Talking Point: Humour and healthcare advertising
pharmafile | April 8, 2010 | Feature | Medical Communications | Pulsar, Talking Point, medical communications
It will come as no surprise when I say that humour in healthcare advertising is a rare occurrence. So why are we so reluctant to make ‘em laugh?
Historically, healthcare has been viewed as an innately serious subject. This is not unfounded as when a patient’s life is hanging in the balance it’s no joking matter and deserves to be approached with sensitivity, as it rightly deserves.
Whilst I accept that humour may not always be appropriate, it is a style of persuasion which can frequently yield results that far exceed those of any other line of attack – so therefore it should not be entirely ignored.
Healthcare Advertising
In a lot of ways, healthcare advertising has been behind the times in stepping away from the traditional norms.
We have all seen this type of hospital ad – happy smiley patient faces, great docs, caring nurses, latest technology etc. As an industry we must strive to challenge convention and create campaigns that push these boundaries.
Doing so might be easier said than done, but in my opinion it must be done in order to stand out.
A lot of times people forget that your local hospital ad is sandwiched in between national advertisers that have been breaking down these barriers for years.
If your spot fails to captivate the audience in some way, you have wasted significant time and money.
So what is the best way to approach your audience?
Typically there have been four common forms of engagement:
• Concern and Compassion
• Product Differentiation
• Benefits Comparison
• Scare Tactics
Now we all know that the above strategies work and sometimes the specific nature of the healthcare product may warrant them.
But just as often, there’s a much more effective approach. That approach is humour.
The happy reality is that properly executed, humour can really grab the attention of your audience. It has the capacity to disarm them whilst being entertaining.
And most important – it can deliver the message with resounding effectiveness and memorability.
Who can’t remember the (above) gorilla playing drums to Phil Collins in the Cadbury’s commercial?
How to make it work
The reality of implementing laugh out loud humour into healthcare advertising is no easy feat.
Whilst writing this article I scanned our weekly medical journals and magazines to see if any of our peers had managed to create, or more importantly convince, a client towards a humourous approach. Unfortunately nothing beyond a smirk existed within the pages.
That is not to say that little humorous gems do not exist – rather that they are a rare breed.
If we look beyond our arena we can glean how other advertisers have pushed the boundaries.
The recent Evian commercial of rollerblading babies with the simple tag line ‘Live Young’ is incredibly captivating, compounded by the 19,000,000 views on YouTube to date.
I believe that this engaging tone of voice could be applied within healthcare and, for example, could easily align within a Nutrition campaign.
The truth is that some of the most memorable ad campaigns around tend to be funny.
Approaching our audience in a humorous manner will not belittle the therapy area, but rather audiences will appreciate being entertained and not pitched to.
People will pay more attention to a humorous commercial than a factual or serious one, opening themselves up to be influenced.
Getting the balance right
The key to funny advertising is assuring the humour is appropriate to both product and customer.
The balance between funny and inappropriate can often be delicate, and we as an industry must be certain the positive effects outweigh the negative before an advertisement can be introduced.
Today’s consumers are a sceptical lot. Charm and wit lowers resistance.
We contend that humour can be a far more effective form of persuasion than any dry, clinical approach.
It might be uncharted waters but I believe that healthcare agencies should seriously consider humour and not be scared to make ‘em laugh.
Melanie Kirk is the managing director of Pulsar Healthcare.
Email: melanie@pulsarhealthcare.com
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