Welcome back to another edition of Radical Content where each week we dive into the news of social, digital, and content marketing to help us all tell better stories and build better brands. In today's newsletter let's dive into why creating humor in advertising is challenging. |
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🚀 Featured Topic - Why can’t brands be funny? A while back in my corporate life, I had a project land on my plate to help create paid digital video ads with more personality that would break through. We spent weeks on a brief and collaborated with an agency on some ideas, but ultimately, it all fell flat. I learned something from the agency CEO, who was also a friend. He said I should have known this would be challenging when it felt like the CMO just wanted us to “make funny ads”. Being funny in real life is challenging; being humorous in advertising is even harder. If you subscribe to this newsletter, you probably know that I believe most brands dedicate too much time to transactional short-term sales, neglecting brand building and the creation of lasting emotional connections. I think that is the big issue here. We need to wake up and realize that performance-oriented transactional marketing won't facilitate the fun, creative brand-building storytelling necessary for a lasting connection. |
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Here are the numbers: - 91% of people prefer brands to be funny
- 75% of people would follow a brand on social media if it used more humor
If this data is so readily available, why do only 15% of brands try to use humor? |
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I think there are two reasons. - Fear of being funny - There is too much risk in attempting humor. What if it doesn't land? What if it's cringy? Humor is cultural - what if it doesn't resonate with everyone? We have tried in the past, and it didn't work. What if we face backlash and get canceled? We have too much to risk.
- Inability to be funny - We lack the right ideas, the right agencies, and the right copywriters. Being funny is deemed too difficult, so we've given up. Many marketers opt for laziness, finding it easier to be literal, slightly clever, or, worse, entirely safe and boring. While there are certainly humorous people in advertising, I'm not convinced that it's the chosen profession for most. When discussing influencers with brands, I often emphasize that they partner with influencers because these individuals excel at generating better ideas for brands. They come up with better ideas. Influencers inherently grasp the nuances of social, cultural, and entertainment dynamics.
Andy Pearson from Liquid Death says this: “There is a difference between ‘ad funny’ and actual funny”. I love this idea and I have seen it up close. I remember being in a review of a national TV spot where we hired a comedian spokesperson, had a high-dollar agency produce it, and the room full of marketers were cracking up - and I looked around and thought to myself, that wasn't funny at all. It was shocking, but I know this goes on in marketing meetings all the time. The truth is, it was “ad funny”, but not actual funny. |
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A few ideas on how we can get closer to actual funny – they're not rocket science. - Hire funny people - hire funny agencies - MOST IMPORTANT
- Give yourself permission to be funny, and bold even if it makes you uncomfortable.
- Call out things that are not funny, create a standard for what funny is, and don’t waver. Be ok with subpar comedy.
- Know culture, what people are into, and what is hot. Comedy is a taste and a vibe and if you don’t have it, you don’t have it.
- Lastly, review funny brands or personalities and think about what they are doing that could help us - here are a few of my favorites:
- Duolingo
- Ryan Air
- Liquid Death
- Mint Mobile
- Dollar Shave Club
As we get to the close of 2023, and look into the new year that will come with stress, pressure, and political worry, let's think about how we can use humor to lighten the mood and bring some joy back into the world. For bold brands, that are making their audience ROTFLOL, this could be a real strategic differentiator. |
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🔥 Content of the Week - The entertaining content inspiring us from all over the internet. - Have you seen NBC Sports Olympic Paris 2024 ads? This is a perfect example of NBC giving themselves permission to be funny while embracing what is hot in popular culture. First there is, NBC Paris Olympics 2024 Teaser with Peyton Manning. Next is the Megan Thee Stallion pitches her ideas for the 2024 Olympic Games ad.
- Another example of how NBC Sports is great at content and storytelling - Their newest ads with USA Olympic Athletes. This is an insightful LinkedIn video by the head of NBC Sports. It reveals the incredible technological advancements in content creation that brought these ads to life. Watch it here.
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📖 Studiotales - What is on my mind this week, as we build Maverick Content Studio. - Our Maverick Crew of 8 is all set for a fun holiday party this week. Can't wait!
- Next week, Patricia and I are planning a day away from the office to map out life and business goals for next year. It's always great to have a whole day just to focus on the future planning.
- We're close to nailing down some key clients for 2024. This is going to keep our agency growing and in good shape.
- We have two new podcast episodes we're recording in the next few days.
There's a lot of cool stuff happening, and I'm super thankful you're all following along. |
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If you need more support in your brand content, social or storytelling journey, these are two ways I can help: - Download my Free Content Strategy Template here. This has been built and tested for over fifteen years leading social and content for Fortune 500 brands.
- Free content consulting discovery call - get time on my cal here.
Let's all Connect First and Create More. Best, Eric Gray |
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