Humour offers an expansive fertile landscape which can help brands achieve many objectives....
Ganapathy Viswanathan
Independent Communication Consultant and content Specialist. Visiting Faculty at Xavier's Institute of Communication Mumbai.
Over a career spanning two decades, Abhijit Awasthi has built several successful iconic brands and has been the brain behind some exciting and award-winning campaigns. He spent a considerable amount of time at Ogilvy where he worked on several blue-chip brands and produced some stunning work. He founded Sideways consulting a few years back where his primary objective was to provide and solve creative solutions to client. I had the opportunity to converse with Abhijit on the power of humour in advertising and how humour has helped in creating great campaigns for brands.?In a free-wheeling conversation Abhijit spoke in depth about the same and shared his views and experience. ?
1.?David Ogilvy was not a great believer in using humour in advertising. But there are several successful brands both globally and in India that have used humour cleverly. What are your views when it comes to the role of humour in advertising.
?So while David Ogilvy wasn't a fan of using humour in advertising, he also famously said," You cannot bore your customer into buying your product, you can only interest them into buying it". I believe this is where humour comes in as a really powerful ally for marketers. People are dismissive and cynical about brand messages,?in general,?as they are interruptions in the content consumption in any media. And quite?honestly?nobody is waiting around to?listen to a?brand wax eloquent about itself - that only interests the marketers and very often they forget this rather blunt truth. Therein, if used well, humour can help lower people's guards so you can weave in your message smartly and in a memorable way. Over a period of time this enables the brand to develop an endearing and enduring relationship with its customers. That is always a great asset.?
?2.?Where does humour work in advertising and what kind of products and services will you use humour as an approach that will work? Any examples that you can share??What are some of the memorable campaigns which are still sticky according to you when it comes to humour? If you can illustrate one of them as to why humour worked??
Humour can be deployed for absolutely any kind of product and service. Of course, one should know how to use it. And yes, there should be clarity on why that tone and tenor is being adopted. Is it because the audience relates to that emotion more or is it to question category norms or to make light of something topical or is it to?inject character in a supposedly dull category and so on. In India, and around the world, down the ages some of the most loved brands across categories have been built on the back of humour. From Fevicol and Cadbury 5 Star in India, to Old Spice and Geico Insurance internationally. Depending on the genre, humour has appeal across audiences and personas. Personally, I have had the opportunity to use humour very effectively to market products as diverse as confectionery, insurance, masalas and industrial goods.
Here are some examples:?
Slice of life humour for Suhana Masala:
?Over the Top humour for Acko Insurance:
?Societal oddity based humour for Borosil:
?Farcical/exaggerated humour for CenterFruit and CenterShock:
?Subtle observational humour for Fevicol:
?Desi style humour for Asian Paints:
3.?How comfortable are clients to go the humour way for the campaigns? Do they restrict or limit the agency’s freedom in introducing humour in their campaigns??
Most clients do not take to humour easily. I feel good quality?humour is the toughest emotion to pull off; it's not everyone's cup of tea. It's much simpler to do warm fuzzy stuff.?How humour works cannot be reduced to Excel sheets and formulae - it thrives on unpredictability and surprise. Also, it takes a lot of confidence to?not take?yourself too seriously. Something many marketers and sometimes agencies too, are uncomfortable with and hence shy away from it. Those who are brave, reap rich rewards. To see humour on paper one needs to be a kid at heart, and have a razor-sharp mind and imagination.?It is very execution?dependent too. It's more than likely that people who are unfunny?themselves will not grasp how it works as they are quite intimidated when it comes to creating it themselves. Oddly, they are ok to ride on other funny stand-up acts and sketches, or resort to joining in a memefest. And that's again because of their lack of imagination as well as for fear of their?brand's joke landing flat - which could happen but that's not a crime. This happens with the world's best comedians too. You get better with practice - brands will also get better with practice. They need to be ok with that.
?Every now and then I hear clients say, " Can you tone down the humour? It's a bit too funny." or "The humour is overpowering the brand". Ironically, I have always found such comments funny. These are reflections of the marketers' awkwardness with humour and betrays a lack of understanding of how it works. To be fair, I don't hold them responsible for such feedback because quite honestly they are not built like that inherently...it's not their fault. They are just the wrong people to?judge that kind of work. It's a bit like putting me in a finance?role - I will struggle and will give some nonsensical feedback - it's just not my cup of tea. But I know when to keep mum and let go, and who to rely?on should?the need arise and trust those partners.
?4.?Does humour help in building a brand from a long-term agenda? Or is it used more tactically to address short term goals and run-on short bursts?
?Humour offers an expansive fertile?landscape which can help brands achieve many objectives. The big advantage?with humour?is that it is a wide canvas with many sub-genres - subtle, over the top, visual, dialogue based, slice of life, farcical, self-deprecating, local/regional/earthy, quirky, dark and so on. Brands need to zero down on what works for them and their audience. Many a time it can be used tactically to upset category norms or get immediate attention. Of course, done consistently over years it can give the brand a lovable and trustworthy personality. There are no rules?and that's the best bit about using humour. The only rule is that the?output should be funny.
?5.?Humour needs to be used carefully and with some purpose. With the advent of social media, a lot of humour-based campaigns get trolled as they cross the boundary. How can one avoid this and what should one take care of when creating a humour-based campaign?
?People troll anything and everything these days. Social media has given everyone a megaphone to broadcast their thoughts,?and the world is full of self-appointed gurus and moral?policemen. I feel that trying to tailor-make communication and to temper humour for fear of a backlash?is not a smart idea. A brand needs to decide where it wants to reside - push boundaries or play it safe. Then produce work accordingly and stay true to that fearlessly. No need to give undue importance to sundry remarks that?might come their?way.?
?Personally, I am a strong believer in something that Ricky Gervais articulated very well, "Just because you are offended does not mean you are right". On a philosophical level, I feel a society that has lost its sense of humour and can't take a joke is a weak and insecure one. Laughter makes people feel good. Life is tough for most people anyways. If a brand can make them smile and forget their troubles for a?while, I think it's almost like community service. I feel spreading smiles and making people laugh is a worthy, laudable 'Purpose' a brand can adopt. Who says purpose always needs to be weighty. Unfortunately, many marketers and agencies feel a humorous piece of communication cannot be meaningful. The truth cannot be further than that. If that was the case, the work of satirists like RK Laxman would be meaningless.
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Global Marketing Expert and Brand Strategist -- Wharton School; 30k+ Followers
2 年Dear Ganapathy, this is a fresh take. Interesting indeed! Thanks for sharing.
Designer & Creative Community Builder catalysing everything Aha! President ADI Mumbai, Founder- Fluid, Lead Designer- Sideways, Speaker & Innovation evangelist, helping creative endeavours sell stories authentically.
2 年Woohoo, super cool thoughts!! Over the last 7 years, I've been fortunate to have sat in hundreds of brainstorms with Kinu Abhijit Avasthi. In most discussions we have had 'humour' as part of the thinking process itself. Despite the many long brainstorms and intense thinking sessions, every now and then you could see a little smirk on his face, quickly turning into a mischievous smile. After a brief pause, he would say, "The client may now have the courage to do this one, but ismein kuch bada crazy kar skate hain!", to be followed by a super entropic and random thought that would leave us amazed at the way he thinks. The best part is that during thinking itself, he exactly knows what kind of a director is he envisioning to bring that idea to life, ensuring his crazy ideas don't stay only in his head. He has inspired a score of writers to not stop at the first thoughts, and keep at it with the detailing, with his quintessential mantra "Aur Socho!". My favourite brainstorm was the moment where we discussed an anecdote that quickly converted to the Samosa ad for Larah by Borosil. Simplicity and clarity of thought + Unmatched crazy thinking = Kinu
Marketing consultant, Angel investor, Former CMO at Pidilite and Philips
2 年Very well articulated thoughts on Humour in advertising Abhijit Avasthi ????