As the chief brand officer of Brandemix, I take a very strategic approach to marketing, built on the pillars of differentiation and each outreach emphasizing those value propositions. That’s why there are some very popular and well-known advertising campaigns that simply baffled me. (Think beer, insurance.) I couldn’t imagine anyone from the agency pitching it or anyone from the company signing off on them.
But that said, looking at the commercials that rate exceptionally high during each years’ Superbowl, you’ll see that not only is there a place for humor, but there are benefits as well.
This quick read from the Online Capital Group does a very good job of pointing out the pros and cons of using humor in your marketing campaigns. In my opinion, at the core is weighing the potential for Virality (the holy grail of any outreach) and the cost of offending your audience (or a segment of them.)
The simple solution to get the best results takes time. You need to have a deep understanding of who you’re marketing to and what makes them tick. And if you’re unsure, focus group testing can help.
If you don’t misuse or overuse it, the benefits of using humor seem to outweigh the disadvantages. The compelling argument for me is the fact that humor is healthy and smiles should be shared.
Who doesn’t love a good laugh.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jody Ordioni is the author of “The Talent Brand.” In her role as Founder and Chief Brand Officer of Brandemix, she leads the firm in creating brand-aligned talent communications that connect employees to cultures, companies, and business goals. She engages with HR professionals and corporate teams on how to build and promote talent brands, and implement best-practice talent acquisition and engagement strategies across all media and platforms. She has been named a "recruitment thought leader to follow" and her mission is to integrate marketing, human resources, internal communications, and social media to foster a seamless brand experience through the employee lifecycle.