's the first thing everybody does ? Where am I ? They look for their own picture , right ? Well , if you're taking people who are coming in like a sports team or whatever and you can put something on that screen , they feel like it's kind of like they're on TV . It's a valuable , useful thing to connect with the community , connect with the people in the area and then your employees . If they're seeing all these positive reviews up , I think that would increase the number of positive reviews you would get , also because they're going to try harder to win those positive reviews from the customers that are there because they want to be on the screen .

Lance Hood (FranPro) 8:55

Yeah , Now how do you ? You talked about Gen Z and how it's a little different , and some people get a little flustered with how to service this crowd . What's your thoughts and ideas on that ?

Brittney Yarbrough (Atmosphere) 9:14

Yeah , so I have , just this year alone , I've been traveling a lot to a lot of conferences and trade shows where they have these panels that are C-suite of these major brands , going up on stage and talking anywhere from an emerging brand up to an established one . With that being said , that's the number one question that people keep saying is how do I connect with Gen Z and how do I not make them mad ?

Engage Young Generation, Harness Free Advertising

Brittney Yarbrough (Atmosphere) 9:42

This younger generation are people who I don't want to say they're opinionated , but they want honesty and they value that , and so seeing kind of through a brand is something that they're really good at . So I say , servicing them and welcoming them into a business is a way , again , of just being authentic and showing your brand's values , your core mission , what do you believe in , and when you show that you're going to attract the right customers , and not just customers , but loyal customers who are going to continue to keep coming back and maybe one day turn into a franchise owner for you . So that's something that I think that is a huge opportunity that whenever I see brands who are evolving and they're , I guess , leading with their message and their values , I see how the younger generation , specifically Gen Z , are pretty much advertising for free for the business .

Brittney Yarbrough (Atmosphere) 10:39

I see where they social media for instance people are sharing their experiences where they go and so if you can create that establishment or create that atmosphere where these people are wanting to come in and actually engage and have friends there , you know , meet people and they're laughing and they just they love the brand , they're going to go and they're going to talk about it .

Brittney Yarbrough (Atmosphere) 11:01

Word of mouth is everything . It's the best type of marketing , in my opinion , or advertising , and this younger generation is doing it for free for businesses . So some people they a lot of businesses that I've seen their social media . They just started going into that and putting that into their marketing mix . They're just adding what Gen Zers and what this younger generation they're . They're making the content , they're going into the business , they're sharing their experience , posting it online and the brand is re-sharing that or reposting it to their channel or their platform and it has . It's creating this like almost this community in a sense . And again , it's free publicity , it's free advertising for the business . It's not costing them anything . So I think going back to your roots , your mission and your values and starting and leading with that is really what this younger generation is looking for that authenticity , and it really does go a long way .

Lance Hood (FranPro) 12:03

I agree , and you know , the funny thing is I have , when researching franchise companies , I have found better videos online from bloggers than the company themselves like sometimes considerably better videos , you know , and so there's a lot to learn from those people . But if you can get them on your side and making videos for you , that is a . It's a great free tool and that just comes from love . They're just like . I love this place . Check it out .

Brittney Yarbrough (Atmosphere) 12:32

Yeah , even you think about like people finding your business too right ? I mean , I'm a millennial . What I do is I go to Instagram , I go to TikTok , I type in restaurants in Austin , texas , I type in entertainment things to do in Austin , and I'm looking at my peers and this younger generation and what they're doing and what looks so much fun and what they're like just posting and advertising and I go and I do that . I have a running list in my phone that's constantly growing . Anytime I see something online of somebody posting it , I go and I'm like I want to go there . And every Friday I go out to dinner . I try to support local and that's where I go . I go to my list and I'm like I check them off . I'm like this is where I'm going next . So the power of just creating that brand and that community with your customers it goes such a long way and I do believe I hate to say it , but it's kind of the future of advertising right and marketing is really getting your customers involved .

Lance Hood (FranPro) 13:36

It's almost co-marketing with your customers .

Brittney Yarbrough (Atmosphere) 13:40

It is yeah .

Lance Hood (FranPro) 13:42

So you talked about last thing . You talked about customer advisory boards . Explain that and tell us how to set those up and use those effectively .

Brittney Yarbrough (Atmosphere) 13:53

Yeah . So it's something that I have been building for our company or working towards for this past I want to say three months where I'm getting slowly getting customers aligned , and we're having our first meeting in June , so in a couple of weeks . The customer advisory board is such a great way to get valuable feedback from your customers , both positive and negative , and really hearing from them and hearing from the voice of the customer goes such a long way . And it's something that businesses who do it and not only taking that feedback , but also creating measurable actions and actually working towards fixing or working towards , let's say , they say something like oh , I love this , Okay , let's do that more Companies who are doing that and they're adding that into the way they're evolving and they're growing their brand .

Brittney Yarbrough (Atmosphere) 14:44

They're doing great things , they're successful and they're the ones , again , that people are going online and they're promoting for free . So it's something that you know . It's as simple as reaching out to your customers saying hey , starting a customer advisory board , I see you as a valued customer . Would you like to join ? Let's set up a meeting , a virtual nowadays everything's virtual right . So , like let's set up a Zoom meeting and let's do this once a month and gear it towards like this is our product . What do you think about this ? Here's our content , or whatever the case may be . Use them , and I guarantee you customers want to be used in that way . They want to share their voice , they want to share their opinion , and being a part of the plan is something everybody wants , so it's something that a lot of brands that I see again that are doing it . They're succeeding and they're doing great things .

Lance Hood (FranPro) 15:35

Well , if you think about this generation , they want to be part of something that matters . They look for purpose , they look for vision , they look for being part of something . When you invite them into your company to be part of an advisory board , to them that means a lot , because now they're affecting change . They feel important , validated and part of the solution . So I can see the value in doing that and you can learn how to maybe tweak your services to what their needs are too .

Marketing Strategies and Customer Engagement

Brittney Yarbrough (Atmosphere) 16:07

Yeah , it's interesting because some of the stuff that for my company or my pastoral I was our director of marketing and so what I did was I need to figure out how to market us and what our brand is and how people are absorbing our brand or what our brand means to them .

Brittney Yarbrough (Atmosphere) 16:26

That's important . You need that in your marketing mix . So I called up our top customers that I knew I would call them and be like , just talk to them for an hour , two hours , take them out to lunch and just learn from them , and that is what truly spun off into my marketing campaigns building webinars , building playbooks , white papers and everything like that . That's what I would do is I would go directly to the customer , ask them their opinion on stuff and then I'd quote them . I'd be like , thank you so much , you are helping and it's again , it gives you that sense of community and also they're the ones using your product or they're the ones that are going into your business . They're going to be the ones that you want to hear from and you want to market too .

Lance Hood (FranPro) 17:12

Ritne , thank you for everything you shared today . I think that these insights and ideas are excellent and people can definitely use these , so I appreciate you . And for anybody who would like to know more or engage with Atmosphere , you can go to the button next to this video , sign up , communicate with them and get access to TV , marketing and Atmosphere inside of your location that you don't have to pay for and doesn't feature your competitors . Thank you .

Brittney Yarbrough (Atmosphere) 17:43

Right . Thank you so much , Lance .