While researching new marketing campaigns and tactics, I came across a recent commercial for Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) that seemed…well, it seemed a tad bit weird and it was uncomfortable to watch. The commercial features Colonel Sanders whispering softly about pocket squares, he then proceeds to bite into pieces of fried chicken and his heavy breathing and the loud crunching sound of each bite becomes the main focus of the commercial. I forced myself to watch the commercial three times because I kept thinking: “What are they TRYING to do here? Is this a parody?” I found the answer to my question in the very comments made by YouTube subscribers. A significant amount of subscribers commented that they “didn’t know whether to go to sleep or have some fried chicken.” As it turns out, one of KFC’s newest marketing campaigns is geared towards consumers who possess Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR).
According to Gibson (2016), ASMR is a physical reaction that some people have to “certain acoustic stimuli that produces a pleasant tingling that starts in the scalp and can spread throughout the body” (p. 1), hence the nickname ‘tingleheads’. For example, some people have reactions to whispering, the sound hair brushing, page turning, the sound of someone receiving a massage, crumpling paper, and apparently also the sound of someone eating extra crispy fried chicken. Or at least Kevin Hochman, KFC’s chief marketing officer, seems to think so. He states that KFC wants to tap into a new demographic of consumers who are not aware that KFC now was EXTRA crispy chicken available (Gibson, 2016). Per Mr. Hochman: “It makes a loud sound when you bite into it, versus our original recipe. It appeals to a very different customer” (Gibson, 2016, p. 2).
While KFC’s marketing tactic may work for the “tingleheads”, it also has the potential to backfire with those customers who have negative reactions to certain sounds. Anyone else besides me find soup slurping and loud chewing to be irritating if not utterly repulsive? Anyway, the main question I’m asking myself and all of you is: Is this good or effective marketing? Would the agency pitch project your teams are working on benefit from incorporating ASMR into its campaign design? Have companies stumbled upon an opportunity that will reap financial rewards?
Personally and judging by my failure to find more than a few marketing campaigns (see links below), geared towards the ASMR community, I can only surmise that a study and further research would need to be done in order to evaluate how many consumers actually possess ASMR, so that organizations can decide whether the demographic is large enough for them to design a marketing campaign suited for that demographic. Just out of curiosity, are any of you “tingleheads?”
Chinese Dove campaign using ASMR
ASMR Marketing Survey Roleplay (Example)
References:
Gallagher, R. (2016). Eliciting euphoria online: The aesthetics of “ASMR” video culture. Film Criticism, 40(2), D1. doi:10.3998/fc.13761232.0040.202
Gibson, C. (2016). It’s national fried chicken day. is this video of george hamilton eating KFC making you tingle?: How a major brand is seeking inroads with the whisper-fetish world of ASMR. Washington: WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post.
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