Humor in marketing communications: a serious way to build success

In honor of today’s subject, this should probably start with a joke. Maybe something like: Did you hear the one about the man who laughed his ads off?

Okay, maybe not.

Maybe those of us in marcom should just forget about using humor because our responsibilities are, like, way serious.

But at Harding Marketing, we think that begs the question: serious to whom? Marcom copy is pretty darn serious to those of us who manufacture it, but who are we kidding? You and we can come up with brilliant strategies. We can focus on benefits. We can include bullets and callouts and subheads and a powerful call to action. But if we don’t write copy that readers enjoy reading (or listening to), our chance of success is reduced by a whole lot. Maybe even more.

Funny thing is, people seem to enjoy a bit of humor. That’s true even if the people are engineers. Or stuffed suits. Or C-class big shots. Or even if they happen to be our best prospects and customers.

The leading sales reps understand this. That doesn’t mean they try to be standup comics or circus clowns. It simply means that leading sales reps are adept at the sort of amusing patter that puts a smile on a customer’s face. Of course, lowering the price will also work.

So if a little humor performs well in face-to-face marketing, why do some of us dread using it in marcom copy—which is sometimes as dull as cleaning the garage?

At Harding, we laugh at such dread. Not that we think humor is right for every assignment. But we’ve found it’s exactly right for some. Take Cheapo Chuck. When Hewlett-Packard asked us to help fight the menace of low-cost, off-brand replacement inks and toners, we came up with a Flash presentation starring a funny little doofus who insists on wasting money at every opportunity.

Since Cheapo Chuck’s first Flash was launched earlier this year, HP has been so happy with the results that they’ve asked us to create another half-dozen or so. We think his success demonstrates at least a few of the solid business reasons for using humor in marketing communications.

Humor cuts through the clutter. There’s so much dreary, boring Marcom copy clogging brochures and the Internet that even a small, unassuming chuckle stands out like a Ferrari in a parking lot full of Yugos. Not that there’s anything wrong with Yugos.

Humor enhances recall. If you doubt that, think about the TV commercials you remember. Got Milk? The E-Trade Baby? Mac guy vs. PC guy? Now think about the ones you forgot. Oh, right. You forgot them.

Humor is disarming. People are skeptical when it comes to marketing, but humor helps us all get past their defenses. And that helps us all seem a little less like someone trying to trick them into handing over their bank PIN, credit card, and PayPal password.

Humor rewards the audience. In a funny way, a funny line can be a “thank you” to anyone who sticks with your copy all the way to the end. Which we have now reached.

There are several scholarly sources to support what we’ve said here. One is a book appropriately called Humor in Advertising.

It costs about 80 bucks, which is not what you’d call a laughing matter.

On the other hand, we invite you to meet with us to talk about good, and possibly humorous, ways to create effective marketing communications. The conversation’s free, but we do ask that you bring your own Whoopee cushion.

To set things up, just send us an email.
For Harding’s office in Grenoble, France.

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