Happy Friday and welcome to your weekly dose of humor + business! We believe the magic happens when wit and wisdom join forces. Wit + Wisdom explores concepts that can help a leader or brand stand out (and hopefully brings a đ to your day). Check out our rating system below.
đ witty | example of a clever idea that breaks through
đŚÂ wise | how to use the tenets of humor at work and with customers
⨠magic | combining the power of bot with + wisdom
Three tomatoes are walkinâ down the streetâŚđ
At Peppercomm, we lurv us some improv comedy. (Our staff is required to watch at least one episode of âWhoâs Line Is It Anyway?â per weekâŚlol.) With clients, one of the improv exercises we use in real life to draw out breakthrough ideas is to brainstorm campaigns our clients would never, ever do. Today weâre assuming the crafty folks at Heinz played this game to conceive their latest amazing campaign. âHey, letâs show people committing a misdemeanor with our product!â Sounds bizarre, right? But it works! Heinz is winning rave reviews for its latest ad spots showing some very dubious behavior with our fave condiment.
Theyâve got the metric systemâŚthey call it a Royale with Cheese đŚ
Injecting humor into your business strategy is not always about making people laugh. Nay. Itâs about tapping into that need all of us have for a wee bit of happiness. No one understands this better than the Finns. Finland was just named happiest country in the world for the sixth year on the trot. As a follow-on, the Finnish tourism peeps launched a clever contest, inviting people to create content explaining why they are secretly a Finn. The winner will get a free trip to the land of the Northern Lights and a four-day âhappiness masterclass.â Kippis to you!
I wanna win. I want that trophy, so dance good. â¨
Pro tip: If youâre going to lean into humor to connect with your external stakeholders (a la the Finns and Heinz), youâd better make sure youâre also making it a part of your corporate culture. You donât want to be accused of laughwashing (yes, we just invented a word). We at Peppercomm not only use the science of humor to drive innovation for clients. We also make it a part of how we work with each other every day. Today, we are spreading love to the fine folks at Ragan, publishers of PR Daily, for recognizing this and honoring Peppercomm with a Top Places to Work Award. Weâre not often humbled, but in this case we are.
We welcome examples for our next issue and your comments! If you want to learn more about how to use humor to engage with your stakeholders
(or just want to have a laugh with us), reach out at connect@peppercomm.com.
