Comedy in Marketing? Yeah Right.

Humour and business are uneasy partners – but when the fit is right, they are unbeatable.

Marketing tools such as plans, strategies, SWOTs, brand keys and the like are about as funny as a really bad hangover, although I have laughed a few times at the growth forecasts included in many a new business plan.

Having considered the psychology, read the theses and the clinical studies, and attended the seminars and workshops, I’ve concluded that a lot of money has been spent trying to analyse whether comedy in advertising actually does work. To me, this is all rather academic and irrelevant. What really matters is whether the ability to make someone chuckle converts to a sale.

There’s a great deal of theory, but what about the practice? Well, before beginning to create a communication piece (funny or not), first, make sure you have a few of the basics in place. Know your brand and think about how you want your customers to see your product or service. Is your brand trustworthy, reliable, clever, funny or irreverent? Be clear about to whom you want to talk. Are they old, young, male, or female? What do they watch? Where do they shop? Give them a reason to buy your product or service – do you offer value for money, cost savings, great taste and excellent design?

When it comes to comedy, before you sign off on your hilarious new communication piece or ad campaign, have a think about the following:
• Is it actually funny? What you find amusing may not make everyone fall about laughing.
• Is your ad offensive or in poor taste? Not everyone wants to ‘Crack a Woody!’
• Will you alienate any of your potential audience with your humour?
• Will the joke wear thin after repeat showings? I still laugh at that Mitre 10 TV ad with the kids talking about putting up a retaining wall, with the great line ‘Mate, you’re dreamin’. The Mitre 10 Mega ad, by contrast, with the chap in orange running around with people over his shoulder is enough to make me change channels and the concept certainly doesn’t improve the more I see it.
• Is it on brand and aimed at the target audience?
• Will the communication piece stay at the front of customers’ minds for the right reasons?

It’s important they remember the brand and what is on offer.
When it comes to a company that succeeds in using comedy as a great way of communicating with their audience, I have to raise a glass to Tui. In the lead-up to Valentine’s Day, I saw one of their huge poster boards on the Southern Motorway saying, ‘Roses $1 special all week. Yeah right!” Forgive me if I am re-wording, I was driving at the time, but you get the gist.

Why are the Tui ads so good?
1. They are topical, relevant, clever, fun and engaging.
2. They appeal to the core target market (I would suggest that’s males 18-25) but to a wider audience also (in this case a 40-year-old mum).
3. They are cheeky, irreverent, sometimes a little bit naughty, but fairly inoffensive – well, maybe not to Tony Veitch, who probably didn’t laugh much when the guys at Tui erected a billboard during his infamous court case saying, ‘Here’s 100 grand. Keep it quiet. Yeah right!’
4. They have the ‘talkability’ factor. They go beyond the billboard, and the messages are shared anecdotally among friends and colleagues.
5. The creative style is consistent. It’s simple and the branding is easily recognisable.
So, back to my original question. Has the Tui billboard campaign created a massive uplift in sales? I don’t know. Perhaps the marketing manager at Tui Breweries can drop me a line, and a crate of beer. Yeah right!

Emily Smart
www.storymarketing.co.nz