In my o-pun-ion... let's hear it for the puns

There's something about word-play, puns and mischievous metaphors that make me smile. I suppose it's a bit like a panto - it's best not to fight it but to get into the mood and let yourself enjoy.

I'm currently trying to restrain myself over our new company name, Eggbox. It's just too tempting to get egg-cited about all the egg-cellent opportunities it presents to talk about hatching new ideas, thinking outside of the eggbox and so forth. Ack!

One of Eggbox's clients, Drusillas Park, like to pepper their customer email newsletter with puns and obvious word-gags. And funny thing is, it works. Maybe it's the combination of cute animal pics and headlines like 'Ivor New Lady' (pygmy marmoset Ivor gets introduced to a female Kito). Anyway, the newsletter enjoys great open rates and it's clear Drusillas know their market.

But if out-and-out puns aren't really your thing there's still plenty of deadpan mileage to be had in the extended seasonal metaphor. Jordan Ayan in MarketingProfs has pumpkin-loads of fun in an article entitled Halloween Email Advice: How to Revive Your Dead Email Subscribers.

Trouble is, once you start on this route new opportunities seem endless. So best not to over-egg it.