Always Leave Them Laughing: Integrating Humor into Your
Trade Show Marketing Campaign
by Susan Friedmann
Published on this site: November 30th, 2005 - See
more articles from this month
One of the major objectives of any trade show exhibit is to
create a lasting impression in the attendee's mind. After
all, if a visitor can't remember you, how can he give you
his business? You also want to create a positive impression,
and unfortunately, that's harder to do than the negative equivalent.
Which brings us to humor. People love to laugh - and they
like other people to laugh with them. Witness the almost constant
flood of jokes and cartoons that flit across the internet:
Proof that humor cannot be stopped. You'll often find that
people go out of their way to remember great jokes, where
they'll never, ever stop to jot down the details of an eye-catching
graphic. This makes humor an invaluable marketing tool if
you can make it serve your corporate objectives.
Some of you are dismissing this idea out of hand. "There's
nothing funny about my product!" I can hear you saying.
Well, what's funny about rental cars? Beer? Car insurance?
None of these items are inheriently funny, yet companies in
all three sectors have effectively used humor to fix their
products in the public eye.
It is important to remember that your trade show campaign
should be fully integrated into your marketing plan as a whole.
If you are using humor in your television and print media,
bring it to the show floor. However, if you are known as a
stoic and conservative company, playing for laughs at the
convention center will fall flat. Consistency in corporate
image is key.
What can we learn from companies that have successfully used
humor? There are four key lessons.
Avis Rental Cars "We try harder" campaign centers
on humorous scenarios highlighting what would happen if a
rental car company wasn't willing to go the extra mile. They
film ridiculous situations, such as an attendant handing out
books to customers waiting in long lines, and contrast them
with the bright, efficient service a customer could expect
from their company. It gets a chuckle - but you'd better believe
that when a weary traveler is eyeing the rental car company
kiosks at the airport, an image of that book-toting attendant
flashes through his mind.
- Key : Exaggerate the norm.
Contrast exaggerated examples of industry 'norms' with how
your company excels. A restaurant chain that serves large
portions could highlight the much smaller servings to be
had at the competitor's. Wendy's did this very 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 campaign tied
into the traditional Clydesdale imagery, a strong if staid
marketing tool.
- Key: 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 : 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 : 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.
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: [email protected];
website: http://www.thetradeshowcoach.com
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