Customer
Catcher™ Tips
Martin Wales
April 2003
Recently,
I noticed the beginning of the summer's beer commercials,
and others, that present humor in their marketing - especially
their advertising. Many work so much on getting to 'funny'
that you don't get the message or the value offered. Plus,
small and mid-size companies can't expect just to be funny
and tie it to their brand because they don't have a lot
of brand equity anyway.
Therefore,
I thought it would be helpful to present a past article
by Lorna Lynch, as the message is timeless. It was originally
published online at www.profitguide.com,
the web presence of PROFIT Magazine.
Do's
and Don'ts of Using Humor in Advertising:
Tips and Tricks to Keep Your Customers Laughing
By Lorna Lynch
"Whazzup?"
Besides
winning awards for creative advertising, last year's Budweiser
campaign went a long way towards indelibly branding the
product in millions of consumers' brains. But while hu
morous
marketing is most closely associated with beer, it can be
a highly effective tool for promoting almost any product
or service — if used correctly.
"Always
remember that the main purpose of advertising is to educate
or sell," says Martin Wales of CustomerCatcher.com,
a Toronto-based marketing firm. "If a humorous character
[or schtick] becomes synonymous with your brand, then it's
working," he says. "Like the Energizer Bunny or
the bald Goodyear Tire guy."
Indeed,
with nearly a third of all marketing dollars being spent
on comical ads, they must be effective. But why? "People
universally like to laugh," says David Burd, owner
of Crazy House, an ad agency located in Scranton, Pennsylvania,
devoted exclusively to humorous marketing. "Unlike
the over-used tactics of being shocking or sexy, humor can
be directly related to your advertising message." And
once a link is established, your product and message become
associated in the consumer's mind with smiling or laughing.
"You've not only made an impression," says Burd,
"but you've made a positive impression."
So,
how do you know if your ad is funny? "My best piece
of advice is go with peoples' first reactions," says
Burd. He recommends presenting the ad to people who have
never seen or heard it before, and judge the effectiveness
by their initial, spontaneous responses: "If they don't
laugh, it's not working." And that, he says, is a disaster.
"It's better to write a straight ad than one with a
bad joke."
In fact,
humor can have some serious pitfalls. Here's what the experts
recommend:
-
Don't use convoluted or overpowering humor.
Keep it simple, and don't let the humor detract from your
message or brand.
-
If your competition is using humor — don't.
"One laser eye surgery company was using humor in
its ads," says Wales. "The competition capitalized
on it by suggesting that there's nothing funny about eye
surgery. It backfired on the first company."
-
Don't make your customer the butt of the joke.
"If the reader perceives him or herself to be laughed
at, the experience is one of shame or embarrassment rather
than good humour," says Burd.
-
Do know your target audience. "What's
funny in one culture isn't necessarily funny in another,"
says Wales. "And having someone fall on their butt
might be great for a bubble gum or extreme skateboarding
ad — but not for group insurance."
The
bottom line: "Use common sense, good taste and good
judgement," says Burd. "Remember, there's only
one kind of humour — the funny kind."
Original
published at www.profitguide.com
©
2001 Lorna Lynch
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