Humor and irony: how to hook a client with jokes

Every day, marketers around the world are trying to come up with new ways to hook customers through advertising. A touch of humor can be the very “spice” that will brighten up a marketing campaign and make customers not only love your brand, but also promote it to other people. But, as with any “spice,” you need to be careful with jokes. It's not just where you joke, but also how you do it. We will tell you in our article how to decorate the marketing “dish” and not spoil it.

Rules for using humor in marketing. In battles for the heart of a client, as in any other, there are strict rules, if strictly observed, you will inevitably succeed. And, on the contrary, a step to the left - and your marketing strategy is knocked out. At first glance, the rules are quite simple, but many major global brands make mistakes from time to time. The price of a mistake can be multimillion-dollar losses and customer outflow after one bad joke.

You can't joke!

There are areas of activity where any joke will turn into failure. The defense industry, politics, medicine, religion - everything that is associated with protection and reliability is a bad ground for humor. Jokes can lead to loss of trust and reputation. And, as a separate point, I would like to highlight flirtations with the theme of death. Such advertising certainly will not evoke positive emotions. For example, a collaboration between Illamasqua cosmetics for the deceased and Leverton & Sons funeral home in the UK. By the way, it was quickly banned.

Don't laugh at the client, laugh with him

Your clients are your money. The main goal of a joke in marketing is not to offend, but to amuse. Avoid topics that may offend the viewer or hurt their feelings. A striking example of such advertising can be a Dove video. In 2017, the brand posted a 3-second video on Facebook promoting how Dove products are for everyone. Needless to say, the ad was removed a few days later, and the company itself had to apologize for the inappropriate content.

Caution, 18+

Regional marketers are very fond of using jokes marked “for adults.” There are a lot of examples of such advertising on the Internet, especially on banners and billboards. Humor “below the belt” may shock the viewer, cause a smile or bewilderment, but it will definitely be remembered. Therefore, adult content can be used, but very carefully, without crossing the line of laughter and disgust. For example, this advertising banner was created by the marketers of the Moscow Credit Bank. Is this type of advertising appropriate in the financial sector? In our opinion, this is not the best option.

So, well, what not to do, we figured it out. But how can you create such an advertising masterpiece that it will stand out, remain in the viewer’s memory for a long time, and even better, get noticed on the Internet? Now we'll tell you.

Meme-based advertising. Memes are a popular and relatively inexpensive tool for creating creative advertising. The main thing is to follow two iron rules: relevance and humor. Yes, no matter how banal it may sound, a meme should be funny. There is nothing worse than a far-fetched meaning that doesn’t even make you smile. Besides, memes have a lifespan. They are regularly born, actively used, and then forgotten, giving way to new ones. Marketers from Yota were not afraid to take risks and created a funny meme that instantly went viral on the Internet.

Animals in advertising. Animals in marketing appeal to most viewers. Marketers attribute human traits and habits to animals, which makes advertising funny and memorable. Especially when the theme of caring for nature perfectly resonates with the product itself. For example, the Volvo company has released this series of advertising posters with new environmentally friendly cars. Well, the human poses in which wild animals are depicted give the picture an additional comical quality :)

"Language game" in marketing. The term “language game” refers to the conscious manipulation of words in order to make a phrase as unusual as possible and filled with double meanings. Marketers deliberately modify familiar words so that the viewer, after reading the message, does not immediately understand its message. This will force a person to re-read the advertising slogan several times, so such advertising has a greater chance of remaining in the client’s memory for a long time. The “language game” technique is often used by Burger King marketers. The brand's target audience is young people who will be impressed and made laugh by this technique, and not scared away.

Humor on social networks. A brand page on social networks is a cool thing that does not require additional costs, such as creating and maintaining a website. However, a boring page with news about the company will be of interest only to the employees themselves and will not attract additional customer traffic, which means it will be useless. Relevant and sparkling jokes can bring a company such popularity that even videos on central channels in prime time cannot achieve. An example of a marketing strategy based on humor can be seen from the Vizit company. Their Twitter posts spread across the Internet at the speed of light, bringing the company fame and revenue growth. And although sometimes the jokes of brand marketers are on the verge of a foul, no one is indifferent to such advertising.

Multi-part advertising. I would like to make a separate point about advertising videos of brands featuring the same characters. Such advertising looks like a TV series: the viewer gets used to the participants and looks forward to the release of “new episodes.” Actors' lines often go viral, remaining heard for a long time. Many people remember the “My Family” juice advertisement from the 2000s by the phrase: “Pour it and walk away!”

A modern example of an advertising series is the marketing strategy of the MTS company with Dmitry Nagiyev in the title role. Famous actors, relevant topics of videos, frequency of their release and a pinch of humor - this is the recipe for successful, memorable brand advertising.

Users often perceive advertising with irritation: it interferes with watching their favorite TV series or football match, pops up while surfing the Internet, and comes across memes in the social network feed. Humor is a great way to break up boring and repetitive marketing content. Brand advertising campaigns built on jokes can achieve significant success with minimal investment. Veonix marketers know how to make funny jokes and will be able to create advertising content, doomed to popularity. For example, we can make a witty joke for you video, which will demonstrate your best qualities and will be remembered by the audience for a long time. And all you have to do is enjoy the serious results :)