This article was previously published on WARC.

Humour is a hot topic. The marketing and advertising industry has been abuzz with discussions on the decline, efficacy and role of humour in advertising for a while now. We see this in IPA publications and the introduction of the humour category at Cannes this year. Our recent research into humour and playfulness revealed new, uncommon truths around this much talked about subject.

When done right, humour is attention-grabbing and memorable. People talk about it. But that’s also why it can make CMOs nervous – if it backfires, people will remember and they’ll talk about it. That’s the downside of grabbing attention.

Humour is a means to a specific end. It can disarm and, for small budgets, have a memorable impact. People fondly remember funny ads – think Yellow Pages “Not Happy Jan” campaign – so there’s power in hitting the sweet spot. This is what makes humour such a useful tool.

Notably, our analysis on the research also highlighted a particularly useful application of humour to tackle taboo, disengaging or low-interest topics. Take the Queensland Health Authority, whose recent “It’s ok to poo at work” social media video gained viral attention. It worked because it caught audiences by surprise – we don’t often see public sector organisations making light of something so taboo. Which is why, despite the small budget, it's surprisingly memorable.

Our study also found that people don’t like humour when it feels forced or “not on brand”. To be successful, commercial brands need to build “funny” into their brand DNA or risk being seen as trying too hard. When you have a broad audience, it’s easy to offend or fail to land. Humour is niche. It’s not going to land with everyone. If you can target niche, it works. But if your audience is everyone, you’ll need to dial down edginess and, in doing so, risk being bland or feeling forced. That’s because humour is culturally driven and culture is nuanced. So where does that leave us? ‍

Our research identified a much broader opportunity than humour alone: playfulness.

Playfulness is adaptable, it’s an approach all types of brands and organisations can adopt to spark joy, engage audiences and speak to the mood of the moment. Play triggers our brain in a different way to humour; it allows us to live in an alternative reality, temporarily transporting us away from life’s everyday monotony.

Around 60% of Australians told us they’re ready to be more playful after what’s felt like a long period of doom and gloom. So, while four in ten say they aren’t ready (an understandably rational response when times are tough), there’s a strong case to be made for cheering up the nation. Australians also think they’re more playful and humorous than other countries – they think it’s part of the Australian identity, making them more receptive to joy.

Play is valuable because it’s a win-win for people and brands. People we surveyed said they felt better about playful brands, yet a third said brands aren’t doing it well enough. Clearly, there’s a big opportunity here.

In recent times, purpose-driven marketing has been a focus for brands – people have told us that brands have a role to play in improving society and our lives. Often, however, this has taken a serious tone. But it doesn’t have to. Play also improves people’s lives, so there’s no reason why a serious purpose can’t go hand in hand with playfulness – play is just as effective as humour at tackling difficult, disengaging or taboo topics.

People told us they want to see playfulness in more than just advertising, such as in loyalty programmes, customer experience events and packaging. Take customer experience, which can often start from a place of pain – effort, spending money, uncertainty of outcomes and so on. Injecting play into the experience could spark joy, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the functional.

So what if you don’t have play in your DNA? Partner with someone that does – play taps in to reciprocity. If the Van Gogh Museum can partner with Pokémon, the possibilities of partnership are endless.

Bunnings is a brand that knows how to play. Their recent rave with Peking Duk at their warehouse in Melbourne was on brand and engaging, aligning with their purpose to “Let your imagination wander”. It’s a great example of the potential of the power of reciprocity as, for instance, we saw a lot of celebrities and brands get on board. This kind of collaboration mimics human behaviour, i.e. how we live in society, making it a hard-wired driver of trust and social interaction.

To help guide decision making around the opportunity of play, we have created the The Four P’s of Play framework. The framework outlines four guiding principles to apply when considering how to integrate play into your marketing activities. It comes down to:

• Pick the brand voice: Align with your brand ethos.
• Pick the mood: Ensuring the playfulness doesn’t interfere with the functional.
• Pick the spaces: Turn up in big and small moments, across different channels.
• Pick the playmate: Foster playfulness through partnerships, sponsorships and shared events.

Ultimately, while humour is memorable and attention-grabbing, it’s also hard to land. When it goes wrong, people remember – and they talk about it. Playfulness is a much more expansive concept, it has applicability for more brands, is less niche and can be applied in countless ways.

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