I consider myself to be a pretty funny person, but I only know three jokes. I actually used to know zero jokes, but then I read a self help blog that promoted the idea that knowing three great jokes would get you ahead in your career. Since then my salary has increased more than 50%.
I've never told the jokes to anyone.
Humor, for most brands, has equally ambiguous results. It probably hasn't hurt them, but its mostly ineffective. Think back to the recent Christmas season when KMart not only generated hilarious advertisements; the content actually went viral.
Did KMart sell any incremental Christmas presents as a result? Their poor year over year comps suggest not. The same could be said for all the "funny" brands.
This is a link to 20 different types of humor ranging from satirical to highbrow to anecdotal. Do you want to know what they all have in common? They all require a sense of timing, surprise and novelty. A great brand example of this is the Oreo Moment from the 2013 Superbowl.
Nabisco did a lot to raise their brand profile the night of the Superbowl black out, but I wouldn't go so far as to say they had a slam dunk (pun intended). After all, what did Oreo tweet during this year's Superbowl? I don't know, do you?
The reason it is so tempting for Brands to rely on humor is that Brands want to be relational, and funny people are relational. However, except for a niche of comedy and entertainment brands, humor is not part of the brand's value statement and in today's hyper connected world meaningful content must build on and emphasize and enhance the Brand's value, not just raise the Brand's profile.
When you saw KMart's shipped my pants ad, did you order something for KMart?
Why do brands rely so heavily on humor when its not part of their value statement?.
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