Christmas music is a must during Christmas, according to the majority of the Swedish population, but it can also cause people to feel stressed.
Hearing Christmas music in stores, public areas and in media causes stress. With only 12 days to go before Christmas Eve, Clas Ohlson has decided to replace some of the traditional Christmas music played in stores with especially composed ‘mindfulness’ versions to reduce stress that many people feel.
At the end of November this year, Handelsanställdas förbund (The Commercial Employees' Union) published a warning saying store staff perceive Christmas music as stressful. A new survey undertaken by Inizio, on behalf of Clas Ohlson, shows that 47 percent of store visitors feel that Christmas music is most stressful in a store environment. In order to contribute to a stress-free Christmas feeling, Clas Ohlson has produced especially composed mindfulness versions of traditional Christmas tunes. The music will be played in all Clas Ohlson stores.
“With our especially composed Christmas album, we are trying to make our stores a calmer place to visit. Even if the music has been created tongue-in-cheek, there is a more serious tone to it. Many people are adversely affected by Christmas stress and we want to help reduce it,” says Jeff Jackett, Group Head of Marketing and Brand at Clas Ohlson.
Christmas Songs (Mindfulness Edition)
The album, Christmas Songs (Mindfulness Edition) from Clas Ohlson, contains traditional Christmas music in relaxing mindfulness versions. The songs that have been remade are: Jingle Bells, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Winter Wonderland, and the traditional Swedish, Finnish and Norwegian songs, Hej Tomegubbar, Joulupukki, Joulupukki and På Låven Sitter Nissen.
Links
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/24I3RjyXeqkiRwXYoOYTMn?si=JrnAF-dcRtWCi_f_gv2Vyg
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfJL6_kkCO5mw9f6s3kAHw5WE-TINWKZ4
Campaign site: https://ettbattrehem.clasohlson.se/julmusik
About the research
The survey was carried out by Inizio on behalf of Clas Ohlson. The purpose was to perform a poll, to find out what the Swedes value during Christmas and what their feelings were towards Christmas music.
The target group for the survey was the Swedish general public between the ages of 18-79. The survey was based on web panels during 2 December and 5 December 2018. In total, 1,045 people took part in the survey.