I recently came across this collection of Brutally Honest Coffee Mugs.
And while I found some funnier than others, it got me thinking about using humor to promote your brand. Some of the top brands use humor in their advertising and it’s wildly successful.
The first thing that comes to mind is AT&T’s “It’s Not Complicated” campaign, which features a man asking groups of children questions like, “Which is better, faster or slower?” and their hilarious answers. AT&T’s message is that their service is simple and easy to use, but these commercials use a round-about way of illustrating that message, focusing on the humorous aspect of the kids’ answers more than anything. (I researched it a litte bit to see if these ads are scripted. Apparently they do have a “guided script” but often stray from it because the kids’ off-the-cuff answers are much funnier than anything the script writers have come up with.)
Or what about Atlanta’s own Scoutmob? The daily deal (but better!) site capitalized on the “cool because it’s ironic” mustache trend and added a mustache-cam to their app. Having an app that allows you to choose from different types of mustaches and put them on the pictures you take with your phone has nothing to do with daily deals, but it’s funny.
And while I’m taking about Atlanta companies, we can’t forget Mailchimp. This email marketing service provider uses humor as an integral part of their brand image. Whether that’s little things on their site that they do (after you send a campaign, one of your options is to “eat a banana”, which takes you to a Chiquita Banana Youtube video or the funny things they show around their office like their life-sized mascot, Mailchimp understands that while the product may be great, sometimes an extra laugh really drives it home.
So, back to coffee mugs. Coffee mugs are one of our most popular product categories. For good reason too; I mean, what better way to show off your logo than putting it on the vessel for your customers’ daily java habit.
While most coffee mugs get the job done, there’s something to be said about having your mug, the one with your logo, being your customers’ favorite mug. And while this might have to do with the quality or size of the mug itself, maybe adding some humor to your mug could make it shoot up on the mug popularity scale. (I rank my coffee mugs in order of favorite to least favorite, don’t you?!)
What if you came up with something humorous – it could be generic, it could be related to your industry – and put it on one side of your coffee mug? On the opposite side could be your logo. It’s a great way to get your brand out there while also showing that you have a sense of humor. And you never know, it might become your customers’ favorite new coffee mug.
-Lee
Marketing Coordinator