The punch line. Sometimes we get it, sometimes we don’t. But when marketers get it right and hit that funny bone smack dab on the bullseye, it can turn into marketing gold. Humor is a staple in the advertising world and for good reason. It makes a message entertaining, relatable, likable and even personal. A little humor can also make a brand more memorable, a very important component today where there are millions of messages coming our way each and every day. Humor is also shareable. Thanks to social media, there are more laughable moments helping sell more and more brands. Here are 8 companies who are using humor in their content marketing and getting it right.
1. Charmin Encourages Us To “Enjoy the Go.”
You know the marketing rules are changing when a toilet paper company rolls out an entire campaign about what happens in the bathroom. Since the Charmin brand is very familiar with their target market, is everyone who uses the bathroom (“we all go, so why not enjoy the go?”), their potty humor is making advertising history. Their #enjoythego and #tweetfromtheseat campaigns feature a family of “cheeky” cartoon bears who spend much of their day talking about, worrying about or thinking about “the go” and how Charmin, in the end, makes it all better. Their marketing team explained that with Charmin, it’s not just about toilet paper. It’s about all things bathroom related and getting their customers engaged on social media through humor and interaction.
2. Snickers Makes You Snicker
How can you make chocolate, caramel and peanut candy bar that has been around forever, popular again? Come up with a belly-laughing marketing campaign that features funny celebrities, clever content and a sweet solution to a relatable experience, that’s how. What may have seemed “nutty” in the beginning, turned out to be a long running series of commercials for Mars Chocolate. Themed, “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry, made consumers fall in love with the candy bar again. This theme continues in their content marketing including social media, packaging and print ads. The object is to make their candy relevant, get people laughing, and keep them engaged.
3. Mrs. T’s Pierogies Pack A Powerful Promo
Mrs. T’s Pierogies is a manufacturer of potato filled pasta and has found a way to keep their polish treat in the minds and kitchens of America. They take current events like the first day of summer or Super Bowl Sunday and mix in pierogies for a humorous marketing recipe for success. Photographs of dressed up pierogies are posted throughout their Facebook and social media using humorous comments keeping their brand in the forefront of their consumers’ hungry minds. Pierogies are not that funny but Mrs. T’s has found a creative way to reach their audience, make them smile and keep them coming back for more potato filled fun.
4. UPS Is More Than Shipping
UPS, United Parcel Services is known for their handsome delivery guys wearing brown uniforms and driving brown trucks. Nice to look at but not so funny, right? Their marketing team recognized that for UPS Store to get the word out about all the other services they had to design a memorable, and funny campaign. “Every ing at the market” showcases a mom at the grocery with her toddler in a cart who sees a friend who works for the UPS store. She says, “I thought you just do shipping,” This starts him sharing a very long, long list of services UPS offers in addition to shipping. In the end, the clean-shaven guy has long hair and beard and the toddler has outgrown the grocery cart displaying the amount of time that has gone by. Here humor takes a not so funny product and makes it memorable using humor.
5. Farmers Insurance Hall Of Claims
The insurance industry has found some brilliant ways to a boring product and making it funny. We’re all familiar with Geico’s famous gecko, Progressive’s Flo and Allstate’s Mayhem. Farmers Insurance also hit the humor jackpot with their series of really funny ads, “Hall Of Claims.” They all feature celebrity spokesperson, J.K. Simmons sharing real-life insurance incidents with potential customers stating, “We know a thing or two because we’ve seen a thing or two.” Some of the funniest scenes are when animals are featured. “Mer-muts, Vengeful Vermin and Close Claws all hysterical insurance moments with animals stealing the show. Farmers also extended this humor in other marketing content like social media and their website keeping our funny bones tickled about a not so funny topic, insurance.
6. Mr. Clean Uses Comedy And Cleans Up
Every woman dreams of a man who cleans, really cleans. Proctor & Gamble cleaned up in the comedy department their marketing campaign “Cleaner of Your Dreams.” Handsome, muscular and very clean, brand icon, Mr. Clean comes to life and starts cleaning the house by dancing suggestively with his perfect mop, bucket and irresistible swagger. The Mr. Clean brand is also cleaning up on social media. Believe it or not, he has his very own social media presence including a popular Facebook page where he personally shares tips, offers coupons, and keeps the cleaning love light burning.
7. Subaru’s Teen Barkley Is Doggone Good
What do selling cars and dogs driving a car have in common? A funny and memorable ad that is dog tested, dog approved. A dog family is teaching their teen puppy to parallel park and like all young drivers there are distractions. In this case it’s a gaggle of geese flying overhead. One dog barks and the next thing you know the parallel park job goes bad and the young pup backs right over the mailbox. For many of the parents out there, “been there done that.” For Subaru, the ad is adorable, memorable and relatable. Subaru has a series of these successful doggie driver commercials that keep on entertaining and amusing their audience. We have to say, they’re doggone good!
8. Taco Bell Rings A Social Winner
Taco Bell has always pushed the limit with their content marketing. Now, thanks to social media and their courageous attitude they are engaging their fans in real time and using humor to get the job done. Their social media experts are responding in a witty, humanistic way that includes playfulness with their fans and customers. For example, their team recognized how powerful emojis are to their younger target audience, designed a taco emoji and celebrated by engaging fans with the Taco Emoji Engine, which they reported in the first five days of its introduction generated more than 500,000 tweets. Fans tweeted, “@tacoemoji all I want for Christmas is a taco emoji,” and “I want some @TacoBell crunchy tacos right now & why isn’t there a taco emoji?” Taco humor, now that’s funny.
