RealTime Marketing Group recently blogged on RealTime about the important role comedy is playing in social media. There have been major changes to this industry, which through the decades has stood the test time. It is no longer exclusively for the professional comedians or the silver screen, but has leaked into name brand companies. Here’s a challenge, think of the most memorable commercials, what company was it? Why was it memorable? The most popular answers usually boil down to, “It was funny”. Insurance companies, car companies, deodorant brands, are all taking advantage of this new approach.
The corporate shtick is out. If a brand comes out looking too stuffy or pretentious, chances are consumers will cease to care. The public relates strongly to those who make them laugh. The goal now is finding out where your brand fits into each part of your customers life. Maybe it’s the mini van driven by an adorably goofy family, or a face is given to the unexpected mayhem in your life. Ask the question: How does your brand make someone’s life better, and how can we make that humorous.
LOL At Yourself
Social opens up the perfect opportunity to dip some hands into this creative comedy outlet. These are some of our favorite examples to look to for inspiration.
Toyota took the minivan and deemed it “The Swagger Wagon”. What was once stigmatized as quite possibly the lamest ride on the road now touts about as much swag as J-Biebs. We were introduced to the Sienna Family and their latest rap release. This perfectly hit their demographic, made moms and dads alike laugh, and created a viral buzz surrounding their brand. Mad props.
Insurance and funny are typically two words that should never be put in the same sentence. That is until we were introduced to Mayhem. Allstate took a cue from Geico’s gecko and created a character, but took the extra step in personifying the exact things that make insurance coverage completely necessary. Between a shaky branch, jogging hottie, malfunctioning GPS, and distracted teenager, Allstate manages to get laughs from their audience by taking something damaging and giving it a humorous twist. It’s true to real life, and customers are sure to relate.
Deodorant…. Lame. Nobody really wants to think about why we all wear, or should wear, deodorant. Well Old Spice changed those rules with the creation of Old Spice Man- The Man Your Man Could Smell Like. This guy is quite possibly the most romantic, creative, thoughtful, and debonair person alive. Which is obviously who you will become once rubbing some Old Spice in your armpits. Successful commercial campaign, led to a highly viewed YouTube channel, followed by personal question and answer time with the most suave man alive.
Don’t Miss the Punch Line
Sadly, some companies have missed the boat. Take the Bronx Zoo for example. When their venomous King Cobra went missing, he was found on Twitter. Someone had taken the chance to create a voice for this rebel snake and began tweeting about his adventures around the city. What could have been a great marketing strategy for the Bronx Zoo to alleviate a potentially dangerous situation was instead taken over by a clever tweeter. Don’t let a creative opportunity such as this slip away and fall into the hands of someone else.
Moral of the story, every social ‘expert’ knows that the best campaigns have a fair amount of experimentation…and we all know that experiments don’t always go right. However, if experimenting leads you down the road of comedy, remember, not everything has to be wrapped in a neat little package. There are enough serious campaigns floating around. If you are able to create some differentiation through humor, your ‘likers’ will be sure to give you a big thumbs up.
Terra Spero will be facilitating Creating and maintaining an optimized and personalized Facebook presence workshop, at the Social media Strategies Summit this upcoming September 20-22 in Boston. Visit www.socialmediastrategiessummit.com for more info.
