Are you having a laugh?
Our content and digital teams have recently had great fun working on the Comedy England campaign for Visit Britain, which went live at the end of June.
As I said to the client when we first presented our ideas, it was great to be given a brief where we actually had to be funny!
And it got me thinking about using humour more widely in a business context – in particular, within internal comms. Although organisations often inject humour into their external marketing campaigns, many are still reluctant to do so when talking to staff.
This is a real shame. Because like storytelling – another technique we’re starting to use more widely – humour taps into people’s emotional response to the information they receive. We’ve all got a funny bone, and we all enjoy it when people find it!
Of course it won’t always be appropriate. But used well, humour can help bring key messages to life and make them more memorable – even if the subject itself is a serious one.
So why the reluctance?
It’s just not the done thing
One reason often cited for steering clear of humour is the company culture. But in our experience, that’s often an argument in favour of using it.
If staff are used to receiving quite dry, stuffy corporate communications, injecting a bit of fun can help something stand out and make people take notice.
A great example of this is the light-hearted campaign we created to persuade PwC staff to use email more responsibly. Although the company has a very corporate culture, and the campaign was tackling a serious problem, our approach was a huge success. Over 60% of staff changed their behaviour as a result.
There’s a time and a place
Of course there are times when communications may need to be more serious.
When faced with a cynical or angry workforce, using humour can be risky. It could be seen as flippancy or, worse, make staff feel that management are completely out of touch with the mood of the organisation. However, simply asking whether it would be appropriate will make you think more about your audience – and that can only be a good thing.
So when you plan your next piece of internal communication, think about whether a more humorous approach might be the way to go.
It doesn’t have to be laugh-out-loud funny – in fact, it probably shouldn’t, as people may lose sight of the main message. But a clever, witty and, above all, relevant piece of communication can often get a response that will bring a smile to your MD’s face!
