Visual Marketing: 99 Proven Ways for Small Businesses to Market with Images and Design

8. Making a Legal Case for Insider Jokes: Using Cartoons to Market to Your Target Audience

Lawyers are often the subject of jokes, so who would think that the best way to reach them might be through humor? CaseCentral, founded in San Francisco in 1994, provides cloud-based electronic discovery software solutions to law firms and corporations that are used in preparing the pre-trial phase of a lawsuit. CaseCentral distinguishes itself from much larger competition with weekly installments of “Case in Point” cartoons. By using clever visual humor that cuts through the clutter with inside industry jokes, the cartoons establish a unique voice and brand.

Tom Fishburne draws the witty cartoons, working with CaseCentral's chief marketing officer, Steve d'Alencon, who often provides the spark of an idea.

Fishburne and d'Alencon e-mail riffs back and forth as they develop each cartoon. They consider themselves comedy partners.

Why It Works

The insider jokes cultivate a social circle of those in-the-know. Jokes and references are not universal but, in fact, are very specific to the industry, with topical themes that relate to current events. By providing a platform for the industry humor, CaseCentral becomes the source for topical humor and positions itself as the knowledge center and go-to firm for industry perspective. They are vigilant about protecting the integrity of the cartoons. “We ...