Buzzwords, precision in analytics and measuring ROI are topics featuring in a trio of humorous online videos that software maker Adobe has been using to raise awareness of key aspects of its Marketing Cloud product and drive traffic to its website.

Launched in October 2012, the Adobe Marketing Cloud is an integrated set of analytics, social, advertising, targeting, and web experience management solutions with a real-time dashboard that brings together everything you need from your campaigns that lets you get the essential and actionable insights from all that data.

With the overall theme of ‘Metrics not Myths,’ each video addresses an area of digital marketing that I expect will resonate with you if you get a little tired of the lame-ness that seems prevalent across the marketing spectrum these days where buzzwords, slickness and uninformed opinion litter the landscape.

Oh for some imagination, you cry!

Using humour in marketing and advertising is a road to hell if you get it wrong, but can be a very good trick if you can pull it off. Humour’s also pretty subjective and varies in its appeal from country to country (and culture to culture).

That said, check these out:

1. Buzzwords are painful…

2. There's a better way to analyse data…

3. Slap sense into marketers… I think Adobe's got it right with this trio of videos. Certainly, each one appeals to my often-eccentric sense of humour! Do they do that for you? Take this quick instant poll and then view the results for a totally unscientific snapshot view on what people think. [polldaddy poll="6956415"] Last week, Adobe announced a large-scale refresh of the Adobe Marketing Cloud with new capabilities including a a new Adobe Experience Manager where you can pin content Pinterest-like to a dashboard to keep track of it and your campaigns, and share that content easily. Two elements in the refresh caught my attention in particular as they add some powerful capabilities that could make your campaign planning and management more inclusive:

• Mobile - Quickly preview responsive design layouts while authoring content to understand exactly how it will perform on the desktop, tablets and smartphones. You can precisely control video and image sizing and delivery to ensure the best performance. You also get a single authoring experience and shared content you can can quickly develop and deliver mobile apps.
• Social Communities - Easily incorporate social elements and user-generated content into websites to amplify your digital presence, and create branded communities to help people connect based on common interests. This gives you a comprehensive view of your customers throughout the relationship. Integration with social network profiles on Facebook and Twitter enables stronger interactions between owned- and third-party sites.

With the greater need for accurately and effectively interpreting meaning in the rich data you must pay attention to, the underlying points behind the humour in Adobe's video trio could be right on the mark. [This post is part of an experiment in brand story-telling.] Related posts:

• FIR Interview: Chad Warren on Adobe SocialAnalytics November 13, 2011
• Tips for being social at conferences