Testing the fun theory
My brother (hi Ant!) sent me a link to The Fun Theory today.
It’s a Volkswagen project focused on making everyday things more effective by making them more fun. The current video on their homepage is about making speed cameras more fun (yes, really!).
This is a great marketing campaign on a number of levels:
- It’s a cool viral campaign (viral means that people watch it and spread it amongst their friends).
- It differentiates Volkswagen from their competitors as people who think differently.
- It’s probably intended to be attractive to a younger client base than their standard customer.
- It engages with the audience and starts a dialogue, by virtue of being a competition.
- It makes you think (and smile!).
What makes this project interesting to Volkswagens market is that it’s all about taking something ordinary and boring, and flipping it into something fun. You can’t help but be curious about what solutions have been suggested.
Making something fun, when you don’t expect it to be, is obviously an attention-grabber.
Are you wondering if this can work in your business? Read on to find out how.
When I went skiing in St Anton a couple of years ago, we kept going back to one restaurant. The reason we returned time after time? They had a slide to take you down the stairs to the toilets. As anyone who has ever tried to walk downstairs in ski boots knows, it’s not easy. This made it positively hilarious!
Have you ever tried to get a little kid to eat their dinner by playing aeroplanes or trains going into a tunnel?
That’s two examples of making something fun that have been around for sometime, so Volkswagen don’t have a monopoly on this marketing technique, and you can use it too. Just be a little bit brave about it.
Now your business might not be terribly ‘fun-oriented’ (hello lawyers, hello financial planners, hello insurers!), but that doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun with your clients.
Remember when you went to the dentists when you were little and you got a lolly-pop if you were good? That was a non-fun business (dentists), making doing business with them fun (sweets), in order to attract a target client group (kids).
You can do this in a number of ways:
- Run a competition with a really truly fun prize (a holiday, not supermarket vouchers).
- Put jokes about your industry in your newsletters (not ones that make your industry look stupid though!).
- Can the usual hold music on your telephone system and go for a stand-up comedy routine instead.
- Run or sponsor a fun event in your local community.
- Have computer games or table football in your reception area.
- Invent a fun mascot (a la Compare the Meerkat) to represent your brand.
- Or, take the Volkswagen approach and reinvent a specific part of your business to be more enjoyable to interact with.
Are you already doing something fun in your business? Let me know by posting your fun marketing strategy in the comments below.
It doesn’t have to be boring! 8 examples of fun marketing
Here’s 8 of my favorites:
Print:
Video:
The Pantless Knights spoof Jay-Z & Alicia Keys for Grasshopper
Grasshopper: New Dorks Music Parody
Grasshopper are an American company that specialise in outsourced telephone services for entrepreneurs. Their market are tech-savvy, younger business owners, and they have hit the nail on the head with this parody pop video of Jay-Z & Alicia Key’s ‘New York’ by the Pantless Knights.
Hubspot provide tools to measure “inbound marketing” campaigns such as blogging, social media, podcasting, viral video etc., so of course they use the techniques that they espouse in their own marketing.
Hubspot have a set of music parodies including this Alanis Morissette number about the plight of the traditional ‘outbound’ marketer.
Heartwarming images, beautifully filmed
Pedigree Chum: Slow-mo Dogs Catching Treats
This video is not amusing but it does raise a smile. Beautifully shot in slow motion, any animal lover will enjoy the images of happy dogs, and their power and grace as they leap to catch a treat out of the air.
Characters:
Characters give brands something that customers can relate to
The Virtual Farmers Market: The Virtual Farmer
The Virtual Farmers Market offers online shoppers a farmers market experience, with independent producers selling their goods, and a 3D environment to stroll around too. I invented the Virtual Farmer to provide a ‘face’ for the Virtual Farmers Market, and a personality that could be used to convey messages, and promote the products on sale. The Virtual Farmer is featured on the company website, has his own stall in the 3D market, and a Twitter profile.
Aleksandr has a whole life (and fans) of his own
Compare the Market: Aleksandr Orlov (& Sergei)
Aleksandr is a brand mascot that has taken on a life of it’s own – he even has his own sidekick, Sergei. The founder of Compare The Meerkat (and brainchild of Compare The Market) has Facebook and Twitter accounts where he interacts with his fans; has produced a podcast in which he interviewed David Hasslehoff; and even spawned a cuddly toy of himself which was sold for charity.
Campaigns:
Setting out to prove Blendtec blenders can blend anything
Bendtec make blenders – not very amusing, you’d think. However, they started blending random objects (inc. ipods, silly putty, glow sticks, etc.) and it became cult viewing on YouTube. People make suggestions, and Tom (a Blendtec scientist) blends the item and they post the video. That’s how it started, now Will it Blend not only has it’s own website, but they have created a 1950′s-style TV-show set, theme music, the works.
Platforms:
These guys wear your company's shirts for a day
This is one of those ideas that is so simple but so clever, you wish you’d thought of it first. These are 2 guys (Jason & Evan) who wear their sponsor’s t-shirts for a day. During that day, they take pictures, video, and chat on social media about their sponsors for an hour each. They have a great following, and only have 41 days for sale still in 2010 so are doing pretty well in terms of sponsors too.
