This post was written by the Upward Home team
Humor is often the key ingredient in an advertising video gone viral. When we associate a high-end home brand with the great laugh we experienced, (thanks to its effective advertising campaign) we are hardwired to buy the product that made us feel good.
Laughter Breeds Brand Loyalty
A highly effective way to bond with your customers is to make them laugh or smile. Laughter is the great stress reliever and a powerful social bonding mechanism according to psychological studies. If your campaign leaves your prospect laughing, you are creating effective brand loyalty. When you make an emotional connection with your consumers online with “funny” content, you positively humanize your high-end home brand.
Have You Heard This One?
What do we all do when we find something hilarious online? We share it. If it tickles our funny bone, we want the world to know. So it should be no surprise that humorous content is the most shared online. If you have aspirations towards going viral – you’ve got to make your efforts contagious. The current trend in viral content sees brands making use of famous influencers/celebrities, charismatic spokespeople and narrative storytelling that is relevant and in line with their brands values.
Show Me The Funny
However, one has to be vigilant about staying true to your brand values. Humor is very subjective and creating “funny” content that aligns with your existing brand image can be a tall order. You might want to start small and test the waters with your valued customers. A conversational tone is a good way to introduce humor into a campaign.
Not Getting the Joke
You do not want to use offensive humor that could alienate a group of people with insensitive “jokes”. Many brands use “shock” humor to grab consumer’s attention but it can only be used if it appeals to your high-end home brand customer. This does not mean that all high-end consumers are conservative, serious, easily offended reactionaries. You must ensure that you are not just creating funny videos but actually humorous content that will elevate your brand and not cause any damage to its image. This might sound obvious – but you can’t be “unfunny” – there is nothing worse than a badly executed joke. You’ll have the hecklers out in no time.
Currently on social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter, people do not enjoy seeing brand sponsored advertisement. It feels intrusive. This is where successful high-end brands are discovering that humorous “conversations” get more attention than in-your-face promotions (especially for the millennial market).
According to the, ‘New Video Code of Conduct in Luxury Marketing’ study between OMD EMEA and Tubular Labs, high-end luxury brands are owning a larger share of the viewership. These high-end brands are taking the lead and finding unique ways to engage with their consumers including embracing humor to propel their efforts into the viral stratosphere.