For the discerning diner, a meal is an emotional experience. One that triggers each of the senses. While much has been done using sight, taste and smell, sound remains a sense rarely explored to arouse one’s gastronomic juices.

Our idea, therefore, was to create an audio spot entirely out of food being prepared at a Marriott kitchen but disguised as a typical meditative track.

Meditation, because of the difference between hearing and listening. While hearing is passive and doesn't involve the brain, listening is an active process directly using the brain. Hearing is physiological while listening is psychological. When people tune in to meditative music, they don't just hear, they listen. Which is what we needed our audience to do.

Meditation playlists are also the second most popular after Bollywood, in India. So we mapped their media habits and handpicked the opportune moment to deliver the track.

Creating a track entirely out of the sounds of food being cooked required specific skills. So we got sous chefs from the Marriott supervised by the Executive Chef, an award-winning sound-engineer, a celebrated music composer and a leading meditation sound artist together.

After days of jamming, a track titled 'Attain Nirvana' was created. It contained disguised sounds of a babbling brook (soup bubbling in a pot), birds flying (celery being cut), a thundering waterfall (fish being crumb fried), calming bells (wooden spoons against brass urns), and so on.

The track was then tested at a Marriott Spa to see if it had the desired effect. Minor modifications were made before it was ready to calm the outside world.

It was then strategically inserted, guerrilla-style, between meditation playlists on India’s No. 1 subscription-based audio streaming app.

The track was to be played 1 million times over a period of 20 days.

Given the nature of the track, results were measured qualitatively as well as quantitatively.

Qualitative

Within days of its airing, the track became one of the most talked about tracks not only on the app but across music forums and groups.

Thanks to social media, it was widely shared within the Indian F&B community and as a result, was widely discussed among restaurateurs and hoteliers.

Quantitative

The functionality of the app does not allow sponsored tracks to be downloaded. As a result, there have been close to 45,000 requests across Marriott helplines and social media assets for a downloadable version.

The media spends on the track were for 1 million playouts. But the track became so popular, the same budget garnered 1.68 million entirely completed plays. That’s 68% more playtime than planned.

Most importantly, visits to the site rose by staggering 873% while bookings across Marriott restaurants rose by 17%.