Good pun or lame joke?
It is no longer rocket science that a funny pun or image attracts attention. Companies are massively tapping into the age of parody, as Fournier and Avery state. The age of parody is described as content that is a parody of reality. This gives organizations and consumers the opportunity to criticize or address topics with a wink. For example, Randstad Nederland and Grolsch made a well-thought-out Instagram post on the failed sports performances of Sven Kramer and Yuri van Gelder.
Examples of Twitter
Although the Grolsch commercial went viral by being shared 10,000 times and receiving 43,000 likes and 3,000 comments, Grolsch also received a mountain of criticism . Consumers who could not see the humor in it swore not to drink a drop of the brand again . Looking at previous research by Jean, this was a predictable movement. A parody that puts down a competitor or individual is not appreciated by the public. Something to keep in mind!
What does work then?
Positivity! Instead of bashing competitors, you can also embrace them. For example, like Albert Heijn did with its Gay Pride tie-in. Tie-ins are often intended to generate sympathy for an organization, because sympathy creates a positive brand association . Well done , Appie.
Another way to attract attention is by using wordplay. According to Shirkhodaee and Rezaee, creative content should fax lists be innovative but relevant at the same time. From the field of aesthetics, it is known that people enjoy solving visual incongruities .
The NS uses optimal innovations, a special type of incongruity, where an existing expression gets an innovative twist. The NS hooked into Gay Pride with the expression 'Gay mee'. An optimal innovation of the well-known expression 'ga mee'. Because readers are able to recognize and resolve the incongruity, they feel good about themselves, experience pleasure and develop a positive association with the brand.
Hooks
Hooks and eyes
However, some organizations still manage to miss the mark. Something that is immediately picked up by the media. In addition to the existence of 'the age of parody', people also like to criticize, also called the ' age of critisim '. Social media users leave negative reviews in no time that spread like wildfire.
This happened to the tableware brand Blond Amsterdam, which latched onto the elections. A latch that went down the wrong way with the public, since active women's suffrage has only existed for 100 years. Women want to make their voices heard and not be stereotyped as dumb blondes . What did this latch onto for Blond Amsterdam? Negative publicity. Fortunately for the tableware brand, research by Wijngaert and Gaastra (2014) shows that trending topics quickly blow over.