It was April Fool’s Day last week and it got me thinking about how organisations can have a little fun to help them work well. 

Working in a communication and marketing team, I am acutely aware of keeping an organisation’s tone of voice and being a recognised and trusted brand. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun once in a while. 

Let’s take a look at some of the fun April Fool’s pranks that companies published this year…

-        Cornish brewery teamed up with a clotted cream company and showed a picture of a scone with cream on first (not the done thing in Cornwall!) 

-        A healthcare organisation announced that they were going to start training their  teams to provide healthcare in zero gravity for space tourism

-        A university photo-shopped a giant blue slide onto the first floor of one of their buildings to make it stand out (apparently students have trouble finding this building). 

What do all of these articles have in common? Well, for a start, they are all in good humour, avoid offending people and could (just possibly) be true!  

As you can see, it doesn’t matter what sort of organisation you are, there is always space for a well-timed, and well executed bit of humour. But why do this you might be asking. What value does it add to your organisation? Well, like any marketing campaign, it’s all about getting your name out there, in a good way. And a different approach may help you reach audiences your other campaigns may not. It can also make your brand feel approachable and make people want to engage with you, be that a like, share or comment on social media, that then reaches out to their followers and friends that will see you company’s post. 

April fools is but once a year, which is probably a good thing! But there are ways you can have fun with your audiences throughout the year. 

-        Hanging off a holiday – ok arguably this is easier for some organisation, such as a well-known chocolate company and their global Easter egg hunt

-        Use awareness days – there seems to be an awareness day for everything these days including national puppy day. Think about how these can tie into your organisation – maybe you’re an accessories company and you can have photos of your customers/employees pooches modelling their favourite accessories. 

-        Significant dates to your organisation – maybe there’s something fun you can do around your organisation’s anniversary, or a milestone customer event. Perhaps a completion to engage current and potential customers. 

By keeping up a regular rhythm of fun with your usual communications, can help to break through a wall and build your organisation’s social media follower base, and ultimately your customer base. 

PS - If you are keen for some individual wellbeing tips to complement this Working Well life, check our Personal Planner Lauren's Relationship With Self blog, out fortnightly on Tuesdays. You can read the latest edition here:

https://www.makemeaplan.com/news/mental-health-matters/