Piaras Kelly PR - Public Relations in Ireland

On a recent post when commenting on organisations’ efforts on creating content for YouTube, I said that brands that wanted to be funny should start with happiness as their business model. John from KRO//Software rightly asks how does one make happiness their business model, given that it comes across as fluffy PR talk in my post.

Couple of thoughts on this. First off, the goal of any product or service is to alleviate a pain/need for a customer. So if your product or service is doing it’s job right then it should be leaving a smile on your customer’s face. The problems start however when the difference between the brand promise and the brand reality become apparent.

A good example of this is the famous scene in Falling Down, when Michael Douglas goes into Whammy Burger and is a little disappointed with what his Double Whammy burger looks like compared to the picture in the menu (approximately 4 minutes into the YouTube clip.)

If Whammy Burger go out with an advertising campaign which highlights their Double Whammy Burgers, customers will inevitably be disappointed when they unwrap their food and are greeted by a rather limp imitation.

If you look at most fast food restaurants, you’ll find that most of their customers aren’t there for the fine cuisine, they go their for the convenience. McDonalds is a good example of a company who have made happiness their business model. A lot has been made about their introduction of healthier snacks on their menus, but in reality those menu items just provide some reassurance to the parents who purchase food for their children there. Other elements such as the updated restaurant format or the family hosts are a much more important factor for repeat custom. People go to McDonalds because they want to get something to eat quickly in a clean and friendly environment.

Competing simply on price is a short term strategy, it only buys you some time before your competitors eventual respond. If you want to build brand loyalty then you have to develop an experience which isn’t easily replicable by your competition.

Moving back to my original post which John commented on. In this context when I am referring to using happiness as a business model, I mean genuinely offering the consumer a different experience to what they would normal expect. Organisations which distinctive offerings often stand out from the crowd and either go viral by their very nature or their viral marketing efforts are picked up because they resonate with their target consumer.

Here’s a good example of a company that goes viral by nature. Jennifer Newman pointed out this staff wanted ad for Murder Burger. Ignoring the name of the company and its branding, which are both rather quirky, by reading the ad it is obvious that Murder Burger’s brand identity has actual substance.

It comes across as irreverent and fun. I would be confident in hazarding a guess that more people would want to work there than some of their fast food competition.

When it comes to larger organisations who want to create a viral marketing effort, nine times out of ten the viral is more likely to succeed if it is based on brand experience rather than simply consisting of a funny ad. For example, I remember discussing a quirky idea with an insurance company before. The company claimed their offer was so different to the competition that it would naturally appeal to consumers and generate its own word of mouth.

Given that insurance isn’t exactly the most interesting thing in the world, I suggested playing upon their positioning in an innovative way. Generally when you receive your renewal form from an insurance company, it is treated with trepidation given that they are going to be asking you for a large sum of money. I suggested flipping this consumer behaviour on its head.

Apart from renewing your insurance, what else happens on an annual basis? You celebrate your birthday. Given that this company was going to be so much cheaper than the competition, why not celebrate renewals instead of coming across as a debt collector. The customer could receive colourful company literature in the form of a birthday card, pointing out how much money they are saving in comparison to rival services. This is quirky by nature and the organisation is able to use this as a foundation for creating a funny video to upload to YouTube. I’m not saying that a video of a customer receiving their renewal letter is what they should upload, rather that it’s the substance which distinguishes them from the competition.

By making happiness their business model, organsations focus more on satisfying their customer needs and surpassing their expectations, ultimately building brand loyalty rather than simply trying to grab their attention with a quirky ad.