People like to laugh. Some say laughter is the best medicine. I don’t know if it’s the best, but people who laugh a lot tend to be healthier. Then again, being sick a lot can put a damper on your sense of humor.
Still there is a reason why so many television commercials use humor as a main ingredient. And it’s something you should consider in your efforts to promote your brand or business.
Why Humor Works
First of all, humor makes feel good. And people (may) associate that feeling with your brand.
It also can break down barriers. People are naturally suspicious of marketing. People don’t want to waste their time being marketed to or worse lied to. But humor can break through barriers, making a brand or company seem more human. When people look forward to your next humorous marketing effort, that’s powerful.
A key component to humor is doing something unexpected. Doing the unexpected gets people’s attention. It breaks you out of the pack. It gets a reaction. And you want people to have a reaction.
Make the Humor Integral To Your Message
As much as I try to skip through commercials on network television, I do manage to see a fair number. I even like a few of them, in part because of their humor. Humor is very big with me.But just putting humor in a marketing effort doesn’t make it effective. Even if it’s really funny.
Let’s take the E-Trade commercials. You know, the ones with the talking baby. I love these commercials and look forward to the latest release. My current favorite is the one where the baby has been exiled to his crib “because apparently riding the family dog like it’s a small horse is FROWNED UPON in this ESTABLISHMENT”. The one on the plane is cute, too.
But in my ever-so-humble opinion, as funny as these commercials are, they don’t make me want to use E-Trade for my investments. Why? Because the humor really isn’t tied to the message they are trying to convey. In fact, I’m not sure what the message is supposed to be. Perhaps that using E-Trade is so easy a baby could do it? It kind of gets lost in all the humor.
Another entertaining media campaign is Dos Equis’ Most Interesting Man in the World. With lines like “His words carry so much weight, they would break a less interesting man’s jaw,” I really enjoy these ads. Are they as funny as the E-Trade baby commercials? Maybe yes, maybe no. But the message seems a little clearer.
The message I’m getting is “Dos Equis is for people of class and elegance, rather than the party drunk.” And the humor is an integral part of the message. Does it make me want to go buy a six-pack of Dos Equis? If I weren’t an alcoholic, I would be inclined to say yes.
It’s Okay To Ruffle a Few Feathers
During the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Wasatch Brewery based in Park City, UT pushed the envelope promoting products like their “Polygamy Porter” (which came with the slogan “Why Have Just One”) and Evolution Amber Ale. In a area dominated by teetotalling Mormons trying to keep the whole polygamy thing a forgotten part of their history, that’s a bold statement. It’s politically incorrect. But their target market finds the message funny. It caused a stir. It got national media coverage during the Olympics. That’s huge!
We’re recently changed our slogan from “Do Incredible” (yawn) to “We’re Here to UNf#ck Your Website”. We know it will offend some people and shock others. But it gets a reaction. And our target market (creatives and innovators with a politically progressive bent), it generates a laugh, interest and, in a lot of cases, sales. It sets us apart from our competition and that’s always a good thing.
Keep in mind that while it’s okay to ruffle some feathers, don’t piss off your target market. If you do, even as a joke, your customers will begin to disappear. And then the joke will be on you.
To get you in the mood to create something funny, Mashable has a collection of videos where current TV dramas that have been re-imagined as 1980s sitcoms. Enjoy!