How @aviationgin Use Humour On Instagram

Followers of @aviationgin can expect a fair amount of comedy from the spirit brand-child of Ryan Reynolds. But if we look beyond appearances, we can uncover valuable marketing techniques to apply to our own business social media marketing strategies.

The @aviationgin Instagram account is gaining significantly high levels of engagement per post in their cohort of followers.

Let’s dive in to find out how @aviationgin achieve this. Check out these 5 clever ways to humanise your brand.

Use Of Pop Culture References

Through instantly recognisable shared, common or popular knowledge in post captions and media, @aviationgin aims to build emotional bonds. When writing about emotional branding, Professor Youn-Kyung Kim states, 'personal feelings and experiences better shape consumers’ evaluations of brands.' Using pop culture is one effective way to attach personal feelings into a brand strategy.

As mentioned in our previous blog, the example below combines humour, seasonal trends and pop culture (in the form of a movie quote) to pack an emotional punch to its audience.

Addressing Instagram Trends

While Instagram trends (such as inspirational content or social media challenges) may not be in line with this company’s branding, @aviationgin have found an angle to use these trends to their advantage. Using humour, an informal tone and lighthearted commentary, @aviationgin poke fun at themselves and the trends. According to a study, there are ‘positive and significant relationships between humorous advertisements on memory and attitude’ making this an advantageous technique for @aviationgin.

Check out @aviationgin taking on the #dollypartonchallenge in the post below.

Mentioning Business Team Members

Something that @aviationgin does regularly is mention members of their team. This humanises the brand, helping to build loyalty between the audience and, not only the brand, but the people behind it. In line with their brand tone, this is done in a comical way, pointing to the fact that they don’t take themselves too seriously.

Check out the super clever advertising below. Effectively piggy-backing on the Super Bowl without blowing money on a massive TV budget; this is marketing perfection.

Addressing Seasonal Trends

Seasons aren’t just cultural trends; traditions from various seasons leak across multiple continents across the globe. By making a big deal about how their product fits into seasonal trends, @aviationgin has many opportunities to make creative content for set periods of the year.

Here is their version of a snow globe:

Breaking The Fourth Wall

The term ‘breaking the fourth wall’ is mostly recognised in theatre and performance. The ‘fourth wall’ is an imaginary wall between the audience and the performers, which isn’t usually crossed. To the characters, the audience is not part of the performance.  ‘Breaking the fourth wall’ is when the actors acknowledge the audience and/or interact with the audience. It’s not surprising that @aviationgin use this technique in their videos as this is a technique owner Ryan Reynolds also uses in films.

Check out this video by @aviationgin, where the voiceover talks to the audience towards the end of the video. This is ‘breaking the fourth wall’.

Standing out as a brand is a huge part of breaking through the noise and growing your customer base. For insights into your own Instagram account, competitor accounts and benchmarks, check out Minter.io today.