Monkey business
Don’t take serious stories so seriously
If you were trying to convince employees to follow brand guidelines, you could deliver stern do’s and don’ts about how to handle the company logo or warn employees not to use people’s personal photos in campaigns.
Or you could illustrate your message by mocking up an employee’s photo in an ad like this:
THE OTHER OTHER WHITE MEAT You can lecture employees about using people's photos without their permission, or you can make your point with humor.
That’s how Chatter Monkey (aka senior publications designer Kelley Moore) handles brand education at MD Anderson — by writing hilarious stories to illustrate brand missteps, not by haranguing folks to use the right red in the logo.
An old joke in the speaking business asks, “When should you use humor in speeches?” The answer, “Only when you want to get paid.”
So when should you use humor in brand messaging? Only when you want to get heard.
Make fun
Want to make your copy more amusing?
- Rev Up Readership members: Download Chatter Monkey’s internal blog posts on departmental logos and photo permissions.
- Invite Ann’s team in to handle a special writing project.
- Bring Ann to your organization for a “Make Your Copy More Creative” workshop.
- Work with Ann to make your copy more creative in one-on-one writing coaching sessions.
- Get more tipsheets on corporate humor at RevUpReadership.com.
- Find out about Ann’s next creative writing webinar.
