vw fun theory case study

Could Volkswagen’s Fun Theory Transform Influencer Marketing in 2020?

In 2009, Volkswagen made marketing history with its Fun Theory campaign, designed to encourage positive behavior in a fun way. In this article, we discuss:

• What is Fun Theory
•   Fun Theory’s role in marketing
•   Three ideas to apply Fun Theory to your influencer campaign in 2020
•   How Fun Theory could transform digital marketing  

Marketers are constantly looking for ways to expand the experience factor for their customers, exploring new facets of collaboration and engagement.

The ‘ Fun Theory Opens a new window ’ offers an innovative way to study and understand human behavior. By applying Fun Theory principles to marketing, you can influence customer sentiment and increase the possibility of conversion. That’s because campaigns based on Fun Theory speak to customers on an emotional level, urging them to participate. Let’s explore how this happens, and how you could apply Fun Theory in influencer marketing in 2020.

Learn More:   What to Know about Implementing Gamification Opens a new window

What Is the Fun Theory? And Why Is It Relevant to Marketers?

Fun Theory suggests that it is easier to bring about behavioral change if the targeted behavior is positioned as ‘fun’. For example, throwing garbage in a dustbin is desirable behavior – a school might adopt Fun Theory, redesigning dustbins as basketball hoops. As a result, the act of throwing garbage becomes ‘fun,’ encouraging students to change their behavioral patterns.

For marketers, this might take the shape of gamified product reviews, where customers can assign cupcakes or rotten eggs (represented as icons) to rate their experience with your brand. As you can imagine, the applications of Fun Theory in marketing are endless, and it’s an exciting space to apply your creativity.  

Fun Theory was first popularized by Volkswagen in 2009 Opens a new window , with a campaign that wanted to change people’s behavior to bring about a positive impact. It started with small experiments, such as designing a staircase that looked (and sounded like) a piano every time someone climbed it. Volkswagen recorded videos of people choosing to climb the stairs, which is a healthy habit, instead of taking the escalator positioned right next to it.

Volkswagen’s goal was to find out how customers felt about driving environment-friendly cars – just before launching its Blue Motion Technologies brand in Sweden, breaking into the country’s eco-car market.

By applying Fun Theory, you can make customer interactions and other stakeholder experiences more engaging. Let’s see how this plays out in the context of influencer marketing.

Learn More: Do You Know When a Prospect Says Eureka? Opens a new window

How to Use Fun Theory in Influencer Marketing: 3 Ideas

Influencer marketing sits high on most brands’ priority lists for 2020. A global survey of approximately 3500+ consumers Opens a new window found that 61% interact with an influencer every day. The numbers are slightly higher for men (65%) than for women (60%). And these influencers are spread across channels – Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.

The ROI of influencer marketing is also pretty high. 74% were ready to spend up to $629 on a single influencer-led purchase. Consumers regularly recommend their favorite influencers to friends and family, and 61% would click on a sponsored link if it came from an influencer.

So, it makes sense to combine Fun Theory with influencer marketing in 2020. By following these tips, you can reach out to a large audience and encourage behavioral change that increases your brand’s reach and ‘influence’.

1. Include ‘Fun’ content in your products to generate UGC

At its core, Fun Theory is built on a consumer’s interactions with the physical world around them. For example, Volkswagen’s campaign depended on the sense of fun derived from climbing up musical stairs. You can bring this same feeling into your product by including “fun content” such as a secret greeting during the holiday season, personalized scratch cards, an infographic depicting how the product was made, etc.

Also mention that the buyer can record a video or take a picture of this content to share on social media using your hashtag Opens a new window . This turns every customer into an influencer, likely to impact their immediate circle and inspire interest in your brand. It will also give you a large repository of user-generated content (UGC) Opens a new window that further demonstrates the fun quality of your brand.

2. Design Instagram/Facebook stories that incorporate Fun Theory principles

The success of Fun Theory lies in its visual and experiential quality, conveyed without the use of too many words. That’s why Instagram/Facebook stories are the perfect platform for sharing campaigns designed around Fun Theory. If you have an influencer outreach strategy already in place, ask them to record small, “fun” moments they enjoyed with your product.

You can also crowdsource influencers with a “become an ambassador” program. That’s what Volkswagen did with its Fun Theory contest, where it invited others to contribute their ideas for using Fun Theory for positive behavioral change. Ask audiences on social media to send in their experiences with your brand or product, and why it inspired them to rethink existing behavioral patterns. These can be featured on Facebook/ Instagram stories Opens a new window to garner interest in the campaign.

3. Invite influencers to write posts on the product experience

Fun Theory does not need explicit mention when designing a campaign. You can incorporate its principles and highlight how your products are fun to use while also being socially/environmentally conscious.

For example, consider product packaging that doubles up as wrapping paper during the holiday season in order to reduce waste. You can invite influencers to mention these details on posts and product reviews, to pique readers’ curiosity and interest.

Learn More: 3 Intriguing Influencer Marketing Trends for Growth-Focused Marketers Opens a new window

Looking Beyond Influencer Marketing

Apart from influencer marketing, there are several ways you can take inspiration from Fun Theory when outlining a digital marketing plan. It can be something as simple as a pop-up animation that appears when customers answer a net promoter score (NPS) survey. Through these subtle cues, you can bring about behavioral changes, driving customers to act at the right moment. Here are a few prime candidates for Fun Theory in 2020:

•   Marketing emails Opens a new window that open up like a work of origami
• Wishlisting that curates products into personalized, sharable collections
• SMS feedback that sends customers a joke once a response is received
• A small (and interesting) data nugget/factoid shared via email/text after every purchase

At the heart of Fun Theory lies a sense of whimsy and empathy in designing the customer experince, and discovering ‘fun’ in the seemingly ordinary.

By taking inspiration from Volkswagen’s seminal Fun Theory campaign, you can reimagine how your audience connects with your brand. Over time, this will translate into increased loyalty, as influencers, as well as buyers, share their experiences with the widest possible audience – establishing your brand firmly in your target audiences’ consciousness.

Do you think Fun Theory could rewire how customers interact with your brand? Tell us on LinkedIn Opens a new window , Facebook Opens a new window , or Twitter Opens a new window . We would love to hear from you!

Share This Article:

Contributor, Ziff Davis B2B

Recommended Reads

Header Bidding Optimization: Unlocking New Revenue Stream

In A Cookie-Less World, First-party Data Is Marketers’ Bread And Butter

3 Best Practices For Measuring Experiential Brand Activations

Privacy Questions Brands and Advertisers Need to Ask Adtech Partners

Unlocking Customer Loyalty Beyond Big Game Commercials

Doing More With Less: Recycling Brand Content  

Jason Uzarraga

Vw fun theory: cyber grand prix case study.

By now you would have heard that Volkswagen’s “The Fun Theory” won the Cannes Cyber Grand Prix for a digitally led integrated campaign, it won along side Nike’s “Chalk Bot” who took out the award for the other digital solutions / digital channels category in the Cyber section.

The Fun Theory was all about generating interest in Volkswagen’s Blue Motion technologies that deliver the same great car performance with reduced environmental impact, and to do this, they found an insight around how “fun” could change human behavior for the better, and this formed The Fun Theory, a campaign that spawned over 700 user generated Fun Theory initiatives along with a number of big viral hits that generated over 20 million YouTube views, with one rushing past 12 million views alone! Click here to see the Fun Theory Videos…

Share this:

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
• Click to print (Opens in new window)

Leave a comment Cancel reply

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

• Founders Blog
• Arts & Leisure
• Celebrities
• Good Gardening
• Good Business
• Good Health
• GNN Podcast
• Become a Member
• Submit Your Own Good News
• Submit a News Link or Photo
• Gift Memberships
• Good News App
• Founder’s Blog
• Sign in / Join

Which Cities Will Likely Have Clear Skies as Total Solar Eclipse Moves Across the US in Monday’s Spectacle

Patients Could Avoid Thyroid Surgery With New Minimally Invasive Procedure

Boy Finds Rare Gold Roman Bracelet in a Field Where it Was Lying for 2,000 Years

Your Weekly Horoscope – ‘Free Will Astrology’ From Rob Brezsny

How To Love Yourself: 5 Ways to Let Go of the River Bank and Go With the Flow

Good Gardening Week 15: All About Spring Flowers—Plus Last Week’s Early Growing Images

GNN Founder Talks With BBC World Service About Positive News in the Media Landscape (Listen)

Good Gardening—A New Year: What Have You Got in the Ground?

All Your Nutrition in a Daily Drink That Also Feeds Hungry Kids

GNN Paperback Book: “And Now, The Good News”

A Daily Dose of Positive Affirmations–Right on Your Toes

‘Within Good’ – Reminder Bracelet

Holistic Patches Relieve Anxiety, Cramps, or Nausea – Without Drugs

Un Mapa te Permite Ver Como tu Hogar se ha Movido por el Continente en estos 750 Millones de Años

Las Playas han Visto un Incremento Enorme en Anidación de Tortugas Laúd Después de las Restricciones a los Turistas en Tailandia y Florida

Mira Mil Millones de Años de Movimiento de Placas Tectónicas Formando Nuestros Continentes en 40 Segundos

Un Pingüino Salta en un Bote para Evitar ser Comido por una Ballena Asesina – MIRA el Video

El Diseñador de Nueva Zelanda Crea un Ingenioso Tragaluz con Energía Solar que Desaliniza el Agua para Beber

How to change people’s behavior: make it fun. vw does.

Documenting the effects, their whimsical YouTube videos show that changing people’s behavior is easy — when it’s fun.

The first experiment showed that subway riders’ use of a staircase dramatically rose 66% over normal when the stairs played a tune.

The second experiment showed that people would actually pick up trash surrounding a public bin just so they could dump it, when a fanciful sound effect played every time the litter entered the can. Almost double the amount of trash was collected compared with the bin up the street.

Stay tuned for Volkswagen’s next stunt. They are creating an arcade game that will make it more fun for you to sort recyclables… Watch all the videos below, or at TheFunTheory.com . Take part in a competition to find fun ways to change other behavior. Entries are being accepted for a contest that ends November 15.

Very fun, and obviously successful!!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

• Support GNN
• Privacy Policy
• Privacy Tools

Type your search terms above and press return to see the search results.

architectures by Dan Lockton

Thoughts on the ‘fun theory’.

The ‘Piano Staircase’ from Volkswagen’s thefuntheory.com

The Fun Theory ( Rolighetsteorin ), a competition / campaign / initiative from Volkswagen Sweden – created by DDB Stockholm – has been getting a lot of attention in the last couple of weeks from both design-related people and other commentators with an interest in influencing behaviour : it presents a series of clever ‘design interventions’ aimed at influencing behaviour through making things “fun to do” – taking the stairs instead of the escalator , recycling glass via a bottle bank and using a litter bin . The stairs are turned into a giant piano keyboard, with audio accompaniment; the bottle bank is turned into an arcade game, with sound effects and scores prominently displayed; and the litter bin has a “deep pit” effect created through sound effects played as items are dropped into it. It’s exciting to see that exploring design for behaviour change is being so enthusiastically pursued and explored, especially by ad agencies, since – if we’re honest – advertisers have long been the most successful at influencing human behaviour effectively (in the contexts intended). There’s an awful lot designers can learn from this, but I digress…

As a provocation and inspiration to enter the competition , these are great projects. The competition itself is interesting because it encourages entrants to “find [their] own evidence for the theory that fun is best way to change behaviour for the better”, suggesting that entries with some kind of demonstrated / tested element are preferred over purely conceptual submissions (however clever they might be) which have often been a hallmark of creative design competitions in the past. While the examples created and tested for the campaign are by no means “controlled experiments” (e.g. the stats in the videos about the extra amount of rubbish or glass deposited give little context about the background levels of waste deposition in that area, whether people have gone out of their way to use the ‘special’ bins, and so on), they do demonstrate very well the (perhaps obvious) effect that making something fun, or engaging, is a way to get people interested in using it.

Going a bit deeper, though, into what “the theory of fun” might really mean, it’s clear there are a few different effects going on here. To use concepts from B J Fogg’s Behaviour Model , assuming the ability to use the stairs, bottle bank or bin is already there, the remaining factors are motivation and triggers . Motivation is, on some level, presumably also present in each case, in the sense that someone carrying bottles to be recycled already wants to get rid of them, someone standing at the bottom of the stairs or escalator wants to get to the top, and someone with a piece of litter in her hand wants to discard it somehow (even if that’s just on the ground).

(But note that if, for example, people start picking up litter from elsewhere in order to use the bin because they’re excited by it, or if – as in the video – kids run up and down the stairs to enjoy the effect, this is something slightly different: the motivation has changed from “I’m motivated to get rid of the litter in my hand” to “I’m motivated to keep playing with this thing.” While no doubt useful results, these are slightly different target behaviours to the ones expressed at the start of the videos. “Can we get more people to take the stairs over the escalator by making it fun to do?” is not quite the same as “Can we get people so interested in running up and down the stairs that they want to do it repeatedly?”)

So the triggers are what the interventions are really about redesigning: adding some feature or cue which causes people who already have the ability and the motivation to choose this particular way of getting out of the railway station to the street above, or disposing of litter, or recycling glass. All three examples deliberately, prominently , attract the interest of passers-by (“World’s deepest bin” graphics, otherwise incongruous black steps, illuminated 7-segment displays above the bottle bank) quite apart from the effect of seeing lots of other people gathered around, or using something in an unusual way.

And once they’ve triggered someone to get involved, to use them, there are different elements that come into play in each example. For example, the bottle bank – by using a game metaphor – effectively challenges the user into continuing (perhaps even entering a flow state , though this is surely more likely with the stairs) and gives feedback on how well you’re doing as well as a kind of reward . The reward element is present in all three examples, in fact.

Perhaps the most relevant pattern in all these examples, and the “fun theory” concept itself, is that of emotional or affective engagement . The user experience of each is designed to evoke an emotional response, to motivate engagement through enjoyment or delight – and this is an area of design where a lot of great (and commercially applicable) research work has been done, by people such as Pieter Desmet (whose doctoral dissertation is a model for this kind of design research), Pat Jordan , Marco van Hout , Trevor van Gorp , Don Norman and MIT’s Affective Computing group . Taking a slightly different slant, David Gargiulo’s work on creating drama through interaction design (found via Harry Brignull ‘s Twitter ) is also pertinent here, as is Daniel Pink’s collection of ’emotionally intelligent signage’ (thanks to Larry Cheng for bringing this to my attention).

What sort of behaviour change, though?

I suppose the biggest and most obvious criticism of projects such as the Rolighetsteorin examples is that they are merely one-time gimmicks, that a novelty effect is the most (maybe only ) significant thing at work here. It’s not possible to say whether this is true or not without carrying out a longitudinal study of the members of the public involved over a period of time, or of the actual installations themselves. Does having fun using the stairs once (when they’re a giant piano) translate into taking the (boring) normal stairs in preference to an escalator on other occasions? (i.e. does it lead to attitude or preference change?) Or does the effect go away when the fun stairs do?

It may be, of course, that interventions with explicitly pro-social rhetoric embedded in them (such as the bottle bank) have an effect which bleeds over into other areas of people’s lives: do they think more about the environment, or being less wasteful, in other contexts? Have attitudes been changed beyond simply the specific context of recycling glass bottles using this particular bottle bank?

How others have done it

This campaign isn’t the first to have tried to address these problems through design, of course. Without researching too thoroughly, a few pieces of work spring to mind, and I’m sure there are many more. Stephen Intille, Ron MacNeil, Jason Nawyn and Jacob Hyman in MIT’s House_n group have done work using a sign with the ‘ just-in-time ‘ message “Your heart needs exercise – here’s your chance” ( shown above ) positioned over the stairs in a subway, flashing in people’s line-of-sight as they approach the decision point (between taking stairs or escalator) linked to a system which can record the effects in terms of people actually making one choice or the other, and hence compare the effect the intervention actually has. As cited in this paper [PDF], previous research by K D Brownell, A J Stunkard, and J M Albaum , using the same message, in a similar situation, but statically displayed for three weeks before being removed, demonstrated that some effect remains on people’s choice of the stairs for the next couple of months. (That is, the effect didn’t go away immediately when the sign did – though we can’t say whether that’s necessarily applicable to the piano stairs too.)

Work on the design of recycling bins is, I think, worthy of a post of its own, since it starts to touch more on perceived affordances (the shape of different kinds of slots, and so on) so I’ll get round to that at some point.

Many thanks to everyone who sent me the Fun Theory links, including Kimberley Crofts , Brian Cugelman and Dan Jenkins (apologies if I’ve missed anyone out).

Pingback: Two Competitions « PDI Links

Pingback: The Fun Theory | dimart

Pingback: The Impacts of The Fun Theory | Behaviour Changing Products

Comments are closed.

• Digital Commerce

Volkswagen: VW's fun theory

Karl Wikström and Michael Bugaj

• Automakers & marques

VW's fun theory

Karl Wilkström and Michael Bugaj DDB Sweden

Volkswagen promoted the idea that its eco models were not just ‘green’, but also fun to drive, through a user video competition that had long-lasting ramifications for Sweden.

This is the story of how we took an insight into Volkswagen's cars and turned it into a global phenomenon. It's a story about how a simple idea can spark a movement, and help people change the way they think about environmentally friendly cars.

Finally, it's a story about a campaign,'the Fun Theory', that took a step towards a new communication...

WARC subscribers can sign in to keep reading

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

Prove your case and back-up your idea

Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

Welcome back to WARC!

We’ve made some exciting changes since your last visit, bringing you:

• Latest category insights straight to your homepage
• A new Evidence series on key marketing questions
• Category campaign data from recent case studies

Please scan the QR code

The Fun Theory: Rewards Over Punishments

No comments:

Post a comment.

Find Study Materials for

• Business Studies
• Combined Science
• Computer Science
• Engineering
• English Literature
• Environmental Science
• Human Geography
• Macroeconomics
• Microeconomics
• Social Studies
• Browse all subjects
• Read our Magazine

Create Study Materials

What if you could change people's behavior for the better by doing something fun? It doesn't sound plausible, right? Yet, that's what Volkswagen achieved by creating something they called the fun theory.

Explore our app and discover over 50 million learning materials for free.

• Explanations
• StudySmarter AI
• Textbook Solutions
• Customer Driven Marketing Strategy
• Digital Marketing
• Integrated Marketing Communications
• International Marketing
• Introduction to Marketing
• Coca-Cola Christmas Truck
• Dove Real Beauty Campaign
• Have a break have a KitKat
• IKEA FRAKTA Bag
• John Lewis Christmas Advert
• Share a Coke Campaign
• Spotify Memes
• You’re not you when you’re hungry
• Marketing Information Management
• Marketing Management
• Strategic Marketing Planning

Lerne mit deinen Freunden und bleibe auf dem richtigen Kurs mit deinen persönlichen Lernstatistiken

Nie wieder prokastinieren mit unseren Lernerinnerungen.

Goal of the Fun Theory

In the early 2000s, Volkswagen saw great potential in green innovation and founded BlueMotion to create technologies that would improve fuel efficiency and electric cars. However, at that time, the efficiency and autonomy of those early models were not excellent, and people were reluctant to buy energy-efficient and electric vehicles.

That's why Volkswagen started an ambitious project to create a marketing campaign that would promote Volkswagen BlueMotion technologies. Instead of launching a traditional car marketing campaign to promote the performance of the vehicles, they decided to test a theory. Their idea was to change people's behavior by making an activity more fun to do. They wanted to advertise that people could continue driving and positively impact the environment by reducing their gas emissions without compromising the joy and pleasure of driving.

Volkswagen Fun Theory Campaign

The Volkswagen Fun Theory campaign was designed in partnership with Nord DDB STO. It launched in 2009 as a series of three short videos that were live experiments of this theory in action to positively change people's behavior by doing something fun. Those videos quickly became viral and were spread all over the Internet, giving Volkswagen unexpected popularity. 1

Volkswagen Fun Theory Piano Stairs

For their first experiment, they tried to motivate people to take the stairs instead of the escalator in a metro station. To achieve this, Volkswagen's team installed censoring stairs in the shape and form of piano keys next to an escalator. Then, whenever people were walking on the stairs, it made the exact sound of the piano. Soon many people were having fun walking the stairs, and the experience was quite successful, as 66% more people were using the stairs instead of the escalators. 2

By implementing a creative marketing strategy and gamifying walking on stairs, Volkswagen managed to change people's behavior while promoting its brand and creativity.

Volkswagen Fun Theory Talking Bin

For their second experience, Volkswagen tried getting more people to throw rubbish in bins. They devised a creative idea to achieve that goal by installing a sensor and a speaker in a bin. As a result, whenever people threw something in the trash, a loud falling and crashing cartooning sound came from it. Quickly, people gathered around the bin to determine where the sound came from; they even collected rubbish on the ground around the bin to hear the sound again. Thanks to that engaging trash can, they collected 72 kg of trash in one day, 41 kg more than the standard bin close by. 3

With this campaign, Volkswagen was able to connect some principles of sustainable marketing to its brand by motivating people to discard their waste correctly. Simply by creating a fun sound, they have encouraged people to use that bin and even collect trash lying around to hear that sound again.

Volkswagen Fun Theory Bottle Bank

In this campaign, Volkswagen's goal was to get people to recycle more. Volkswagen created an arcade bottle bank machine with flashing lights, music, and a scoreboard to do so. The device was like an arcade game: people had to press start, then put bottles in the machine's holes, which would play music and give them points on the scoreboard. The result was great as one hundred people used the device in one evening, while a nearby machine was only used twice. 4 By making a game out of recycling, people were motivated to come and recycle their bottles, promoting the brand's creativity and eco-friendly approach.

Fun Theory Examples

After the success of the Fun Theory campaign, Volkswagen decided to continue the experience with a slight twist. The concept was unchanged, but they tried associating their brand with speed by motivating people to choose Volkswagen's fun solution.

Fun Theory: Slide Stairs

In this video, Volkswagen's team returned to the first metro station they had visited the year before and installed a slide on the stairs next to the elevator. The people who wanted to go faster could take the slide and enjoy a fast ride to the bottom without taking the stairs or the elevator. 5

Fun Theory: The Elevator

This time, Volkswagen went to a mall to help people who wanted to go faster to use their specially designed elevator. Volkswagen customized an elevator and gave it a rocket launcher style. Instead of having to stop at every floor, the elevator would go from the ground floor directly to the top floor. When people got inside and pressed the button, a countdown started while the doors were sliding closed, and red flashing lights began to light on. When the elevator started ascending, people heard the sound of a rocket ship launching; meanwhile, they could enjoy the ride directly to the top. 6

Fun Theory: The Shopping Carts

Volkswagen's team went to a grocery store and modified the mall's carts to integrate a skateboard. People had the choice between regular shopping carts or using the ones with a skateboard to slide with speed in the supermarket. Volkswagen was able to change consumer behavior by showing a faster lane. 7

Volkswagen Fun Theory

The Fun Theory Award was established shortly after the first Volkswagen videos came out, thanks to the campaign's success. This award inspired people to discuss and develop new ideas around this theory. People submitted more than 700 ideas using the 'fun theory' in hopes of changing people's behavior positively.

The award winner in 2009 found a creative way for people to respect the driving speed limit by organizing a lottery using speed cameras. Every person who exceeded the speed limit would be flashed and pay a fine like usual, but the money would be collected in a common pot. Each person who respected the speed limit would be recorded on camera as a participant in this lottery and get a chance to win the prize. 8

The fun theory is an excellent source of inspiration for many entrepreneurs who implement these ideas in their products to make boring activities more interactive:

It can be tedious for parents to teach their children how to brush their teeth, as kids' attention span is very short. However, we can now see kids' electric toothbrushes playing music to reward them once they have finished cleaning their teeth.

Pizza Hut came up with an innovative way to select and order pizza, rather than the boring way of having to read through a menu. They have designed an interactive table where people can make their selection and clearly see the pizza's size while choosing it. 9

People have found an alternative to the sound trashcan by installing a basketball hoop on top of a bin. With that addition, people could have fun throwing trash in the bin.

Fun Theory - Key takeaways

• Volkswagen used the Fun Theory campaign to promote BlueMotion technology and advertise that people could drive and reduce their carbon emissions without compromising the joy and pleasure of driving.
• The Fun Theory is simple: people are more likely to do something if it is fun. You can apply this principle by making an activity more fun to do to influence people's behavior.
• Entrepreneurs and marketers can use the Fun Theory to create and promote new and innovative products.
• Adforum. "The Fun Theory (Film)". https://www.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/34460328/the-fun-theory-film/volkswagen
• Volkswagen. The Fun Theory 1 – Piano Staircase Initiative | Volkswagen. 26/10/2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SByymar3bds&t=1s
• Volkswagen. The Fun Theory 2 – an initiative of Volkswagen: The World's Deepest Bin. 26/10/2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRgWttqFKu8
• Rolighetsteroin.se. Bottle Bank Arcade - TheFunTheory.com - Rolighetsteorin.se. 15/10/2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSiHjMU-MUo
• Volkswagen. Speed up your life - Take the slide! | Volkswagen. 11/10/2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4o0ZVeixYU
• Volkswagen. Fast Lane - The Elevator | Volkswagen. 11/06/2010 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPztb-c16as
• Volkswagen. Fast Lane - The Shopping Carts | Volkswagen. 11/06/2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEcbkusXUlo
• Rolighetsteroin.se. The Fun Theory award winner - The Speed Camera Lottery. 29/03/2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcaKocRXCB4
• Ellie Zolfagharifard. Pizza Hut reveals interactive table concept that lets you design your perfect pie. 04/03/2014. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2573164/Pizza-Hut-reveals-interactive-table-concept-lets-design-perfect-pie.html

Frequently Asked Questions about Fun Theory

--> what is the fun theory volkswagen .

The fun theory was a marketing campaign launched by Volkswagen in 2009 to promote the sales of eco-friendly cars by stating that they were just as much fun to drive as regular cars.

--> How does the Fun Theory work?

The fun theory is simple: people are more likely to do something if it is fun. You can apply this principle by making an activity more fun to do to influence people’s behavior. 

--> What is the fun theory connected to?

The Fun Theory is connected to behavioral change.

--> Who came up with the fun theory?

Volkswagen and ad agency DDB Stockholm came up with the Fun Theory campaign.

--> Which company sponsored the Fun Theory project?

Volkswagen sponsored the Fun Theory project.

--> Who created the piano stairs experiment?

Volkswagen and ad agency DDB Stockholm created the piano stars experiment.

What is the Volkswagen Fun Theory?

How does the Fun Theory work?

The fun theory is a simple concept: someone is more likely to do something if it is fun. In other words, if you can change an activity to make it more fun, people will be more likely to do it.

What is the fun theory connected to?

Behavioral change

Who came up with the fun theory?

Volkswagen and ad agency DDB Stockholm

Which company sponsored the Fun Theory project?

Who created the piano stairs experiment?

Learn with 15 Fun Theory flashcards in the free StudySmarter app

Already have an account? Log in

• Marketing Campaign Examples

of the users don't pass the Fun Theory quiz! Will you pass the quiz?

How would you like to learn this content?

Free marketing cheat sheet!

Everything you need to know on . A perfect summary so you can easily remember everything.

Join over 22 million students in learning with our StudySmarter App

The first learning app that truly has everything you need to ace your exams in one place

• Flashcards & Quizzes
• AI Study Assistant
• Study Planner
• Smart Note-Taking

Sign up to highlight and take notes. It’s 100% free.

This is still free to read, it's not a paywall.

You need to register to keep reading, create a free account to save this explanation..

Save explanations to your personalised space and access them anytime, anywhere!

By signing up, you agree to the Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Policy of StudySmarter.

Entdecke Lernmaterial in der StudySmarter-App

Privacy Overview

Gamification in the Real World: VW's Experiment With Fun

by Dice Staff Dec 21, 2011 1 min read

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKrZiddRphw&w=560&h=315]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw&w=560&h=315]

Related Articles

Two Real-World Solutions for Enterprise Collaboration

Getting real world experience.

Create Apps that Make Real-World Sense

Sign up for a free Dice profile, add your resume, discover great career insights and set your tech career in motion.

• Compilation Reels
• Case Studies
• Socially Responsible Ads

Volkswagen - "The Fun Theory (Film)"

Nord ddb sto stockholm, sweden.

• Brand: Volkswagen
• Country: Sweden
• Advertiser: Volkswagen

Related Ads

The female field (film).

Other Ads From This Campaign

Speed Camera Lottery

Thefuntheory.com

The Fun Theory (board)

Piano Stairs

The World's Deepest Bin

Bottle Bank Arcade Machine

Piano Stairs (Swedish)

The World's Deepest Bin (Swedish)

The weetabix discovery, when you drive, never drink, mcdonald's menu song, flying guardians, typical german.

Laurel Papworth, AI Is My CoPilot course, Metaverse, Social Media

Volkswagen: The fun theory

I’m a huge fan of advertising campaigns in social spaces that are fun, narrative, a game, and not in your face. This one from The Fun Theory meets all that criteria and more:

Fun, educational, something that bonds people into a temporary community, with – as far as I can see – little in your face advertising from Volkswagen.

This site is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better.

If I were say, Toyota, I’d be looking for an agency that will offer more than a blogger outreach program, Facebook Fan page and a YouTube “viral” clip….

Eight agencies have been put on a long list for the automotive giant, with the four best ideas then given the green light to go out to market. It’s understood each of the four selected agencies has been given a budget of $15,000 to complete their task. The agencies behind the two most successful campaigns will continue to work with Toyota on a further two projects in the new year. The agencies involved include a mix of Toyota’s rostered agencies, and others that have been invited to pitch. Toyota currently uses an array of rostered agencies including Publicis Mojo, Saatchi & Saatchi and Oddfellows as above the line agencies, while it has other specialist agencies on the roster such as Hothouse, The Project Group and Mercer Bell among others. However, not all rostered agencies are included in the social media pitch. Once the two agencies have been selected for the two projects to run next year, Toyota will then decide whether it is in a position to appoint a retained agency for social media. Todd Connolly, manager – new media and direct marketing at Toyota, said the company has purposefully given agencies a low budget and limited time to work on the social media ideas “so the idea comes ahead of everything else”. ( from B&T )

$15,000 buys you a bunch of blogger drinks and flash embeddable widgets. I hope they prove me wrong…. I won’t necessarily blame the agencies, it’s Toyota’s attitude that worries me: they want to play games with budgets and timelines but it’s the customer that will be inflicted with poorly thought out, low budget “social” media junk communiques, no? Wow. Just great.

Toyota has made other moves to become involved in social media – it has 30,000 followers on Twitter, has a Facebook page and earlier this month was announced as an inaugural sponsor of MySpace Music.

A facebook page, Twitter account, and ads on Myspace. Wow. Just great x2.

hat tip video: @ mikezed of Profero

15 Comments

"Volkswagen: The fun theory" http://j.mp/2jYxNq

Volkswagen: The fun theory | Laurel Papworth- Social Network Strategy http://ow.ly/vHoz (I think VW made their point)

RT @tweetmeme Volkswagen: The fun theory | Laurel Papworth- Social Network Strategy http://retwt.me/1dXmL

Volkswagen: The fun theory : I’m a huge fan of advertising campaigns in social spaces that are fun, na.. http://bit.ly/tOFgS

Verhaltensänderungen müssen nützen – oder Spass machen: http://bit.ly/3WhwDH

RT @SilkCharm Volkswagen: The fun theory (ht @mikezed ) http://bit.ly/InKGY Betcha @Toyota_AUS don't get as good for $15000 #PianoStairsSyd

• Pingback: Playfulness « Clyde Street

OMG isn’t this brilliant!!?! I love it, obviously I choose the stairs! .-= Kids Art Mum´s last blog .. Pillow Talk Summer Clearance – Redo the Kids Room =-.

RT @tweetmeme Volkswagen: The fun theory http://retwt.me/1dXmL

RT @tweetmeme Volkswagen: The fun theory http://retwt.me/1dXmL <fantastic>

reading..Volkswagen: The fun theory http://bit.ly/2yvWuQ #scrm #socialmedia by @SilkCharm

• Pingback: Australia Toyota Yaris social media campaign Downfall | Laurel Papworth- Social Network Strategy

How to make people chose stairs over Escalator – Volkswagen: The fun theory | Laurel Papworth- Social Network Strategy http://ow.ly/AFSl

Hi Laurel 🙂 I really liked this campaign – I liked the idea, the production, and the simplicity. I thought it was effective. But recently somebody used it as an example of a digital campaign that wasn’t well done, because it was not integrated successfully with keywords, SEO, did not equate to huge numbers of hits on the VW site etc. I still like it, and I still think it was successful in terms of spreading positive brand awareness. But Laurel, I wonder whether you think it is a good example if not tied into a broader digital marketing plan? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Sounds like an agency wowser to me – 10 million views on YouTube means a viral hit. Certainly many times better than an expensive-to run-ad on TV.

I think the difference between digital and social strategist is that social strategist aim for distribution – 10 million views means thousands of embeds i.e. channels. Only digital people would insist that that must convert into visits to a boring as batshit website. I guess the question is: do you want people to visit your website and what does that actually mean for you versus do you want your branding in front of tens of millions of people with feelgood brand sentiment happening?

And that is the crux of the matter: marketing people need to make a decision – do you want a few hundred people visiting your companies website or do you want millions of people discussing your brand positively in front of friends and family and colleagues?

So in answer to your question: business often requires a marketing mix, but reality means that is a mixed message (broadcast/shouting versus listening/playing). The world does what the world does, no matter how much businesses get upset “it shouldn’t be that way”. I think we wouldve seen video views in the low thousands if they’d whacked volkswagen.com branding all over the subway walls and video.

“Doctor, the campaign was a successful implementation of a digital strategy but we didn’t get any views.” 😛

Comments are closed.

I consent to being contacted by Creature & Co. (registered name Creature Media Ltd.) in regards to my enquiry.

Fun Theory: how positivity inspires action

If fun gets you there, that’s fine….

One of our favourite fables involves an argument between the wind and the sun over who was more powerful. To settle the matter, they challenged each other to make a passing traveller give up their cloak (this was back when cloaks were a thing). The wind blew and blasted but the traveller only tightened their grip and pulled the cloak more closely around them.

Exhausted, the wind gave up. The sun smiled and shone, its pleasant rays warming the traveller so that they soon unfastened and discarded their cloak by choice. The moral is simple: it’s easier to get someone to do something if they want to do it. And that’s the principle behind Fun Theory.  

Fun Theory had been around for a while before it burst into our consciousness through an advertising campaign by Volkswagen.

The essence was to encourage people to do the right thing by making it fun . At a busy subway station in Sweden, Volkswagen installed piano stairs – stairs that looked like giant piano keys and played a musical note when anyone stepped on them. They were positioned right next to the escalator. This enabled people to play a tune by walking up the stairs, rewarding them for making a healthier choice. It was a huge success; usually, 95 percent of travellers took the escalator but now, 66 percent were choosing the stairs. Watch the video, below;

Why did this work? It’s based on the reality that we humans often need a good reason to do something that we perceive to be annoying or harder work – sometimes we need an incentive to do the right thing. In the case of the piano stairs, it’s easier to take the escalator and more effort to take the stairs, even though we know the latter is better for our health. A few people will take the stairs for that reason alone, but most need an extra nudge in the form of some fun!

Humans are pretty much hardwired for fun; we enjoy having fun and will go out of our way to do fun things.

It can therefore be a strong motivator for our actions, and this is what Fun Theory plays on; fun is the reward for doing something we might not otherwise do.

A sense of fun is also important in communications. To communicate effectively and to persuade people to act you need them to engage with your content and messaging. Fun is a great way of engaging people: it makes them want to read more; it makes them feel positive about your message; it makes them want to act because they associate your message with positivity. As the adage goes, they might forget what you said but they won’t forget how you made them feel.

Here it’s important to differentiate between fun and funny. Fun content is something enjoyable, whereas funny content makes you laugh – and we’re not suggesting you should try to make subjects like plastic pollution humorous. However, adopting a fun approach that is positive and engaging (as opposed to severe and depressing), can deliver a serious message very powerfully without belittling the subject.

The positivity that comes from fun is crucial in communicating difficult subjects such as the climate crisis – especially if you want to compel people to act. Negativity breeds negativity and content draped in horror and despair can form a huge barrier to action – why should I act if it’s all so awful and we are all doomed? Positivity is infinitely more effective and ‘fun’ content comes with an implicit sense of hope.

So, how can Fun Theory be applied to purpose-driven topics, such as pollution and climate change? Being purpose-driven, the goal is to change behaviours: recycle more; save water; switch to green energy. The seriousness of the situation cannot be denied but it doesn’t have to be dwelled upon.

Consider another of Volkswagen’s Fun Theory stunts: the world’s biggest bin drop . It created a special sound-effect-emitting bin that made a comical, cartoon-like noise, like something falling off a cliff, whenever rubbish was dropped into it. It was a huge success, so much so, that members of the public actually started collecting discarded litter to drop in the bin, just for the fun of it.

Making recycling fun is, superficially at least, more about the fun of the action than the dangers of plastic pollution in our oceans. What matters is the end result, the action, not why that action was taken. If someone recycles a plastic bottle because it is fun or feels good, the bottle is no less recycled than if they acted through fear for the planet. When that feel-good action becomes a spontaneous habit – job done.

Inspiring people to change their behaviour and do the right thing is the goal. If it’s fun that gets you there, that’s fine.

At Creature & Co., we know that fun has a valuable role to play in our communications. We specialise in purpose-driven topics, and find that it resonates with audiences young and old. Even the most serious of grown-ups still value a sense of fun, and it can work wonders for inspiring those people to act.

To truly shape behaviour, information and understanding are key, so injecting fun into articles, quizzes, and other modes of explaining complex topics helps to inform, inspire and empower positive action. Today, many brands aspire to do the right thing, and many of them hope to inspire their audience to do so, too. As content creators, we can try to force or frighten people into doing something, or we can make them want to do it by applying fun.

Just like the sun and the wind, we know which method works best!

Sign-up for our latest news, early-bird access to our events, industry highlights and more!

Sign up to our newsletter

We use cookies to offer you a better browsing experience and analyse website visits. You can read about how we use cookies and how you can control them in our Cookies Policy . By clicking ‘Accept’, you consent to our use of cookies.

Download file

I have read the Privacy Policy agreement.

Is essay writing service legal?

Essay writing services are legal if the company has passed a number of necessary checks and is licensed. This area is well developed and regularly monitored by serious services. If a private person offers you his help for a monetary reward, then we would recommend you to refuse his offer. A reliable essay writing service will always include terms of service on their website. The terms of use describe the clauses that customers must agree to before using a product or service. The best online essay services have large groups of authors with diverse backgrounds. They can complete any type of homework or coursework, regardless of field of study, complexity, and urgency.

When you contact the company Essayswriting, the support service immediately explains the terms of cooperation to you. You can control the work of writers at all levels, so you don't have to worry about the result. To be sure of the correctness of the choice, the site contains reviews from those people who have already used the services.

What We Guarantee

• No Plagiarism
• On Time Delevery
• Privacy Policy
• Complaint Resolution

Customer Reviews

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. Our support team will be more than willing to assist you.