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Aprils Fools’ Day jokes as a marketing strategy?

By 31st March 2017News

April Fools’ Day is an excellent opportunity to show your brand has a sense of humour, which if done right can result in increased sales and brand awareness.  If you are thinking of creating an April Fools’ Day joke you need to be bold and original to stand out in a crowded space.
Take a look at the jokes we have loved over the last few years:
Pinana anyone?
In 2009, Waitrose announced that it had limited stock of a new exotic fruit: a cross between a banana and a pineapple. The clever ad reassured customers that if they sold out of pinanas, their strawberries would be available at 50% discount.  We wonder how many people popped down to Waitrose and filled up their shopping trolleys whilst looking for this very new fruit!

Quench your thirst with a Pepperoni Pilsner Beer!
This got us rather excited as we love pizza & beer here at the OWB office; Pizza Hut in the US announced that it would be brewing its very own Pepperoni Pilsner Beer…..
Watch the video here:

Learn how to bark
Having trouble talking to your dog?  Groupon offered an online course by the Pet Auditory Welfare Service (PAWS) to learn dog barking as language. The offer has been bought  over 960 times…

April Fools’ Day gives companies the opportunity to create something clever with a very small marketing budget which if done right can be successful as examples show above. However be cautious that your prank doesn’t backfire, who remembers Google‘s joke in 2016 by adding a GIF or an angry minion to all of its Gmail messages? Gmail users were furious and took their frustration to Twitter:
 “Just sent an email to a client with this stupid icon on it. I can’t afford these stupid pranks!”
Another user tweeted:
 “I hit this thing by accident in a professional email sending a contract. This is ridiculous and not funny at all. Remove it please!!!”
If you are looking for a winning Aprils Fools’ Day Strategy and beyond speak to us!