Humor, Part B

Chris Beytes

Last time, I talked about the importance of humor among you and your coworkers, from the boss on down. Now that you’ve had a month to practice your joke-telling and light-hearted pranks, it’s time to spread the fun to your customers. It’s a presidential election year, after all, and they could use something to lighten the mood a bit.

According to branding experts Millward Brown, “Almost half of the world’s most impactful ads are humorous; whereas just 1% of the least impactful ads are humorous.”

Now, this column isn’t specifically about humorous advertising, but I’m going to start there, since it’s one place where one can find research on how humor affects how consumers react to a company.

For instance, according to a 2013 Nielson survey of what sort of advertising resonates with people, humorous messages top the list (47% of respondents) followed by real-life situations (46%) and family-, health- and value-oriented messages, all of which tied at 38%. (Sex was just 14%, for those of you who are curious.) And this survey was of 29,000 Internet respondents in 58 countries, showing that humor is universal.

If consumers react positively to humor in a TV or print ad, I’m confident they’ll react favorably to funny messaging around your business. Think about those marquees out in front of so many small businesses, where you can write your own messages in plastic letters. Who doesn’t love the radiator shop sign that reads, “The best place to take a leak since 1946”? Or the church sign that reads, “Honk if you love Jesus. Text while driving if you want to meet him.” Our own industry has the ubiquitous, “Spring is here. I’m so excited I wet my plants.”

I’m always on the lookout for hints of humor at garden centers. One of my favorites is Arboretum Garden Center in Ireland. The smile-inducing messages begin as soon as you enter their main greenhouse and look up at the hanging banners, which describe the store’s various departments. Such as the Kids Department (“The thing children wear out faster than their clothes is their parents”) and Pets (“Properly trained, a man can become a dog’s best friend.”). I’ll bet you’re smiling right now.

The fun continues inside on little framed blackboards atop the displays. Such as in the kitchen department (“Don’t be afraid to take whisks”). Topping it all off are their flower-shaped urinals in the men’s room, which are such a conversation piece, they’re featured on postcards for sale at the registers.

Is there a humor generation gap? In other words, is there a risk of turning off some customers with humor that other customers like? Naturally, Nielsen has researched this, too, and found that Baby Boomers “prefer clever, light-hearted humor (rather than mean-spirited) and relatable characters who are Boomers themselves or not much younger. For Boomer males, clever wit and calm dialogue-driven storylines work. For Boomer females, family-friendly humor and sentimental themes resonate best.”

Millennials, on the other hand, “prefer off-beat, sarcastic and slapstick humor. Like Boomers, they respond to characters that are relatable to them and their life stage. Highly arresting visuals (special effects, unexpected visual elements) will best capture their attention. For Millennial males, extreme, off-beat and sports-related situations really resonate. For Millennial females, aspirational themes (female celebs, having fun) resonate strongly.”

But again, Nielsen is talking specifically about advertising, which, to attract attention in the marketplace, tends to be loud and extreme. Around your business, humor can be geared towards inducing a gentle smile rather than a belly laugh, like my examples from Arboretum.

“But I’m not running a comedy club,” you might rightly say. “I want to sell more stuff. Will humor do that?”

Good question! And the answer is, “Not necessarily.” According to Ace Metrix, as reported by Advertising Age: “… humor alone does not make an ad effective. In fact, ads that were simply funny were found to be slightly less likely to increase desire or purchase intent than informative, unfunny ones.” To really work, an ad should be “funny, relevant and informative,” says Ace Metrix CEO Peter Daboll. Arboretum’s examples are certainly that.

But to me, it’s not about a direct correlation between laughs and sales; it’s about making customers happy and relaxed. A happy, relaxed customer will stay longer and experts say that can translate to sales.

But even if they don’t buy more, doesn’t a happy customer beat the alternative? GT