Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly - S9E13 - Lend Us Your Ears: The Intimate Art of ASMR Marketing

Episode Date: March 26, 2020

This week, we explore the quiet world of ASMR marketing. ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. It’s a new form of marketing that creates a calming feeling often accompanied by a tingling sensation. Marketers create that experience using sound effects and whispers. Everything from beer brands to fast food restaurants are using it - hoping that tingling sensation leads to a cash register. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly. As you may know, we've been producing a lot of bonus episodes while under the influences on hiatus. They're called the Beatleology Interviews, where I talk to people who knew the Beatles, work with them, love them, and the authors who write about them. Well, the Beatleology Interviews have become a hit, so we are spinning it out to be a standalone podcast series. You've already heard conversations with people like actors Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell, and Beatles confidant Astrid Kershaw. But coming up, I talk to May Pang, who dated John Lennon in the mid-70s. I talk to double fantasy guitarist Earl Slick, Apple Records creative director John Kosh. I'll be talking to Jan Hayworth,

who designed the Sgt. Pepper album cover. Very cool. And I'll talk to singer Dion, who is one of only five people still alive who were on the Sgt. Pepper cover. And two of those people were Beatles. The stories they tell are amazing. So thank you for making this series such a success. And please, do me a favor, follow the Beatleology interviews on your podcast app. You don't even have to be a huge Beatles fan, you just have to love storytelling.

Subscribe now, and don't miss a single beat. This is an apostrophe podcast production. Your teeth look whiter than no, no, no. You're not you when you're hungry. You're in good hands with all things. You're under the influence with Terry O'Reilly. One day in 1910, an unusual letter arrived at the radio division of the U.S. Navy. It was written in purple ink on pink and blue stationery. The letter was from a man in Utah named Nathaniel Baldwin.

He claimed to have invented a powerful new kind of radio earphones. The Navy ignored the letter. They received hundreds of letters from mad adventurers all the time. But that pink and blue letter stood out from the pile. Someone at the Navy happened to pick up that letter again and decided to ask for a demonstration of these new fangled earphones. Not long after, a pair of Baldwin's prototype earphones arrived. The Navy tried them out

and were blown away by the sound quality. The Navy was so impressed, it immediately ordered 100 sets to be delivered at once. There was only one problem. Nathaniel Baldwin could only supply 10 at a time. He was building them on his kitchen

table. But because they were dramatically better than any other earphones the Navy had ever used, they accepted Baldwin's limited production capacity. So the earphones arrived ten at a time. Improvements were made along the way. Leather was added to the headpiece, and the receivers on each ear were said to contain a mile of coiled copper wire. The Navy knew the technology was breakthrough

and advised Baldwin to patent his invention. But Baldwin refused, because he considered the invention trivial. Eventually, Baldwin was convinced to patent the earpieces and he asked for a royalty on every set of earphones the Navy purchased. He also reserved the right to sell them commercially. When the Navy wanted Baldwin to increase production on the eve of World War I, they requested he move out of his kitchen and into a production facility on the East Coast. But Baldwin was a fundamentalist Mormon who didn't want to leave Utah.

So, a factory was built there to manufacture the earphones. The Baldwin Radio Company was established in 1914. It manufactured 150 headsets a day, most of which went to the war effort. And the business eventually grew to 120 employees and $2 million in sales. Advertisements at the time claimed Baldwin's earphones added an extra stage of audio amplification, and the public eagerly paid a premium price to own a set. Legend has it Nathaniel Baldwin invested a major portion of his fortune

supporting the polygamous movement in Utah. Someone once said, If you were interested in polygamy, Baldwin was interested in you. He went on to make a series of bad investments, eventually went bankrupt and ended up in prison for mail fraud. But his original earphones contain breakthrough technology. They are part of the history that led to the tiny white earpods we see around us every day

and the superb quality of sound we all enjoy in our private, solitary earphone worlds around us every day. We see them on the street, on buses, in gyms, and on airplanes. The ubiquity of earphones has opened up an interesting new opportunity for marketers. The superior sound quality can influence people on a very personal, intimate level. It has led to the emergence of ASMR or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. It's a sound technique designed to send pleasurable tingles down your spine as you listen. And marketers want those tingles to influence your brand decisions. You're under the influence. To begin with today, I'm going to make a request I've never made before.

I want you to listen to this episode with earphones. Then, I want you to relax and float downstream with me. Here's a question. Have you ever heard someone bite into a potato chip from across the room and it instantly made your mouth water? Or maybe it's the sound of bacon sizzling in the morning. Sounds can trigger many pleasurable sensations. It's something marketers have been well aware of for decades.

But recently, brands have taken an increased interest in sound. It's called ASMR. Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response is defined as a calming, pleasurable feeling often accompanied by a tingling sensation. For many people, that tingling sensation begins at the top of the head and works its way down the neck to the spine. For marketers, it has opened up a new path to appeal to customers. There is a definite technique for triggering ASMR. It involves placing multiple microphones around a product,

making sounds with that product, and whispering. Now, you may think this all sounds strange, but ASMR has been around for a while. The term ASMR first appeared around 2010. YouTube now reports there are over 15 million videos on its site dedicated to various forms of ASMR. There are people who specialize in autonomous sensory meridian response. They consider themselves ASM artists. These tingle technicians create videos that are oddly calming and relaxing

by employing soft, repetitive sounds and soothing whispers. For example, one ASMR artist is widely known for her ASMR relaxation videos. In this one, she uses 10 triggers to help you sleep. This video has attracted over 32 million views. Here is trigger number four. To help you fall asleep and to help you relax. And our next trigger is tape. I've always loved the way tape sounds ever since I was little. A 10-hour video of a man making crinkling sounds and rubbing his hands together has 24 million views. There is even a YouTube video for ASMR doubters. It's titled, with apologies to

Madonna, ASMR for Tingle Virgins, triggered for the very first time. The video gives you a wide variety of intimate sounds to experience, like stirring a glass full of shaving lotion. All done with one thing in mind. To make you tingle like you've never been tingled before. Okay, let's take a closer look at ASMR. First of all, you may think it's meant to be sexual, but it's not. While it's certainly sensual, the intent is not to arouse, but rather to relax. And in the marketing world, to whet your appetite for a product.

ASMR does not affect everyone in the same way. Some people don't respond to it at all, and millions respond to it intensely. In a recent study, 75% of participants felt a pleasurable tingling sensation when they heard people whispering. 64% felt the same sensation when they heard crisp or crinkling sounds. ASMR expert and physiologist Craig Richard makes an important distinction.

He says ASMR must have a human component to it. So when Applebee's restaurant posted an hour-long ASMR video of meat cooking on a grill, Richard doesn't consider that true ASMR. Meat sizzling on a grill might be oddly satisfying, but he firmly believes the experience must be connected

to a human in order to elicit the tingling response. The first ASMR commercial from a major brand was created in China in 2015. It was for Dove chocolate, and it began with someone opening the Dove bar wrapping. Then they took a bite and chewed. The entire video was 1 minute and 40 seconds long.

It got a lot of attention, and that video opened up the ASMR doors to the marketing world. So why are marketers so interested in ASMR? Well, for a number of reasons. First, it's a new frontier for advertisers, a new platform they can use to advertise. ASMR has a cultural cachet, and marketers are always looking for ways to be at the forefront of trends. The techniques create a quiet and private experience in the ear of the listener. It's a way for advertisers to spend an intimate, calming, uninterrupted period of time with a potential customer. Because time is the ultimate influencer. And most importantly, it allows

marketers to showcase their products in a sensual way. IKEA, for example, was one of the first retailers to create an ASMR marketing video. It was called Oddly IKEA and was aimed at the college crowd. IKEA wanted to use ASMR to demonstrate the quality of their products for dorm living. Instead of just talking about the thread count in a bed sheet, IKEA could now let you feel a thread count as the narrator runs her fingers across the sheets. Listen as we explore the thread count of the fitted sheet. That video, which showcases several IKEA items for dorm rooms, has attracted, as of this writing, 2.8 million views.

It helped increase IKEA's back-to-school sales by 27% over the previous year. National Rail in the UK made an ASMR video to promote train travel. Here comes the train. And you get yourself ready to board. You find yourself a nice, comfortable seat right by the window. The National Rail video wants to convince you that train travel is the most relaxing Your train has arrived at your final destination. ASMR has opened up many interesting strategic opportunities for brands. Beer, for example, has always been a difficult category in advertising because there are so many restrictions and regulations. Taste is important, but beer makers can never show someone

actually tasting a beer in commercials. In Sweden, local alcohol advertising is banned on television and radio. So a brand called Norlands Guld decided to employ ASMR to advertise the beer's sounds online. They called it Ear Beer. That's why we at the Swedish beer brand Norlands Guldsjus decided to make it possible to enjoy beer with your ear and make that experience as close as possible to the feeling of actually drinking it. You hear that?

That's your ear having a beer. Again, with earphones on, the sounds were an interesting way to trigger the sensation of tasting a Norland Gould beer. ASMR has also caught the attention of brands that wanted to have a little fun. And we'll be right back. If you're looking for flexible workouts, Peloton's got you covered. Summer runs or playoff season meditations, whatever your vibe, Peloton has thousands of classes built to push you.

We know how life goes. New father, new routines, new locations. What matters is that you have something there to adapt with you, whether you need a challenge or rest. And Peloton has everything you need, whenever you need it. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca. If you're enjoying this episode, why not dip into our archives? Available wherever you download your pods. Go to terryoreilly.ca for a master episode list. Axe products are known as Lynx in the UK. And Lynx recently used ASMR to create a series of humorous tutorial videos

for its shower products. Lynx doing one shower and shave feels as smooth as it sounds. One video in the series teaches men how to shave their chests. If you've never done anything like this before but find yourself shave-curious, then welcome.

It offers a step-by-step shave-torial along with a dollop of humor. The first thing that we have to do is trim off the excess hair. So, I actually learned this technique from my mother. Thanks, Mom.

Enter product. Now grab a can of LYNX 2-in-1 shower and shave. Shake it well with your dominant arm. And spray a liberal amount into your palm. Another in the Link's ASMR series tackles a more delicate area. Hello. I'm here to show you how to shave your beanbag in the shower.

And lathers up a pair of coconuts to perform the demonstration. Manscaping. It's an intimate task, and it lent itself well to an ASMR experience. Celebrities have begun to populate ASMR videos. Actor John Goodman did one for McDonald's, extolling the virtues of a quarter pounder. Hey you, McDonald's new fresh beef quarter pounder is hotter and juicier. It'll leave you speechless. I can almost feel that juice sizzling. It all starts with a 100% fresh beef patty cooked right when you order.

Most ASMR videos are a few minutes long, although some go as long as 15 or 20 minutes. Then, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups decided to go long. Reese. A movie. A movie. About. Reese. A. S. M. R. Reese M A

S M R Experience The brand created an 80-minute film called Reese the Movie, A Movie About Reese and it was launched on streaming service Crave Canada in June. But before Reese even considered creating that movie,

it did a test on an ASM artist's YouTube channel to see if people would actually be interested in a Reese ASMR experience. Almost one million people watched that video as an ASM artist slowly opened Reese's packages and ate the peanut butter cups. So, the green light was given to create a film. It starred five popular ASM artists sitting around a table exploring the various rituals of eating peanut butter cups while demonstrating the art of ASMR.

What something do you want to tell us? I hope it's something good. Well, it sounds good to me. are. The movie was a partnership between parent company Hershey Canada and Bell Media. The film was divided into five chapters, interacting with the package, opening the package, sliding out the cup, unwrapping the cup, and eating the cup.

I call it Reese picking. It's like I take my index finger and my thumb and pick out my Reese Cups from inside the package. Hershey created a series of short ads edited from the movie and did a takeover of the June 9th premiere of The Handmaid's Tale on Bravo, the first time a brand had taken over all the advertising inventory in a single program in Bell Media's history. The movie got prominent placement on the Crave app,

alongside other new movie and TV releases. Reese was promoted on various Bell Media radio and television shows, digital properties, billboards, and social platforms like Facebook and Instagram. The movie generated a lot of free press attention for Reese. If you think an ASMR movie is bold, imagine running a quiet ASMR commercial on the Super Bowl. The NFL Super Bowl is also the Super Bowl of advertising. The biggest brands come prepared to spend well over $5 million for a 30-second spot in the most watched television event of the year. It's also a chance for advertising agencies to show off creatively. It usually means big budgets, blockbuster ideas,

huge production values, and lots of high-torque action. That's why it was a very unconventional choice for Michelob to run a 45-second ASMR commercial in Super Bowl LII last year. Michelob Ultra was launching a new light beer called Pure Gold. The commercial starred actress Zoe Kravitz sitting at a table in front of two microphones with a backdrop of mountains overlooking the ocean. The commercial began with Kravitz saying,

Let's all experience something together. Then Kravitz used ASMR techniques to trigger a tingly response to a cold beer. This place, so pure you can feel it This beer, so pure you can taste it Michelob Ultra Pure Gold Beer in its organic form. Those last few words summed up why the beer tried this approach. Michelob wanted the public to associate the organic beer

with a sense of nature and wellness. ASMR is considered pure and calming and revitalizing. Michelob wanted its new organic beer to be considered in the same way, calming and revitalizing. Michelob wanted its new organic beer to be considered in the same way, calming and pure. Michelob's advertising agency did its research first. To begin with,

it hired the aforementioned ASMR expert Craig Richard. When the agency told him they wanted to shoot the commercial in a vast nature backdrop, Richard warned that nature sounds are not strong ASMR triggers. The sounds have to be mediated by a person. So the agency hired Zoe Kravitz to be that person.

And while the commercial was set in a breathtaking location, it was the sounds Kravitz made with the bottle that brought out the ASMR experience. As I mentioned earlier, the Super Bowl is one of the loudest events on TV. There are explosions, people screaming, halftime extravaganzas, and ads filled with racing cars, monkeys, and babies. Michelob wanted to stand out from the pack by being quiet and hopefully send chills down the spines of 100 million people. The ad was posted online six days before the Super Bowl and attracted over 13 million views.

Business Insider reported that Michelob was mentioned over 4,200 times on social media, peaking at 750 tweets per minute. But the early reactions were polarizing. 54% of the tweets were negative. On Super Bowl Sunday, Michelob's ASMR commercial ran in the fourth quarter. Let's all experience something together. ads. The commercial had clearly sent chills down some spines. Unfortunately, it was Michelob's. From the beginning of modern advertising, brands have struggled to communicate what their product really feels like. But you can't smell the leather in a car commercial.

You can't taste the cheese in a pizza ad. You can't smell the coffee on radio. Advertisers can try to explain it, but for people sitting at home, it's still a detached experience. So when ASMR arrived, it gave brands a new way to create an experience people at home could actually feel.

The success of an ASMR video depends on goals and context. For Swedish beer Norland Guld, the goal was to communicate the ASMR taste sensation of its beer without running afoul of beer regulations. For Reese Peanut butter cups, the goal was to boldly film an 80-minute ASMR movie and by doing so, attract massive free press coverage. Yet the Michelob Super Bowl commercial seemed to fail. It had all the right ingredients,

the brand did its homework, an ASMR expert was hired, yet context worked against them. Being quiet on Super Bowl Sunday was one way to zig when everyone else zagged, but being quiet during the big game felt non-celebratory for a beer brand. And it's a day for celebration. For millions of people, ASMR creates a tingling sensation that begins at the top of the head and works its way down the spine.

For marketers, it's a tingling sensation that begins with a video and ends with a cash register. But it all depends on who's listening. When you're under the influence. I'm Terry O'Reilly. This episode was recorded in the Terrastream Mobile Recording Studio. Producer, Debbie O'Reilly. Sound Engineer, Keith Ullman. Theme music by Ari Posner and Ian Lefevre. Radio is Dead, Long Live Radio. Season 2, Episode 4.

You'll find it in our archives wherever you download your podcasts. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Terry O. Influence. See you next week.