“Funny” is elusive. A thousand different people will definite it in a million different ways. Few could even conjure up a concrete definition of it–we just know it when we see it, and we know when it’s definitely not there. Take, for example, the funniest joke in the world:

“Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He’s not breathing and his eyes are glazed, so his friend calls 911. ‘My friend is dead! What should I do?’ The operator replies, “Calm down, sir. I can help. First make sure that he’s dead.” There’s a silence, then a loud bang. Back on the phone, the guy says, ‘Ok, now what?’”

According to Scott Weems, Author of Ha!

The Science of When We Laugh and Why, through many studies, that joke ranks as the funniest among all study participants. However, that doesn’t mean that everyone cried tears of laughter. It might be funny told among friends, but probably wouldn’t go over so well at a murder trial. Successful humor consists of the right person saying the right thing at the right time. It’s risky, and there’s always the chance that it could fall flat. But when humor is used effectively, it can be an extremely powerful and memorable marketing tool.

A notably funny ad can garner millions upon millions of views and word of mouth buzz. If you’re looking to integrate some humor into your next ad campaign, the first step is to take a good, long look at your own brand. If you’re running a crematorium, humorous ads may not be for you. There are just some things in our lives that we’d rather not crack jokes about.

If you’ve decided that funny ads aren’t inherently contradictory to your brand, then it’s time to start brainstorming. If the humor in your ads feel completely alien to your brand image, it will come across as forced and awkward. There are a bunch of different styles of humor: witty, dry, dirty, tongue in cheek, slapstick, silly, you name it. The trick is finding which type of humor makes the most sense for your brand and your target audience.

Coke’s Feel Good Ad

In this Coke ad, students on a college campus come across a seemingly magical Coke machine that distributes flowers, pizza, excessive amounts of soda–and most importantly–smiles and laughs. There’s no comedians or funny gags to be seen. It probably didn’t get a belly laugh out of you, but seeing the students’ reactions got you smiling at their surprised expressions. Coke’s brand image relies on the joy of sharing a moment (specifically, one over a bottle of their product), not on scripted comedy. What’s funny for Coke got them 8 million Youtube views and a successful, feel good ad.

At the end of the day, you want your customers to fall in love with your brand. What better way to do that than to make them laugh?

No One Remembered This Credit Union’s Name Until This Humorous Radio Ad

Today, radio is a medium that brings the highest ROI and reaches the largest audience in America every day. But in 1986, radio was the brand-saver of a credit union in San Antonio, named Security Service Federal Credit Union.

The credit union attributed their lack of presence in the market to their lengthy name. Paul D. Green, VP of Marketing for the credit union told LA Times, “We wanted to be able to ask for people’s business, but our name is so long that we found people just didn’t know who we were.”

They also believed the inability to fund television advertising was to blame. Many of their holding company owned competitors were seeing success with TV. “We’d either have to go on TV right next to these spots and spend significant dollars or find a way to compete in a less expensive medium. So, we chose radio,” said Green.

Advertising firm Bert, Barz & Kirby produced an award-winning radio campaign that couldn’t be forgotten. “We basically made fun of our long name. It did wonders overnight,” said Green of the campaign.

Green stated that customers began to pour in to the credit union saying things such as, “You’re the guys with the funny ads.” Security Service Federal Credit Union reaped greatly from the ads, with an increase of 24,000 members, and a 105-million-dollar increase in assets.

While the competition spent two to three million dollars annually on TV advertising, Security Service Federal Credit Union spent a mere 112,000 dollars per year in comparison on radio production and media buys.

Transcript of the Famous Radio Ad

………..
VOICE 1: Hello, Albert’s Advertising Specialists.
VOICE 2: Albert, this is Security Service Federal Credit Union. Where are the matchbooks we ordered?
1: Oh, I’m trying to shorten your name to fit on the matchbook covers.
2: Shorten Security Service Federal Credit Union?
1: Uh-huh, to Security Service Federal.
2: No.
1: Federal Credit?
2: No.
1: Union?
2: Albert…
1: How about Security Service Federal Credit Union?
2: Albert, it sounds like a junior college. Can’t you make the matchbooks bigger?
1: Bigger?
2: Yeah, we want everyone to know we’re big, the seventh-largest credit union in the country, with over 100,000 members.
1: You want all that on the matchbook?
2: Uh-huh.
1: You want to be able to lift this matchbook?
2: Look, we want people to know Security Service is already like a bank, with CashPlus, our automated teller machines.
1 (Interrupting): Hold it, there’s not that much sulfur in all of Texas.
2: We’ve got IRAs, money-market accounts and other services to solve your money problems.
1: You know, if you prop up this matchbook along the highway, it’ll double as a billboard.
2: Oh, never mind. Now, what about the pencils we ordered?
1: Oh, I got everything on the pencil. That was a breeze.
2: It’s not too heavy?
1: No, but the eraser rubs up along the ceiling.
ANNOUNCER: Security Service Federal Credit Union. You’re going to know who we are.