Why so serious?
So you’re a copywriter, a serious business person. You’re writing is a reflection of who you are. You want to make a good impression, yet you’re compelled to have some fun with your identity. Then, you have an idea.
What if you take your name, your passion for writing, and mix it with your love of science and pop-culture. What do you have? You have the Ehren Space Museum.
A lot of people might think up something similar for their personal or business brand, love what it represents, smile, and promptly abandon ship.
Why? Sometimes people equate fun with unprofessional. Well, at least they do when it’s their own brand. For some reason they forget the countless number of successful companies that make use of creativity and humor in many or all aspects of their marketing. Can’t think of any? How about the following company names:
Or how about these memorable campaigns:
- I’m a Mac, I’m a PC (Apple Computer)
- Sonic drive-up skits
- Anything done by Mini Cooper
Feel free to add your favorites in the comments.
Maybe you love some of the examples above, maybe you hate them. But it’s hard to deny that they’re memorable. They leave an impression, and that’s just what they’re meant to do.
Now don’t get me wrong, being clever for the sake of being clever is not a good thing. Instead of trying to be clever, be creative. Usually your instincts will tell you if you’re trying too hard. Personally I don’t feel like the name ”Dress Barn” is winning over many female shoppers.
So what makes “fun” work? Three key things:
Can it relate back to the business?
Is the idea a force-fit?
Is it a one-line joke or can it take on a life of it’s own?
In the examples we listed of successful company names and memorable campaigns, each brings an image to mind and/or builds a personality.
So does the Ehren Space Museum pass the test?
- Ehren is a writer, someone who plays on words
- Ehren’s writing tends to cater to readers who are into pop-culture, especially in the geeky corner of the cultural space.
- In addition to his culture coverage, he writes fiction.
- He was a physics major in college.
- He wants his web presence to be a permanent collection of things he’s written.
And like most people, Ehren has a sense of humor.
Seems like a good fit. Now the tricky part – how to pass the whole thing off. It’s a fine balance of integrating the theme without being corny or overdone – not as easy as it sounds. With Ehren the key was keeping it simple and clean. It’s taking the essence of the idea and letting it come forward, not forcing it to come out. The throw-back to the 50’s version of the future is obvious, but it still feels relevant in today’s world.
Just remember, creativity is always a part of any successful business, has it been a part of yours?
August 28th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
[...] few months ago we wrote a post about how/why to have fun with your brand. This week we found a great site that features some fun [...]