Irony and wit come together beautifully and can be used to make the company or product more personable and likable. People love to laugh, especially when it is at someone else’s expense. Marketing specialists who want to use effective strategies can often use satire to their advantage as a way of telling a story or poking a little fun at their own expense. It gives the customer something to laugh about. Make them smile and they are more likely to tell others about what they’ve seen. Make them actually laugh out loud and you are more likely to earn a committed customer who will return time and again to see what you will come up with next.
Sarcasm and Creativity
Through the use of irony and specially constructed contradictions, sarcasm will attract a customer’s attention. Using sarcasm and satire during the creative process can actually inspire marketers to find new ways to bring out the best of what their company offers. Laughter during the creative process helps to ensure that the customer will laugh as well. Irony allows marketers to take their creativity in a new direction. While most customers will expect to see one thing, going in the opposite direction and using sarcastic comments can make them do a double take. Taking them off guard not only gets their attention, it keeps it for longer periods of time.
Using Satire to Humanize Your Company
Satire brings out the awkwardness and sometimes vulnerability that can endear a company and its products to the customers who use them. Like the skits used on Saturday Night Live or commercial characters like Jake from State Farm, people relate to the comedic one-liners and will tend to remember what made them laugh. Hearing the jingle or the tagline from the commercials will cause the smile to return and trigger the desire to go make a purchase. A person is more likely to remember something that made them laugh or smile than a commercial who delivered straight facts with nothing to catch and hold their attention.
Laughter Is Always Good
If you can make a potential customer laugh either at themselves or the company, it will create a long-lasting memory. The same concept is true in the conference room. If you can keep your co-workers laughing, they are more likely to want to be at work. They are more likely to want to work together and create a positive environment. It’s hard to be in a bad mood or create average ideas when you are constantly smiling. While both satire and sarcasm can take on a dark twist, most people take things with a grain of salt and try to find the funny side of the situation.
Whether you use the ironic twists of sarcasm or the condescending prose associated with satire, the ultimate goal is to attract the customer’s attention with something they don’t normally expect. The funnier the situation or comment, the more likely they are to remember your ad for a long period of time. When it comes to reeling in your audience, always remember to “go big or go home”. Throw out your best sarcastic one-liner and then sit back and watch the customers come to you.
