Andrew Robertson, worldwide CEO of BBDO, at Cannes last year stood up and made a compelling case of what most creative agencies have always known. According to his presentation, campaigns with humour are 90% more memorable and 72% more persuasive. And this year, Cannes has created a Humour category. Which all points to say, shouldn’t we all be making more humorous brands? Yes… and no.
Yes, if it helps your brand’s tone cut through the competition and stand out with something distinctive and enduring. So for most categories in the UK where humour is rarer, yes, it probably does. But in Australia the answer is no. Nearly every category here has multiple competing brands trying to be funny. Trying, and sometimes succeeding at producing a smile, but oh so often just making something that feels like one very specific type of joke: Car ads do it. Beer ads do it. Gambling ads do it. FMCG ads do it. Turn on TV in Australia and you’ll see some ads that feel exactly the same, right up until the end frame. It’s a type of humour that is best described as some bearded blokes being endearingly odd. In Australia, it’s the nation’s house style.
And I blame one person and one person alone: Ant Keogh. He invented it, perfected it, and still nails it. Beer chase? The Big ad? The one about the country footy team? Ant had a hand in all of them (along with other talented people of course). Which to say, they’re all very good. But along the way he’s been so effective that he’s inspired hundreds of Australian creatives to imitate him. And the problem is, not all creatives are Ant. The problem there, of course, is we’re not thinking about crafting a tone, personality and world distinctive to our clients (and distinctive from their competitors), we’re just trying to be Ant. If the world of advertising is about to embrace more humour, and I do, for one, hope it does, don’t fall into the trap Australia did. Don’t all rush towards the same type of joke.
So, what should we do?
To quote the often-quoted BBH mantra, ‘when the world zigs, zag’. Find something unique about your personality and humour in your market. Where to start? To borrow another BBH-ism from Nigel Bogle, ‘the answer is in the product’. Perhaps the joke will come from finding the customer that would appreciate your product more than any other. Like a catfish to sell coffee. Or perhaps it comes from the rather precarious extreme situation your product can actually endure. (Hey, it’s another great Ant ad!)
Or perhaps it comes from turning your brand (and how it makes the audience feel) into a character. So if you think your brand should be funny; first find something special about your brand or product, then get some great people with diverse points of reference to come together.
And then maybe, just maybe, you’ll write something wonderfully different, but just as good… as Ant would.
Featured image: Ketut Subiyanto / Pexels
