Let's all experience something together.
If you've never heard of ASMR, the image of Zoë Kravitz whispering into two
mics to promote Michelob Ultra's organic beer during the Super Bowl, might
have left you scratching your head.
ASMR is almost always felt as a deeply relaxing sensation.
And then what a lot of people also report are these sparkly, pleasurable brain tingles.
And some people say it's in their scalp, in their head, in their brain,
but they're just light, staticky sensations that sometimes may then move
down the spine into other parts of the body.
And overall, people just really find it a very deeply relaxing feeling.
ASMR stands for autonomous sensory meridian response.
The term was first coined in 2010 by a woman named Jennifer Allen, who
created some of the first ASMR Facebook groups.
Since then, the popularity of ASMR has exploded.
Google Trends data shows that searches for ASMR have steadily increased
over the past five years.
And major brands are taking notice.
Liz Taylor was part of the ad agency team that worked on the Michelob Ultra commercial.
If you look at what's happening with ASMR, it has over 13 million ASMR
videos on YouTube.
Some of the top five channels have over 2 billion views.
One of the things, you know, for a brand that's all about balance, and
health, and wellness, and they're launching an organic beer, the notion of
tapping into ASMR and what it does to individuals from a sort of balance
and giving you the tingles if you will, really seem like a wonderful fit
for the brand on a stage as big as the Super Bowl.
Anytime you can tap into cultural things for brands, it's a win.
Della Matthew thought so too.
In 2017, she worked on a campaign called "Oddly IKEA," and helped to
produce a 24-minute-long ASMR piece that showed off different products for the college dorm.
What happened was the community, the ASMR community, and the influencers
who are making this type of content really embraced how genuinely we tried to do it.
Like really from concept through production we really tried to stay true
to the to the ASMR community.
And so, I think that also helped because they themselves were promoting
our content.
The commercial went viral and helped to increase IKEA's "Back to College"
sales by 27 percent from the previous year.
But according to Richard, Michelob Ultra and IKEA are not the only brands
who tried to tap into the ASMR community.
There had been about, maybe, at least 15 other commercials that had been made.
Some people think this is the first ASMR commercial.
No, it's just, it's definitely the first ASMR Super Bowl commercial, but
the first one was done in 2015 by Dove chocolate.
And they had crinkling, and whispering, and light sounds in there and personal attention.
And those key traits are what really make an ASMR video or an ASMR commercial.
Richard first heard about ASMR during a podcast, which described one of his
favorite childhood shows.
A lot of people and Bob Ross.
Yes!
They said people that experience this deep relaxation during ASMR, find Bob
Ross extremely relaxing.
And my eyes lit up because I remember being a kid, coming home from
school, turning on "Bob Ross'Joy of Painting," and just getting super
relaxed by his voice, his disposition, the way he painted, the sounds of
the paintbrush on the canvas.
Everything about it was just super relaxing to me.
But nowhere is the popularization of ASMR more apparent than on YouTube.
ASMR videos on the site get millions of views and YouTube has attracted a
swath of creators, many of whom have turned producing ASMR content into a
full-time job.
Gibi, who likes to keep her real name secret for privacy reasons, is one
of those creators.
She has over 1.7 million subscribers on YouTube, and her videos regularly get over a million views.
People watch ASMR for so many reasons.
For trouble sleeping, for anxiety.
People have contacted me because they tell me it helps with their
depression, with their PTSD, with even social anxieties and things like
that, all the way up to some people just watch it for entertainment.
Just to relax, or chill, or have something on in the background that's not so distracting.
To keep her followers engaged, Gibi tries to publish at least three videos a week.
A single video can take anywhere between 1-30 hours to complete, depending
on the topic and complexity.
But she doesn't do it alone.
Like most big YouTubers, it's almost impossible to do things on your own.
I would definitely say that when you grow as a channel, you're going to need to get help.
I have an editor, I have a marketing manager and I have people who help me
with little odds and ends around the side, and I definitely could not do it without them.
Gibi's team also helps her manage her relationship with brand sponsors.
So far, she's worked with big names like Reese, Blue Apron, Poshmark and
Google's Honey browser extension.
That's actually one of the best ways to make sure that your income is
steady if you want to do something like this full time.
ASMR has even broken into activism.
Brush up on issues that matter to you.
Girls Who Code is a non-profit organization that aims to close the tech gender gap.
Back in 2018, the group released an ASMR activism video that taught
viewers things like how to register to vote and find a town hall.
...into activism. Today's tutorial, contacting your representative.
It was all done in the hushed voices of famous female comedians.
You're so powerful.
You voter, you.
Other celebrities who have tried their hand at ASMR include Paris Hilton,
Jennifer Gardner and Jake Gyllenhaal.
All were interviewed as part of W Magazine's two-season celebrity ASMR series.
Type in ASMR into Spotify, and you'll even find some playlists.
ASMR has come a long way since its days as a backroom Internet thread.
And it seems like everyone from YouTube creators to brands wants a piece
of the money-making potential.