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That’s Funny

February 4, 2021|Ted Tobin

I have been asked many times by the fictional people who live in my head. “Ted, does comedic advertising really work?” This time instead of screaming “get out of my head!” I thought I would take time to answer their question.

Humor in advertising does a few things very well.

IT’S AN ATTENTION GRABBER!

We always talk about adding value in marketing. Humor is a way to give your audience something they value. In this case a smile or a laugh.

YOUR BRAND = POSITIVE EMOTION

When customers think of your brand, they have a positive emotion. They react with an “Ah I love them.” To be clear this is not true love; true love is the greatest thing in the world except for a nice muton lettuce and tomato sandwich.

HUMOR MAKES YOU MEMORABLE

Yes, brand recognition!  That is the number one thing. When they think of your product or service, they remember you because of your ads. Then when they need what you offer, they think of you first.

Okay here is the life lesson. If your ads are funny without linking back to your brand you have missed the point. We have all watched an ad and thought, that was funny, but couldn’t remember what the ad was, even after repeated views. This is kind of like telling a joke in the dark to strangers. Still funny, but you’ll never get credit.

One last thing, humor works as its own campaign. It may not work with everyone’s business I get that. Also, once you start a humorous campaign you can always shift gears to something more serious in tone or a giveaway or any other type campaign. But if humor is working… keep bringing the funny.

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