How to Use Humor in Marketing

There are actually a lot of "Marketing 101" type rules, and some of them have to do with humor, which can be a very useful element in an ad campaign if it's used correctly. Humor in marketing is like a double-edged sword: use it well and the customers are yours, use it poorly and your target audience will be holding their nose. Much like in casual social interactions, the correct use of humor in marketing is a big factor in the results.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Be politically correct. This one is pretty much non-negotiable, although it may go against the grain of a dedicated "humorist." Someone writing stand-up comedy will tend to be "edgy." You don't want that in marketing. Staying away from any demographic faux pas or unintended alienation of a group of people is a huge part of making a humorous ad campaign, and sometimes takes work as marketers comb through their concepts for any potentially dangerous material.
2. Avoid dark or harsh humor. Again, this kind of humor is the stock trade of some novelists and comedy writers, but it doesn't belong in marketing. It turns people off when you want them to be turned on. For a good use of humor, visualize the opposite of dark, a kind of peppy, bright humor that will draw people into your work.
3. Try light situation comedy. A lot of marketers, and gadget companies in particular, have been making wide use of this, with all of the funny family situations involving cell phones, for example. This kind of genuinely amusing family comedy is a big draw to customers, who then associate the product with functional, happy families, even if the characters in the ad aren't exactly "happy" with their cell phone bills.
4. Work to your base. Think about what kind of humor your specific target audience might find funny. Are you selling men's or women's products? To what age group? These questions are always at the forefront of marketing and apply to the use of humor as well.
5. Don't let humor overwhelm your ad. Make sure the product is always front and center. Some advertisers push the envelope and abstract this rule a little; as viewer responses become more sophisticated, the product can be set back a little, and a little more humor or concept can still draw a customer base. But don't get carried away.

Tips & Warnings

• Another popular use of humor is in personification: animals of all kinds serve as popular mascots for a variety of products. Marketers have found that people often react favorably to an animated character or a talking animal, because of the humor inherent in the idea and the "cute" factor. The banter of Wendy's campaign racoons, for example, were an adroit use of this kind of humor to sell hamburgers: "You don't have to wash it in a stream?"