We have become a terribly solemn industry.
We have become a terribly solemn industry.
Walk through any marketing department today, and you will find people buried in spreadsheets, terrified of offending anyone and speaking a strange dialect of corporate jargon. We have forgotten that two of the most powerful tools in persuasion are a sense of humour and a memorable melody.
Humour and music are not decorative flourishes. They are hard commercial levers. When the world is suffocating under a blanket of polite, boring corporate messaging, a line that makes someone smile or a track that makes them tap their foot earns attention in a way no algorithm ever could.
If you want to stop stalking people and start seducing them, you must learn how to entertain them. And entertainment requires wit and rhythm.
The Commercial Logic of Joy
Let’s stop pretending humour is a risky luxury. It is a commercial advantage.
Global data from organisations like Ipsos* reveals a devastating truth for the literal-minded: work built around a relatable, distinct story is nearly three times more effective at driving long-term memorability, and twice as effective at shifting human behaviour, compared to a dry pitch of product features.
When people are genuinely entertained, they stop trying to skip your communication. They stay with you long enough for the point to land. Even better, when they laugh or love the soundtrack, they share it. Your media budget suddenly stretches much further because people do the distribution for you.
When we launched Agenda Earth, a music-led project with the United Nations, we avoided the usual finger-wagging climate documentary. Instead, we used a simple, playful line: “Every time we lose some forest, we lose some friends.” It isn't a lecture; it is designed to live in culture. It turns a massive, abstract tragedy into something personal, rhythmic, and impossible to ignore.
The Art of "Benevolent Vandalism"
The great fear in boardrooms is that humour will somehow trivialise a serious brand or a complex product. "We sell financial software," they cry, "We cannot be funny."
What rubbish.
Humour in advertising doesn't mean telling cheap jokes or putting a clown suit on your CEO. It means finding the human truth in the problem your brand solves. It is about acknowledging the quiet tensions your audience already lives with - the absolute chaos of getting children dressed in the morning, the universal dread of opening a bill, or the small embarrassments of household chores.
When a brand highlights those moments with a dry, knowing wit, the consumer feels seen, rather than sold to.
This is what we call Benevolent Vandalism. You creatively disrupt the boring, predictable conventions of your category to reveal a deeper truth. If creativity can elevate a category as mundane as toilet paper into a cultural talking point, then no category on earth is exempt. The question is never, "Is humour appropriate for our business?" The question is, "What specific kind of wit reveals the truth of our problem without losing their trust?"
The Auditory Blindspot: Music as the Ultimate Multiplier
Most modern advertising is designed entirely for the eye, while treating the ear as an afterthought. They buy a generic stock track, lower the volume, and hope for the best. It is a tragic waste of a canvas.
Now, music is not a silver bullet on its own. A beautiful soundtrack cannot rescue a bad idea. But it is very often the huge, missing piece for modern brands - the ultimate multiplier of emotion. A great melody compresses meaning and travels further into culture than any line of copy. It gets past our defences far quicker than corporate speech.
Think of it as the emotional anchor for your visual concept. When the right rhythm marries a sharp creative idea, you become much harder to forget.
For your next campaign, treat the ear with the same respect as the eye:
- The Audio Test: Could your creative concept survive successfully if it were heard on the radio before a single frame of film is shot?
- Own the Sound: Is the musical choices helping to build an atmosphere that belongs uniquely to your brand?
- The Earworm Effect: Does the melody cue your brand's personality before your logo ever appears on screen?
The Defiant Brief: Writing for Resonance
If you want your partners to stop delivering safe, polite, invisible work, wit and rhythm have to be part of the brief.
On your next brief, forget the standard template. Start with these three questions.
1. The Human Friction State the honest, awkward, or slightly absurd reality your audience experiences regarding your product. If it sounds like a clinical strategy deck, start again. It must sound like real life.
2. The Sonic Landscape Define the musical world of the idea. What is the rhythm of this campaign? Is it a driving beat of defiance, or a warm, acoustic moment of reassurance?
3. The Quotable Line Write the single line of copy or lyric that you want the public to repeat, sing, or quote back to their friends. If there isn't a line worth repeating, you don't have an idea yet.
When you stop stalking people across the internet and start entertaining them with wit and music, everything changes. People watch. They listen. They remember. They tell other people. And there is no more powerful media than that.
Don't just make ads that can be targeted. Make work that would be genuinely missed if it disappeared tomorrow.
* Ipsos Creative Excellence. Misfits: How Creativity in Advertising Fuels Economic Effectiveness. Global Meta-Analysis of 15,000+ Ad Campaigns.