Dell had some pretty funny commercials a while back with their "Dude, you got a Dell" campaign. But I doubt you would ever hear a support or sales person addressing customers as "dude" on the phone.

I guess Southwest Airlines gets away with it though.”

Presenting ourselves with a fun tone is great for customers as it makes using our web application a lot more enjoyable. This is especially true when doing very repetitive tasks such as filling in a lot of fields.

The question I pose is: Would you trust a company that has set a fun and amusing tone or one that is professional and serious? Will BMW, Microsoft, Rogers, and Mercedes-Benz start setting a tone that is fun with puns? I doubt it. Perhaps Kraft, Fisher-price, and Toys r’ us might consider doing that.

Thus my answer is………it depends on what you are selling. Generally, large fortune 500 companies present themselves in a very serious and professional manner. I suppose companies such as Coke and McDonalds are trying to present themselves with a fun tone by releasing slick, young, savvy commercials, but that’s probably the audience they likely wish to cater to.

Who is is our target market? Small business owners? I think one of our testimonies said “2ndSite makes me look professional”. A small business owner’s dream is probably to grow to become a multi-million dollar company (or at least get bought by one ). My guess is that small business owners would try to mimic the giants as much as possible.

I think I saw a single joke in Rackspace the other day. It basically said ‘for geeks’ after listed some IP address information. I don’t think anywhere else in the Rackspace system they made it fun or added some puns. Making a joke here and there might be alright, but we should keep it to a minimal. Invoicing is a serious service to business and I’m sure we take it just as seriously. Having an amusing tone could make us seem relaxed, and ultimately insecure. 2ndSite was built with security in mind, and I think setting a relaxed tone will make our clients think we are lax on security.

Good post.

Daniel (part of the 2ndSite Development team)”