The Newest Marketing Trend: ASMR

What do Michelob Ultra, W Magazine, SKIMS, Fenty Beauty and KFC have in common? In terms of marketing, they all have used a similar strategy in some of their ads to stick out and provide a newfound appeal to many viewers: ASMR.  

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, more commonly known as ASMR, is not anything new to the internet. Although recently becoming a “trend” in the years since the pandemic, the phenomenon encompasses an entire community on the internet and has since the early 2010s. 

Some people find it weird; others find it makes them uncomfortable, and some people even think it is sexually charged. However, its soothing auditory nature proves to provide a mass appeal to a large section of the internet who just want to relax, need help sleeping or are just bored. 

ASMR became a successful idea for companies to use in their marketing campaigns because of how relatively inexpensive it is to produce and the mass appeal it provides for the audience. Most successful ASMR videos and channels can garner millions of views just by using a microphone and a camera, so with the big budgets that companies have with their marketing teams, its use proved to be a cheat code. 

Companies that released advertisements before ASMR became mainstream include W Magazine IKEA in 2017 and Lush in 2018. Despite these videos gaining popularity and millions of views, companies were not too keen on hopping on the trend just yet. 

A breakthrough in the marketing application of ASMR occurred on February 4^th, 2019, when a Michelob Ultra “Pure Gold” commercial starring Zoe Kravitz aired during the Super Bowl. In the commercial, Kravitz does ASMR by tapping on a Michelob Ultra bottle and whispering into a microphone, mimicking the popular styles used by ASMRtists.  

Since the Michelob Ultra commercial, several different food and beverage brands have jumped on the commercial success that the use of ASMR garnered the beer brand. However, the industry that would take over the use of ASMR would prove to be the beauty industry. 

The use of ASMR makes sense for the beauty industry to use because it evokes the senses by the natural sounds of using the products, while also providing the visual appeal of the products being used. Brands such as Sephora, Fenty Beauty, Glossier, Clinique, Kylie Cosmetics and others have all hopped on the trend. 

The use of the cultural phenomenon known as ASMR has proven to be extremely beneficial to the marketing teams of a vast range of companies and industries and has even resulted in notable revenue increases. In all, you can expect to continue to see the use of ASMR in short form and long form content for companies, so sit back, relax, and enjoy the experience.