Everybody loves (or hates) a good April Fools joke, but some love taking the extra mile. Remember in 2009 when Hotels.com and Expedia banded together and launched their Lunar and Martian Rooms? How about the 128 fluid ounce plenta and 2 fluid ounces micro coffee sizes at Starbucks from 2010? How about the hit dog glasses by Warby Parker in 2012? And who could ever forget the time was Twitter began to charge vowels in tweets with a $5/month service whereas its free counterpart “Twttr” will only let users post in consonants? Gone are the days that April Fools is a day of prank and saying hello to pranks that are the new hot effective marketing strategies. Below are some corporate April Fools pranks that can become effective marketing strategies.
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You might be thinking that this is a bad idea and that this will just make the recipients angry, but would you believe us if we told you otherwise? Take the dog glasses prank by Warby Parker in 2012. Though it was merely a harmless and highly simplistic prank in comparison to Starbucks’ and Expedia’s, people still lined up their shopping carts with the items, and that alone would tell you that the prank itself generated revenue by just accounting for the clicks and views on the website.
In a way, Warby Parker turned their April Fool's joke into a creative marketing strategy.
Believe it or not, the mere mention of creative marketing sends shivers down every company’s spine. This is because many are too afraid to let go of a highly effective image or approach for a bold yet inventive one. Sometimes, they fear that the losses that are possibly attached to these risks over the benefits may deliver long-term.
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Now how can an April Fools' joke serve as a creative marketing strategy for your company?
The first step is to diversify your views. Read a book, go through the silliest company moments at that company outing, or even be inspired by other marketing campaigns. The sky is the limit in this step and will prove to be very useful when you will need to get those creative ideas rolling.
Second, understand the personality of your buyers. This is talking into a general aspect because it is common knowledge that you can’t please everyone, however, if you have an idea of what makes the majority click, your strategy might work for you.
Third, look at your strategy from a different perspective. It is one thing to 3see how you look at things normally, but taking another angle on things will let you see even more. Another suggestion for this is to have another set of eyes look into things and get a second opinion.
Fourth is to take advantage of the media. One of the reasons why the best corporate pranks are successful is that they utilized visual media to enhance their campaign and to create an experience their viewers will never forget. May it be an Infographic or an embedded video, there are so many ways how you can accomplish this.
Finally, be fearless. The reason why these corporate April Fools jokes are so successful is that they take risks and with those risks, they reaped the benefits.
