You Fool!
Is it a good idea to do April fools?
For some companies this can be a good way to raise brand profile but for others if they don’t get it right they can fall flat on their faces.
If you’re going to do an April fools then try to make it a worthwhile exercise and capture visitors that come to your website to sign up to a newsletter, a subscription or product tester etc.
Remember though that it will only work one day of the year!
VW
Voltswagen
Volkswagen were going to rename themselves Voltswagen in the US to promote their electric cars. However, this turned out to be an April fools but unfortunately it was leaked early so didn’t actually make it an April fools. Was it worth putting marketing spending into their April fools? Possibly in VWs case as it has brought attention to their brand – could this been seen as a brand raising exercise???
This article from Creative Blog explains how this backfired so badly for VW.
https://www.creativebloq.com/news/volkswagen-april-fools-disaster
Self-driving bike
An old one from 2016 but a good one, wouldn’t be out of place in Cambridge!
This is simply a bit or humour but builds on Google’s brand as it reminds you that they create driverless cars. I wonder who was taken in by this idea though???
Lego
Smart bricks
Plenty of households have whiled away lockdown with building lego and we can all empathise with the pain that you get from a lego brick when you tread on one! This prank is about brand raising, something fun that sits with the brand profile and will get users engaged.
Yeo Valley
Scannable cows
This joke is on-brand for Yeo Valley and is fun. The website has a page to tell you about the cow you have scanned and who you are encouraged to visit!!! Again this is a brand-raising exercise and gets the visitor to their website where they are likely to find out more about their products, hopefully converting them to a customer.
Duolingo
Duolingo Roll
Decided to make the bathroom into a classroom with toilet paper that can teach you another language!!!
This prank drove the public to their website where they could sign up for free to try Duolingo! Nice way to get those who haven’t visited their site before to get them to sign up.
Wotsits
Easter Egg Wotsits
This believable ad is relatable as there are peanut butter wotsit style snacks on the market and it is timely with Easter tomorrow.
A good example of raising a brand profile!
Pringles
Launched a lip balm in Salt and Vinegar and Sour Cream and Onion!
April fools can be a good way to test out the likely popularity of a new product. Pringles has stated if their post gets over 5k likes then it will make them!
They possibly haven’t thought of releasing lip balm as a new product line but watch this space as they have committed to this in black and white!
Think twice
Is it worth it? Do think twice before launching into an April fool as the last thing you want to do is alienate customers to your brand, or be accused of fake news (see Voltswagen), when you want to use the opportunity to raise your brand profile.
If you are going to do pull an April fools, keep it on brand and try to capture some data so that your marketing efforts aren’t wasted.
Let us know which ones are your favourite!
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