ASMR or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response is a phenomenon in which the human reacts with a tingling sensation that begins in the back of the head when they hear certain sounds. These sounds could be of any kind and range right from a whisper to gently tapping a glass. When such sounds are played, the listener tends to experience a mild euphoric state that helps them go into a relaxed state, which is why it’s become such a popular sensation in the past few years.
Something that began in a Reddit thread supposedly, has now turned into an entire industry of its own especially on YouTube where ASMR YouTube videos are quite commonplace now. The reason that most users find this appealing is that of the slow pace of these videos and the direct effect it has on their senses. It directly targets their auditory and visual senses and, backed because it can elicit an emotional response from the user, the appeal is irrefutable.
At the moment, ASMR slime videos on YouTube have racked up engagement that is 1.5x more than other videos on the platform. With engagement on an all time rise and the ASMR industry only looking to expand in the next couple of years, brands are also cashing in on the trend and we’ll tell you exactly why.
What makes ASMR a brilliant marketing strategy?
Marketing is all about targeting the right consumer with the right marketing strategy and that is the golden ticket to getting the sale or lead that you need. This is one reason brands are always looking out for the most innovative and attractive campaign strategies. With ASMR increasing in popularity in recent times, it only makes sense for them to incorporate these tendencies into their campaigns. You get to not only hook your customer with a tantalizing audio-visual campaign but also help build an emotional connection with little effort. Which brand wouldn’t want to?
The past few years have seen an increase in using ASMR in marketing campaigns and is not particularly limited to one industry. A trending option such as this has its own term now, and that is ‘Quiet Marketing’. It has completely changed the landscape of marketing which was previously dominated by some of the most bold audios and visuals to stand out from the competition.
Any good marketing campaign can incite an emotional response in its audience and that is exactly what ASMR caters to. From food to furniture, most global companies are using this strategy so much so that even luxury brands have jumped on the bandwagon!
Top 4 fashion ASMR campaigns in the market
Even the fashion industry has cashed in on this new trend and it looks like it’s going to stay for the long run. Let’s have a look at some of the top fashion brands that have made use of ASMR marketing in the past few years that has resulted in ASMR fashion becoming a popular trend.
In February 2019, Givenchy, a luxury fashion brand launched its first ASMR campaign in which they had runway ready models eating apples and touching leather accessories to create soft sensitive sounds. They used clever tactics such as the crushing of grapes using their signature heeled footwear and sliding metal chains on leather accessories (a popular grunge look) to focus on the auditory aesthetics of their products!
Gucci is a powerhouse in the fashion industry and it’s not surprising that they even got in on the trend. Their campaign in July 2019 by the name of #24hourace was a hallmark of this trend. While each year they invite top artists from the world to generate content for their new launches, in this particular year they invited ASMR artists or ASMRtists as they are popularly known, to create brain tingling videos. The Ace sneakers that were being advertised were pushed through a variety of different perspectives, from wet unboxing to pushing it into a slimeball. This form of user-generated content went viral in a matter of hours and took Instagram by a storm and gave ASMR fashion a place of its own!
Coach is one of the biggest fashion luxury brands in the United States and with ASMR fashion picking up in 2019, they launched their own campaign that September. The campaign was about the launch of their line of leather bags and accessories. Throughout the campaign they showed various videos that portrayed the cutting of leather by hand, immersing the bags in a bucket of suds or even something as simple as clicking the bag open. With a tagline that says “See it, feel it, hear it: authentic American leather craftsmanship”, they really couldn’t go wrong.
The fashion industry comprises an enormous variety of products and luxury watches are definitely one of the most in demand items. This is when Jaeger-LeCoultre, a Swiss watchmaking manufacturer, took it to the next level. In 2021, they released a video starring popular British actor, Benedict Cumberbatch, who is known for his raspy voice. The video took the audience through a journey of how time unravels with calming sounds of their breath and whispers coupled with sounds of the ocean. It was one of the most innovative ads out there because of how they drew a parallel between the concept of time and the product itself!
From these marketing campaigns, it’s clear that ASMR or fashion ASMR is set to remain one of the topmost campaign strategies in the upcoming years. The ability of such campaigns to entice its audience in a manner that doesn’t even feel like they’re being marketed as a product is one of the most seemingly indirect but directly targeted ways to get their attention. It only makes sense for such brands to cash in on these trends while they can because in the digital age, there are many challenges which prevent them from forming a personal connection with their audience. ASMR fashion videos are the ideal way to accomplish that.
Keywords: ASMR, ASMR fashion, ASMR youtube
References
- Maynard, M. (2019, July 11). ASMR: how brands are selling the sound of food. Retrieved from https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/marketing/asmr-how-brands-are-selling-the-sound-of-food/595431.article
- Veerman, N. (2019, December 31). Five fashion ASMR campaigns from 2019. Retrieved from https://fashionunited.uk/news/fashion/five-fashion-asmr-campaigns-from-2019/2019123146818
- Chae, H., Baek, M., Jang, H., & Sung, S. (2021). Storyscaping in fashion brand using commitment and nostalgia based on ASMR marketing. Journal of Business Research, 130, 462-472.
- Luxus. (2021, March 19). The luxury industry is moving to ASMR. Retrieved from https://luxus-plus.com/en/the-luxury-industry-is-moving-to-asmr/
- Chen, T. (2019, April 1). Why brands need to take ASMR more seriously. Retrieved from https://martech.org/why-brands-need-to-take-asmr-more-seriously-2/
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