 Your new post is loading...
Your new post is loading...
Not only were these April Fool’s pranks funny, they were smart. These five well-known brands played off their marketing strengths, trends, consumer desires and technology to pull one over on the internet-trusting public on April 1st. Best April Fools Pranks of 2016 From faux fashion collections to made-up mobile phone apps brands H&M, OpenTable, Krispy Creme, Samsung and CarGurus proved they have a sense of humor in addition to their marketing savvy. Appearing on April 1st, aka April Fool’s Day, were real-looking websites, mock-technology videos and phony products launched by these brands which either led you to the real sites or reminded you of how much you like them. Win-Win.
Sales can be a stressful job. Some months are good; others are tough.
When things aren't going your way, you're constantly feeling the weight of quota pressure. Accounts that once looked like a sure thing are getting close to the “gone dark” or “unresponsive” label, in which case they might be passed to a new rep. The same old boring follow up isn’t working. What can you do?
Here's an idea -- how about mixing some humor into your sales process? Sometimes a smile can be enough to elicit a response -- and keep you sane....
Joining the ranks of any profession is the same as committing yourself to learning an entirely new language, most of which is frankly gibberish. (TPS reports, anyone?) Design is no exception.
So we asked some of our friends at design firms--including Pentagram, Ammunition, Huge, Ziba, Pensole, Google Ventures, Sagmeister & Walsh, and more--to define their favorite examples of design slang and jargon.
The answers we received range from serious to tongue-in-cheek, but if you've ever been puzzled by a designer telling you he needed to "ideate a more approachable FTUX" or "add more value to that horsey megamenu," this resource should help you translate....
....BuzzFeed and VICE are leading the industry in rising above this stat. Jonah Peretti talked about how content and communication are merging, as people increasingly share content and visuals in lieu of their own words. Video and storytelling is the key for Eddy Moretti at VICE. He said “news media today is like a kids soccer game; everyone goes here, then everyone goes there. There is a lot of other stuff going on in the world, and today’s youth want to know about it. We are using video to tell those stories.”
There are well-publicized successes on the consumer side: KMart’s “Ship My Pants” and HelloFlo’s “First Moon Party” were provocative and hilarious, but also received nearly 10 million and 30 million views, respectively, and generates press from TIME to Mashable to The New York Times....
Let's face it. Animals rule the Internet. Between LOLcats and upside-down dogs, people just can't get enough cute. Even serious news stories can't compare to the viral power of a sneezing panda or giggling slow loris.
In the world of social media, animals have been tweeting with more than just their beaks. They've been updating Facebook and YouTube accounts as well. The human faces behind these animal status updates spend precious time managing fictional animal accounts, but many have more online followers than major media outlets.We've collected the most popular animal social media accounts and compared their fan bases to those of prominent media organizations. The results should shed some light on the Internet's priorities. Cute. Even serious news stories can't compare to the viral power of pets....
A company called Powerful Yogurt is now selling what it calls "the first yogurt in the U.S. designed for a man's health and nutrition needs." The Sandwich Monday gang gives it a very manly taste test. Last week on Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me, we talked about a new yogurt for men, or brogurt, from a company called Powerful Yogurt. Here's what our panelist, comedian Jessi Klein, had to say about it: "If male yogurt marketing is anywhere near as annoying as female yogurt marketing, you are in for a treat. Every female yogurt commercial is basically like women in a wedding dress just petting a kitten and eating yogurt." Powerful sent us a crate of the stuff this week. It arrived as all manly products do, carried by a Navy Seal who then punches it into your face....
|
In 140 characters or less, brands on Twitter have given themselves a bad name. It's not exactly hard to understand why—from a series of Twitter missteps, to overused, lazy jokes or their persistent desire from some brands to insert themselves in conversations they don't belong in.
Why even bother following a brand's Twitter account?
Every so often a brand gets it right. Some demonstrate quick thinking during real-time events, as seen by Oreo's famous dunk in the dark Super Bowl tweet. Others use quick wit to win people over, think Arby's Grammy tweet pointing out the resemblance between its own logo and Pharrell's hat.
Then there are brands such as Totinos and DiGiorno Pizza that crack absurb and silly jokes at unexpected times to garner laughs and followers. Totinos tallies 77,400 Twitter followers, while DiGiorno has racked up 93,100. Take a look at funniest brand accounts in the video above that may even have the power lighten up that dark, brand-hating soul of yours....
Above: some young people in a car, yesterday.
No wonder we're the most narcissistic, self-entitled generation ever: people just won't stop talking about #millennials.
Here's the latest new heap of s*** that pokes and prods at the hapless, buried-in-sane #GenY #millennials who are so diverse, yet so easy to speak for—a new study from perpetually hip MTV, now the Voice Of Two Generations, saying that #millennials love driving and cars and "see car ownership as a way to craft their unique adult identity," which was an actual sentence spoken by an actual sentient human being with actual free will who makes more actual money than any #millennial ever will.
"The study said 82 percent of #millennials find buying or leasing a new car 'exciting,'" in the same way they find paying for coffee with a Vine of a Macklemore concert exciting. It goes on. "The study found 87 percent of #millennials said they enjoyed customizing things to make them unique.
The study found 72 percent would rather give up texting for a week than surrender their cars. The study found 72 percent of #millennials enjoy the smell of their own farts. The study found 102 percent of #millennials think Edward Snowden is a slang word for a new type of ecstasy. The study found 369 percent of #millennials would rather give up the use of their testicles than give up the chance to use #hashtags to search for #CocaColaLife coupons on #Ello."...
Some Internet memes rely on added sugar and mysterious ingredients to extend their shelf lives, as we discussed yesterday. Others, such as “Alex from Target,” are like French black truffles — not only are they wild, rare and out of the reach of most of us but they also require highly sensitive snouts to root them out.
Let’s get to the nut graf: “It turns out that Alex from Target is not a marketing ploy and he’s an actual, genuine person and bagger,” who just happened to be “fangirled” for his “super hot” looks while doing his job on the line in Texas, TMZ reported with all due exuberance yesterday.
In fact, according to TMZ’s blurb accompanying its video report, “Little Al's employer tells TMZ the Internet phenomenon is 100% genuine grassroots.”Lest you think this story is strictly for the tabloids, consider this revelation from the New York Times’ Leslie Kaufman: “The Alex phenomenon became the subject of news articles on the websites of Time, the Washington Post and CNN over the last two days. TheDallas Morning News tried furiously to confirm just which Target he worked for.”
And that’s nowhere near the half of it....
For companies that haven't found a humorous voice on social media, the joke's on them. For those that have, here's how they leverage laughs....
Done well, tweeting can even land you a dream job. Here at Fast Company, our executive editor Noah Robischon even has a framed edict on his office wall: “Stop tweeting boring shit.” But stifling yawn-worthy tweets is one thing, composing a one-line comedic gem for the masses is quite another.
We’ve come to expect it from stand-up comedians such as Megan Amram, the spambot @horse_ebooks that posts bits of context-free hilarity randomly pulled from online texts, and formerly unknown Justin Halpern, who rose to fame tweeting the caustic observations of his father from @shitmydadsays. But brands bringing the funny on Twitter? Not so much.
To wit: @ChipotleTweets took to fake hacking its feed to produce a stream of nonsense notes meant to evoke a chaotic mirth similar to that of @horse_ebooks. Though the tactic earned the burrito chain several thousand new followers, Chipotle quickly resumed its regular (not particularly humorous) promotional voice....
The science of content marketing is much bigger than publishing an occasional blog. Custom content has grown into a 43.9 billion dollar industry, and even skeptics have to admit that it’s serious business. The best content marketers are wizards who are able to blend writing, multi-media content, PR, social media, and networking into a comprehensive online presence. It’s hard work, and there’s no room at the top for branded messaging riddled with content marketing mistakes. To both amuse and inspire your quest for excellence, we’ve curated some cartoons which brilliantly illustrate some of the most common pitfalls:
|
![How to Use Humor to Sell More [Free Email Templates] | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/OFQSMWGb3SAaBAZfjJbX7jl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9)
Well played!
Classics!