Some of you may know I had the good fortune to work for a large advertising agency after I graduated from college.

This was in the early 1980’s when advertising was a dream job for a lot of advertising/marketing types my age. One reason so many of us aspired to work in advertising was having spent our formative years during what is still known as the “Golden Age of Advertising.”

A number of groundbreaking campaigns were introduced in the 1960’s and 1970’s for brands like Volkswagen (“think small”), Avis (“try harder”), and Quaker Oats (“Mikey” ads for Life cereal). One reason these new ads received so much attention was, up to that time, advertising had been factual and hard sell. These newer ads were witty, humorous, and understated. When I watched TV with my family we would all laugh at the Alka Seltzer ads (“that’s a spicy meatball”) or the Wendy’s ads (“where’s the beef”). We enjoyed the advertising as much as the shows.

You see my attraction to marketing got started because of the connection these ads made possible with consumers. They treated the viewers as an intelligent audience rather than a bunch of wallets waiting to be plucked.

It’s why I got into marketing in the first place … the potential win-win connections I could help sellers make with buyers.

Marketing that Delights? Really?

The word that comes to mind for me in describing this advertising is “delightful.”

The dictionary defines delight as “to give keen enjoyment … joy or satisfaction” and comes from the Latin word delicere which means “to allure.”

So the delight combines two wonderful elements: giving keen enjoyment and to be alluring; that is to charm and attract.

It’s unfortunate that most of us don’t associate the quality of “delight” with marketing. It’s especially unfortunate that most marketing is anything BUT alluring. At it’s worst, marketing tends to be irritating, hyped, and pushy. At its best, most marketing I experience is interesting.

I rarely smile or laugh when I read most business marketing but when I do, I remember the company.

And that’s the point of this article: when done well, marketing that uses wit and humor and playfulness can capture your prospects attention and is more memorable (sticky) than the staid, boring stuff the other guys are doing.

The quality of delight, when done well, gives your marketing an edge.

Keys to Marketing that Delights

#1 Look for Opportunities to Give an Unexpected Treat

In New Orleans there is a wonderful word, “lagniappe” (pronounced “lan-yap”) which refers to a small gift given to a customer such as a 13th donut when buying a dozen.

What makes the lagniappe special is it combines two powerful elements: what is given is truly a treat to the customer and it is unexpected.

What I love about the lagniappe idea is any business can do this. You don’t need to be a witty copywriter to delight your customers. You just need to come up with a special treat now and then and include it as part of your marketing.

A treat can be a thing like a donut but it could also be an unexpected “thank you” or offering recognition.

#2. Lighten up; Show Your Quirks

Many business owners are reluctant to reveal too much personality for fear of being seen as “unprofessional.”

But there’s an old saying “people will buy once from you because of what they think you can do for them; they keep buying because they like you.”

People like us because they can connect with our humanity and being a perfect, professional android doesn’t give others much to connect to.

Humor, play, and our imperfections are qualities that endear us to others and allow them to relax and be human with us.

#3. Cultivate Humility

I think the need to be right or to be seen as the expert is the greatest enemy of humor.

We first need to be able to laugh at ourselves and it’s hard to laugh at yourself if you’re emotionally invested in being right.

The humility I’m referring to is the healthy ability to see your imperfections with clear eyes while at the same time still finding compassion for yourself. This is not as easy as it sounds because most of us feel a lot of shame and unworthiness when faced with our imperfections.

However if you really want to make a difference and be a leader not to mention have the capacity to  create marketing that’s more effective, a healthy does of humility is a very worthwhile investment.

Bottom Line

When I searched for an image that illustrated the concept of delight I received images of cute little kittens, butterflies, fresh little candies, adorable babies, and frolicking puppies. Not a single image was remotely related to sales and marketing (unless perhaps you sell candy, butterflies, or kittens).

If you want your marketing to capture more interest and attention from your audience and the idea of adding some delight appeals to you, go for it! Here’s an opportunity where your creativity and sense of play can really payoff.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 10th, 2011 at 2:50 pm and is filed under Marketing Success Factors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.