Behavioral Change: Fun Theory Part 3

When it comes to going viral, Volkswagen and their ad agency DDB Stockholm appear to have hit the jackpot. Their new campaign, "The Fun Theory", is a series of experiments captured on video, to find out if making certain activities more fun can improve people’s behavior toward the environment. By the way: it's an actual contest as well. You can enter your own fun theory video and win some decent money.

Among the experiments: does turning a set of subway stairs into a real-life piano encourage people to use them? The answer is "yes": 66% more. Another experiment asks whether making a trash can sound like a 50ft-deep well will make people pick up their trash.

The brand placement couldn't be much more subtle: a simple VW logo at the end. Yet thousands of people pass the video around the internet and create positive associations with the VW brand.

Here's the latest entry:

Comments

[Jo Jordan]

It's great but immensely hard to do! I even have the engineers on tap but we are sooo out of practice at making fun. I suppose the trick is to eavesdrop on the imaginary talk of some preschoolers.

Did you see Jane McGonigal's slide pack at SxSW 2008- game designer and writer about.

[Steve Roesler]

Jo,

You grabbed me with "we are so out of practice at making fun." That says a lot, and frankly, I was feeling the same way. Perhaps recruiting some of those preschoolers isn't a bad idea at all.

Thanks for the slide reference. . .