The 1st of April is a day celebrated in various countries around the world as April Fools’ Day. In the UK, the jokes only last until midday, creating a short window of opportunity to promote a convincing but good natured joke or prank.
Since 1957, when the BBC Panorama programme convinced viewers that Italians were harvesting spaghetti from trees, the British media has enjoyed publishing joke articles and features each year on 1st April.
This morning the Today programme on Radio 4 ran a very convincing feature about Shakespeare being French. In the Guardian today, they published an article about a new hardline advertising campaign to be run by Labour for the General Election, focusing on recent allegations about Gordon Brown and his bully boy tactics (Vote Labour. Or else).
The trade press also get involved, with IFAonline publishing a story reporting that restricted advisers would have to wear red clothes to meetings to warn their clients about the limitations of their offering.
Citywire ran this story claiming that IFP chief executive Nick Cann would be appearing in an episode of Eastenders in a bid to promote financial planning.
So should IFAs be using April Fools’ Day as a marketing opportunity?
This is a great opportunity to show your clients, professional connections and advocates that you have a sense of humour. It is a day when you can do something fun and at the same time raise your own profile with a memorable and enjoyable story.
At Informed Choice this morning, we decided to publish this blog announcing we were about to purchase a chain of coffee shops across the UK. Visitors to our website were tipped off that this news was a joke by the name of our newly appointed Head of Coffee Services.
There are some important things to keep in mind when running a successful April Fool’s Day prank within your business.
Keep it light natured, as these things run the risk of backfiring horribly if you toy with contentious or serious issues. Keep the subject close to the realms of reality, but not so close that your clients will not be able to tell it is a joke.
Done well, an April Fools’ Day joke can be a great marketing opportunity for IFAs.
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