effectively with the
"Where's The Beef?" campaign in the Eighties. Be careful not to
explicitly or implicity identify your competitors, or you'll be
hearing from some very angry lawyers.
Remember the Budwiser frogs? How about the lizards? Or the
donkey that wanted to be a Clydesdale? Each of these campaigns
was phenomenonally successful, yet only tangentially related to
the product at hand. Each approach was slightly different. Frogs
croaking Bud - wis - er can be inheriently funny, especially if
you've already had a few brews yourself. It also appealed to the
coveted young drinker demographic, as studies have shown an
intense brand loyalty among drinkers, generally established in
the early twenties. The lizard campaign capitalized on the wry,
sarcastic humor enjoyed by Budwiser's target audience. The
donkey
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campaign tied into the traditional Clydesdale imagery, a
strong if staid marketing tool.
Key #2: Know your target audience.
Jokes that appeal to one demographic may not work with another.
Gen Y shoppers have especially sharp funny bones, and may
appreciate dry wit. Tie in your classic marketing efforts
whenever possible.
Geico and AFLAC have recently done very well with their talking
animal ads. By using the same animals over and over to reinforce
the marketing message - after all, that poor duck could surely
use some disability insurance of his own by now! - both
companies have created a brand awareness second to none. Ask the
random person to identify a disability insurance company, and
chances are that they'll tell you about AFLAC. Ask them about
another disability insurance company, and you'll be lucky if
they can name even one.
Key #3: Create a character.
Create a 'character' as part of your brand image. This character
should show up EVERYWHERE - including television commercials, on
the literature you distribute at the show, in your signage and
graphics, and potentially as stuffed animals. The Serta Sheep
toys have taken on a life of their own, and each and every one
of them goes out with the company name blazoned on the side.
That's humorous marketing at work. Consumers buy these secondary
products because of the laugh-factor, and bring a constant
advertisement into their home. The influence on subsequent
purchasing decisions may be minor, but it is in fact there.
Humor can be a great way to convey your marketing message. Geico
has done this very well with the "I saved money on my car
insurance by switching to Geico!" series of commercials.
Exercise equipment salesmen, politicians, animated characters -
all have been pressed into service to recite those ten words.
Using different settings keeps the audience engaged, while
constant repitition drives the message home.
Key #4: Repetition counts.
Remember, consumers need to hear a message at least six times
before they'll recall it easily. The trick is to keep the
presentation fresh while the message remains constant.
Comedians world-wide will tell you that humor is a tough
business. It's hard to tell what will make one person laugh and
another roll their eyes in disgust. However, if a joke falls
flat for a comedian, they simply move on to the next joke and
keep moving. If you've invested tons of time and money in your
humor campaign, you need to know these three things:
1. It must be funny. Test the campaign on objective people. Lots
of objective people. If the majority laugh, you're golden.
However, if less than half the people get the joke, drop it.
2. It must be quick. There are great funny jokes that take half
an hour to tell. That's nice. Inflict them on your relatives or
when you've got a whole room full of trapped subordinates.
Customers aren't going to give you that much of their time.
You've got half a minute tops to get them laughing.
3. It must reflect well on your company. Ethnic, racial, sexual,
and gender based humor has absolutely no place in the corporate
world. Perceived slurs - even if they are made in the guise of a
joke - will travel around the world as fast as the internet can
move, and suddenly your company will have all kinds of attention
they don't want.
Laughing is a lot of hard work, isn't it? But once you've found
the right balance, you'll have an advertising campaign that will
draw the crowds into your exhibit - and more importantly, toward
buying your products and services.
About the author:
Written by Susan A. Friedmann,CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, Lake
Placid, NY, author: "Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies,"
working with companies to improve their meeting and event
success through coaching, consulting and training. Trade Show
Marketing by "The Trade Show Coach" - Susan Friedmann, CSP. For
a free copy of "10 Common Mistakes Exhibitors Make", e-mail:
copyright©
2008 Trade Show Promotions
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