Understanding humour on utilitarian brands' social media channels : a USA-UK netnographic analysis

Abstract

“Humour is mankind’s greatest blessing” – Mark Twain. Ever since organizations have advertised, they have sought to create impact, differentiation, and memorability through the use of humour in their brand’s communications. But humour is a tricky path to be taken. Get it right, and you could be rewarded with a fire-cracking engagement rate and brand affinity that creates a return on investment unlike any other marketing initiative. Get it wrong, however, and the consequences could be serious. Not only is comedy and humour a subjective endeavour which needs careful consideration, but in a world of cancel culture and political correctness, trends have shown that organizations have started to shy away from using humour to stand out, fading instead into a “safe”, yet generic, obscurity. For the brave few who are willing to weather the risk, the fruits are ripe for the picking. Though sharing many cultural, historic and linguistic similarities, use of humour in the US and UK varies significantly in quantity, quality, and impact. More importantly, the type of humour used and how it resonates with each audience is quite distinct in each of these markets. For organizations that wish to employ anglophone humour in their brand communications on either side of the Atlantic, these differences need to be kept in mind. Through an analysis of 8,500 posts from 12 brands across 5 social media platforms, this study aims to document the nuances of the humour used by notably funny brands from the UK and US. A total of 290 million engagements from a combined audience of 12.37 million social media profiles will be analysed. In the process, a model that may be used for successful comedic communications campaigns in either (or both) of these markets will be developed for real-world applicability.