Some people are so good at making you laugh. A few nights ago I attended the Gambling Compliance Global Regulatory Awards and was pleasantly surprised when the event’s host, English comedian and actor Hugh Dennis, hit the stage. This man was funny. He transformed an otherwise boring scene and turned it into a fun and engaging experience for everyone in the room. He cracked tasteful jokes throughout the awards delivery, breaking up any awkward silences and loosening up shy individuals on stage.
As opposed to watching the clock and hoping the delivery of the awards was almost finished, I actually found myself wishing there were more awards to be delivered that night. This is an example of how humor can be such a powerful tool for holding attention and getting a point across, especially with it comes to less “exciting” matters.
Here’s another example. Take CalvinAyre.com’s latest video series, The Industry Eye, which has been on hiatus for a few weeks due to logistical challenges but will be returning in a few weeks, we promise. Anyway, this series is pure comedy- our host, Ed Pownall, finds a way to make the latest gambling industry news funny and entertaining, something you didn’t think was possible, right? For this reason, The Industry Eye has quickly become one of the most popular shows on CalvinAyre.com and has reached an audience far beyond the gambling industry alone because its funny for everyone.
Now for one of my favorites, our quarterly earnings report humor. CalvinAyre.com writer Peter Amsel found a way to inject some humor into one of his earnings report pieces, this time in the form of attractive women. Both factual and funny, I loved it. Personally I would give most earnings reports a miss, they are not my thing, but this post of Amsel’s grabbed my attention and I read the whole thing, laughing out loud along the way.
Lets move on to a top-of-mind subject of mine, Bitcoin and the technology that powers the digital currency, Blockchain. I’ve been following Bitcoin’s progress with interest since 2012 when Roger Ver and Erik Voorhees spoke about the benefits of using the currency at the Social Gaming Asia Summit in 2012. Five years later, I’m still on top of Bitcoin’s development, but most of my friends outside iGaming have absolutely no idea what it is. They may have heard of Bitcoin, but they lose interest quickly as soon as the technical jargon begins.
What the general population has yet to realize is Bitcoin can already be used to pay for goods in a way that we don’t even need to understand. For example, I was out for dinner in London and my colleague paid for our meal with his Bitcoin, but used a debit card to do so. In this case, a specified amount of Bitcoin had been instantly converted into the fiat currency of choice when loaded onto a pre-paid debit card and the restaurant accepted a payment as usual. Cryptopay is an example of a company that enables customers to spend their Bitcoin using a debit card in this way, meaning, if Visa is accepted, this debit card funded by Bitcoin is also accepted.
What the general population also has to realize is our banking system is clunky, expensive and was not built for e-commerce. Bitcoin provides the perfect solution for the world’s digital payment needs today but this message has to be sent in a way that’s engaging and easy to understand for everyone.
Earlier this week I was browsing CoinGeek.com, my new favorite site for Bitcoin news because guess what- its funny- and I came across the best video about Bitcoin I’ve ever seen. No one knows who created (and paid for!) the production of this short movie, but it’s the first time I’ve ever watched something about Bitcoin that has made me laugh. This is also the first time I’ve been able to share a video about Bitcoin and people outside my tight network enjoy it and have passed it on. The creators of this video use humor in a way that everyone can relate to, sugar-coating a technically complicated innovation so the average consumer can easily digest it.
So what’s my message today? If you want to reach the masses, try to inject some humor into your campaign. I’d take a good laugh over a freebie any day and if your job is to spread the word on your new product or innovation or whatever it may be, try finding a way to make it funny. Hats off to the creators of “Is Bitcoin Interesting? Up to you…” because people can truly relate to the contents of this short movie, learn about something that will change our world as we know it and have a good laugh, all at the same time.
