Can stand-up comedy really provide an organization or an individual with a strategic competitive advantage? I think so.
But, don’t take my word for it. Deb ‘Kangoo Kid’ Brown and I recently co-hosted a Repchatter podcast with fellow Peppercommer (and former client) Valerie Di Maria as well as stand-up comedy legend, Clayton Fletcher (www.claytonfletcher.com). Together we answered such pressing questions as:
- Would stand-up comedy fit within the cultures of some of the world’s biggest and most serious businesses?
- Would bottom-line obsessed CEOs ever consider comedy as a new and more authentic way in which to communicate?
- Will these questions ever end?”
Click below to listen and let us know what you think.
I couldn’t agree more, Johanna. The comedy has to be authentic from an organizational standpoint and resonate with the intended target audience. That said, avoiding comedy solely to ensure the brand doesn’t offend anyone is also a guarantee of mediocrity. There has to be a happy (pun intended) medium.
I am a university student, and comedy as an advertising technique is a topic my journalism classes have recently discussed. The line between “funny” and “innapropriately funny” is definitly a thin one. Though advertising, sometimes comedy will simply get in the way of the intended messages, and consumers won’t remember the brand or product message itself. Comedy is a wonderful attention grabber, but the risk factor is something every company must consider. Comedy normally lies with one extreme or the other, it is either a big success or big flop. I agree that people enjoy a lighter mood in the work place. However, it’s important to remember that a quirk or joke to one person could be completely misinterpreted or offensive to another. The audience of a company is so vast that whether it includes internal or external audience members the company must decide if comedy is a risk worth taking.