Positioning: Strong vs Humorous

We spoke about positioning in class last week, and finding a way to be distinctive while also clearly showing your motivation. This was very interesting to me, especially in the age where advertising is distributed on a more platforms than ever before. I was particularly interested in the impact of humor in positioning. I know I love a funny commercial but, depending on your audience and the type of consumer you are targeting, maybe a strong serious ad which shows the quality of your product may be better.

I first found an article titled 4 Ways to Use Humor as a Marketing Tool, which gave examples of the ways some smaller organizations, and even individuals incorporated humor into their marketing to change the perception of their brand and capture the attention of their market. The main point that I took from this article was using humor as a way to explore the pain associated with the gap that currently exists without your venture. The author says "You started producing a product or launched a service because you perceived a void or frustration in the market," and "customers are more interested in how what you sell can help them." The author also identified one advantage that small organizations and startups have over more established ones: less bureaucracy and shorter approval processes allow these organizations to be more "nimble or edgy in their marketing."

Then, I looked at a Forbes interview with a new author, which discussed managing nonprofit brands. The author introduced the IDEA framework from her book, which stands for brand Integrity, brand Democracy, and brand Affinity. Brand Integrity goes back to the idea of being able to articulate your organization's motivation for this venture. Brand Democracy refers to the process of a members of an organization collectively defining and communicating its brand. The idea behind this is, if everyone was involved in the creation of the brand, there will be a clearer vision and less need for strict brand controls. Brand Affinity deals with collaborations and partnerships with other organizations towards a shared goals. If the consumer associates your product or service with more established products, branding will be a simpler task. This framework is an interesting concept because, as the author states, "the focus of the brand is on the mission and values of the organization, not on customers."

From my brief research, I think that you can use the IDEA framework to ensure that you and your partners in social innovation understand the message you want to convey, and this will better allow you to use humor effectively instead of choosing between strong or humorous.