A smiling redhead slowly peels transfer paper off a freshly pressed T-shirt. Her perfectly lacquered nails clack against a heat press as she explains in a leisurely whisper how to decorate items using Supacolor transfers.

The 26-minute ASMR video is a collaboration between Supacolor and Emma Smith, a YouTuber who goes by the moniker WhispersRed. A month after being uploaded, it already has more than 99,000 views and 3,400 likes – plus, it’s resulted in thousands of potential new customers flocking to Supacolor’s website.

“To be honest, a lot of people thought it was great,” says Rum Walia, Supacolor president, of the video. “A lot of people were totally weirded out by it. It was something totally different.”

Apparel decoration and ASMR seem like an odd combination, but it made perfect sense to Walia. “The production space is very hectic. … How do you go about making this experience less stressful?” he asks. “We wanted to bring an opportunity where we’d be able to give people something to watch and listen to that might bring a little relaxation.”

Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is the term for that feeling some people get while watching videos that feature whispering, tapping, paper crinkling and other soft sounds. “Many people describe the feeling as ‘tingles’ that run through the back of someone’s head and spine. Others say the feeling is deeply relaxing and can even cause them to fall asleep,” according to an explainer from Vox. In recent years, advertisers have experimented with incorporating ASMR into commercials. Remember when actress Zoë Kravitz sat in the wilderness and whispered about beer for a 2019 Superbowl ad? That marked the moment that ASMR became a mainstream advertising tool, according to Vulture.

In addition to helping people relax, the Supacolor video was a way to show off some of the intricacies of creating a high-quality print. “It’s all those little things that sometimes you don’t necessarily pay attention to,” Walia says. “It brings some focus as well as relaxation to it.”

The week WhispersRed posted her video, Supacolor received more than 8,500 unique visitors to its site – the highest weekly unique visitor tally since the company was founded in 2019, according to Jon Moore, marketing director. (The week prior to the ASMR video drop, Supacolor had about 6,200 unique visitors.) Almost 10% of the clicks were direct referrals from the YouTube video, Moore adds. So far, Supacolor has added 28 customer accounts that listed WhispersRed as the person referring them on the signup form, he notes.

“The video introduced us to a whole new audience,” Walia says, adding that it also gave the company more of a global reach since WhispersRed has fans around the world. “We have several how-to videos, and a lot of the people that are into ASMR, they probably wouldn’t watch our videos unless it was in a format that was attractive to them.”

Customers upload their designs on Supacolor’s website, which the company turns into heat transfers that can be affixed to apparel and other items.

Based in Gardena, CA, Supacolor considers itself a service rather than a product, allowing decorators to submit designs that Supacolor then prints on transfers and turns around quickly. To help increase turn times, the company plans to open a second factory in Atlanta this fall. “We’re really obsessive and passionate about helping people grow – being able to expand their business or get into heat press printing,” Walia says.

Another ASMR video isn’t necessarily in the cards for Supacolor, but Walia says he’s very open to working influencers in niche spaces to introduce Supacolor into more untapped markets.