Applebee’s is testing a novel—and sizzling—marketing technique in its ongoing campaign to woo millennial consumers.
The legacy casual-dining brand has released an hourlong video of protein—ribs, chicken, shrimp and steak—popping, sizzling and charring over a red-hot grill.
The video is one of thousands on YouTube tagged as ASMR, short for autonomous sensory meridian response. That’s the tingly feeling down the back of the neck and spine some people get when listening to certain sounds like whispers, crinkling paper or, evidently, grilling meat.
Many say they find it relaxing. Applebee’s, for its part, hopes consumers will connect those soothing sounds to the chain’s comfort food menu.
“We’ve done a lot of work here in the past six to eight months to reapproach and look at how we do social (media) and to understand how we do pop culture,” John Burke, executive director of media for Applebee’s, tells Restaurant Business. “With our product, it makes sense. We cook our meat on grills. … It goes with comfort food.”
Applebee’s “One Hour of Soothing Grilling Sounds” ASMR video has been viewed about 3,500 times since it debuted at the start of the month.
“Compared to a lot of the efforts we’ve done, this appears to have engaged with consumers,” Burke says. “It’s talk value. This is something that definitely has legs.”
Before debuting the campaign, executives showed franchisees an ASMR tutorial video. Some said, “It’s a little out there,” and “Is this for real?” but the marketing tactic generated buzz, Burke says, noting that “We need to take some risks and think differently.”
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