What Is ASMR?

ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) is a pleasurable tingling sensation, typically felt on the scalp and neck, triggered by soft sounds such as whispering, tapping, brushing and crinkling. In branding and advertising, ASMR describes content deliberately designed with these intimate, close-mic sounds to trigger relaxation and hold the listener’s attention.

ASMR in Practice

Brands court ASMR because it earns a rare kind of attention: viewers lean in, put headphones on and stay. IKEA’s 2017 Oddly IKEA campaign turned a 25-minute dorm-room product video into an ASMR piece, with a whispering narrator smoothing duvets and tapping lamps. Michelob Ultra took the technique to the Super Bowl in 2019, with Zoë Kravitz whispering into twin microphones and tapping a beer bottle in front of advertising’s biggest audience. ASMR content is usually recorded with close or binaural microphones to create the sense that the sound source is centimetres away. Not every listener feels the tingles, but the intimacy translates for almost everyone, which is why the style keeps appearing in food, drink and retail advertising.

Famous Example

Michelob Ultra’s 2019 Super Bowl advert with Zoë Kravitz performing ASMR with a beer bottle