Now, you wouldn’t think an actor could teach brands a thing or two about marketing, but actor Ryan Reynolds is an exception.
During the uncertain times of the pandemic, the one thing that has kept me from losing my tiny fragile mind during lockdown, is humour.
Being able to find the funny amidst the constant wave of social media scaremongering and ‘bad news’ articles has been a life saver.
As a business, now is not the time to scale back on your marketing efforts and stay quiet.
Instead, you should be finding new ways to communicate with your audience and highlighting those who have been able harness the power of funny, deserve your attention rather than those who are sharing bad news or simply scaring people.
Not only has humour been scientifically proven to increase recall, if executed well, it will entertain your audience and endear them to your brand.
Actor and business owner Ryan Reynolds and his marketing team, Maximum Effort, behind Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile have nailed it. So, here’s 5 things brands can learn about marketing from actor Ryan Reynolds.
1. Inter-Brand Banter
Who doesn’t love a celebrity feud…right?
None have had me glued to my Instagram feed more than that of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.
Okay, so the feuds not real, but the impact their piss taking marketing magic has for their respective drinks companies most certainly is. Views of this next video clocked up a massive 7.1M views on Ryan’s Twitter feed alone.
Who knew Jackman owned a coffee company? #Genius
Other brands who have caught on to this master tactic is Wendy’s. They’re not afraid to start a war and mercilessly troll McDonalds on Twitter every chance they get.
It’s car crash TV, you just can’t look away.
2. Be Reactive
Peleton, the famous exercise bike brand of the beautiful were savaged in the press last Christmas for their ‘sexist’ Christmas campaign ‘The Gift That Gives Back’.
This ‘out of touch’ marketing disaster saw over £1.1 billion wiped from the companies share value.
Ouch!
But the marketing masters behind Aviation Gin saw an opportunity.
They completely capitalised on the situation, creating a timely comedic parody – of sorts – riding (pun intended) off the back of Peletons negative attention.
Using the same actress as Peleton was crucial to the campaign hitting the mark. It’s the attention to detail which makes the difference…
The result? 10.6M views on Twitter alone. Boom! #GinGin
3. Marketing your products without… erm… marketing your products
Ever wondered where movie explosions go after the camera stops rolling?
Well, Reynolds recently addressed this thought-provoking subject in another witty send-up on social media promoting his latest Netflix film, 6 Underground.
Watch this >>
In what seems like an endless stream of trailers about speedy-car-chasey, gun-toting, blowy-uppy things, which is not my favourite movie genre, this one had me committed before I even knew what I was agreeing to. #Seamless
Charmin is another brand that utilises comedy to raise their brand awareness.
I mean we all need toilet roll, right? And let’s face it, it’s hardly a glamorous marketing subject.
However, Charmin appeals to their Twitter followers using toilet humour. Relating to their audience without necessarily promoting their products.
4. Make your customers the stars of your marketing campaigns without boring reviews and testimonial graphics.
Social proof is an important part of marketing with many consumers reading through endless recommendations and reviews before making a purchasing decision. But, let’s be honest, reading through a tonne of reviews is tedious and boring.
Why do that, when you can do something like this instead >>
Social proof at its comedy best >>
Reynolds and the marketing team behind Mint Mobile achieve this in a refreshingly entertaining and creative way.
It made me want to change providers and I wasn’t even looking. Job done.
5. Comedy of context when approaching serious subjects.
Using comedy when discussing highly emotive subjects can be tricky… but it’s all about the context.
Reynolds nails this in his recent video appeal to raise funds in the battle against Covid-19. All you need to do is purchase a T-Shirt… a boring as f**k t-shirt…
See the full video here >>
It’s clocked up just over 4.2 million views on Instagram and 974K views on Twitter so far and I totally want this T-Shirt, serif font or not.
Here’s to bringing boring back folks! I’m just a sucker for sarcasm.
I hope you’ve found some comedic inspiration for your next marketing campaign. If not, hopefully you’ve found these videos as funny as I did and had a well-deserved laugh during lockdown.
But, if your marketing is failing to hit the mark, and you’re in need of some content inspiration, get in touch with me today and let’s get started.
