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| Humor at Work |
ISSUE 553 - Sept.24, 2014 |
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Humor as a Social Branding Tool |
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The annual Shorty Awards honor personalities,
companies, and brands that have created highly successful social media
campaigns. One finalist, Zzzquil, demonstrated just how effective a platform
such as Twitter can be if done correctly. After discovering people were already
talking about their product on social media -- especially at night when insomnia
struck -- they decided to dive in with a Twitter account that focused on
bringing humor and warmth to a topic that was typically handled in a sterile,
medicinal way. The results: more than 16 million online impressions.
After learning that 40% of young adults
admitted to using social media in the bathroom, Charmin toilet paper found
tremendous success using a little potty humor on their Twitter account
#Tweetfromtheseat. Their Twitter presence earned Charmin accolades from
numerous media outlets, including Time
Magazine, which called Charmin
the "Sassiest Brand on Twitter".
Even older, more staid organizations have
found success using humor in social media. 85-year-old Delta Airlines
maintained its brand image while using witty tweets to increase their followers
by 50%. One of the most retweeted tweets: "Baby got back! We like big jets
and we cannot lie, this 737 is ready to fly!"
Heck, even the CIA used humor in their very
first Tweet in June of 2014: "We can neither confirm nor deny that this is
our first Tweet."
If done correctly, adding humor to your social media can be a hugely effective way to boost your company's brand (or your own personal brand) and help your messages stand out from the herd.
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Mike's Fun at Work Tip |
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The above photo is courtesy of Integris Credit Union, based in central British Columbia, Canada. It's part of their "caption this" monthly contest with employees, where people vie for the funniest caption to a wacky workplace photo for the chance to win a $25 gift card. Integris Credit Union, as I've written previously, puts a tremendous emphasis on building a great culture and this contest fits perfectly with their mantra "work made fun gets done!"
So try this contest at your workplace. Both shooting the offbeat photos and generating the captions are great ways to help everyone flex their funny bone and, if you hang the photos around the office, a great way to add a bit of fun and humanity to the office decor. You could even extend it to your customers as a way of including them in the fun and introducing your team to your customers in a fun way.  |
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Quote of the Week |
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"Humor is a tickling of the
mind." Charles Darwin |
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It's a Wacky World |
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A survey by Skyscanner.com revealed the things those dorky dads do while on vacation that most embarrass their children. The number one most embarrassing dad moment, as noted by 22% of the kids, was when dad dances. The other two top contenders for stupid dad behaviors: not acting his age and failing to act "cool". Come on dads, time to pull up your pants (or maybe down a little bit if they're at chest height) and remember that we can do better! The whole point of having children is to revel in publicly embarrassing them! So why not go crazy? Stupid hats, public singing, and yes, creating your very own dad theme dance would all help boost these embarrassingly low numbers! | |
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Cost Savings to Book Mike
Toronto area: October 27-31 and November 5 - 6;
Kelowna/Penticton "Mom discount" on-going:
Mike dropped by Kicking Horse Coffee Co. Ltd recently for a cup of Kick Ass coffee and to get a glimpse into their Kick Ass Culture.
Where's Humor at Work TV?
In the off chance you're wondering what happened to the Humor at Work TV website, well, so are we!
Blip TV, where the videos were hosted, deleted our account and all the videos without any notification. (Blip is definitely not winning any customer service awards this year.)
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Copyright © 2014 Humor at Work. All Rights Reserved.
mike@mikekerr.com
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