Creating a brand personality is usually about humanising it. And there’s nothing more human than having something that customers can laugh with and remember.
A great example was KFC. Through their new ad agency, https://motherlondon.com they were looking to move the brand upmarket, making the brand a little more savvy, cooler to reflect their young streetwise customers. Then not longer after the start of the rebrand, they ran out of chicken. Now running out of chicken when that’s what you sell is not a great look. But instead of panicking, as way of apologising they put out the famous FCK apology. It went viral – in a good way. They turned a disaster into an opportunity. Sales actually grew from a screw up. https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/kfc-fcking-clever-campaign/1498912 It was cheeky, bold, and yes it was clucking funny (sorry).
A strong brand or business personality stands out in the sea of sameness. Without it, your brand might just fade into the background noise or worse get noticed for all the wrong reasons.
When Pepsi launched a new ad with Kendall Jenner as part of a rebrand the results were almost as bad as when coke changed the taste of Coke to be more like, well Pepsi. The new branding was muddled. A sort of we’re young, political, lovely, cool, fun, human, edgy and aspirational – like a perfume brand blended with the old Coke “teach the world to sing” with a topping of ‘war on want’ charity. https://youtu.be/tJCcnkqnjqU. It’s worth watching – if only to admire just how stunningly bad it is (like a two minute episode of the Office but much much more cringeworthy). It ended up looking appallingly out of touch. It had almost nothing to do with the brand and was quickly deleted by Pepsi.
So here’s four practical tips and fun examples, using the power of humour, to help give you a brand personality that’s engaging, entertaining and authentic.
Step one: Know your audience.
To build a brand personality with humour, you need to know who you’re cracking jokes for. Are your customers young and trendy, or more mainstream? Check out Wendy’s burgers on Twitter – they nail this by using witty, sometimes sarcastic humour that resonates with their young, social media cool audience.
Step two: Define your brand personality.
If you’ve received the newsletter version of this post, then have a look at Mailchimp’s playful, yes slightly chimp-like tone. They sprinkle humour everywhere—from emails to website copy to even their error messages. Newsletters used to have a feel of school missive from headmaster, or parish council news, usually something dull and corporate. Not if they come from Mailchimp.
Step three: Create engaging content that reflects your brand.
For instance one of my clients in the middle east, Al Rajhi bank has rebranded itself as the “new old bank.” Saudi has one of the youngest populations in the world. To get new customers it had to think and behave younger and quirkier without losing that sense of trust that is integral to any bank brand. So they went towards humour, via TikTok, with witty funny rappers to connect with their younger customer base. And it worked brilliantly in an incredibly crowded market.
Step four: Be authentic.
Authenticity is key to building a credible brand personality. Your humour should feel natural, not forced. Innocent Drinks, uses a light touch – often self-deprecating humour that feels genuine and aligns perfectly with their friendly, approachable brand image. What’s interesting, is that having worked with Innocent, I can safely say that this also aligns with the people who work there. They are genuine, lovely, passionate, young and as they were employing me, probably a little quirky! By staying true to your brand’s core values and being authentic, you’ll create a lasting connection with your audience.
If you’re ready to inject some humor into your brand, follow these steps and watch your brand personality come to life. Remember, a little laughter goes a long way in building lasting relationships with your customers. So, what are you waiting for? Get out there and start cracking making them laugh.