Hypothesis 1: Fun > Not Fun

In our recent discussion about inserting games into everyday tasks, we called out Volkswagen’s “Piano Stairs” experiment as a simple illustration of this idea. Turns out, VW wasn’t done with the fun and games just yet.

Over at thefuntheory.com (thanks to Kristin Connolly for the tip!), VW’s building a collection of similar experiments, including the recycling video shared here. A couple of points jump out immediately.

• First, these experiments have to be some of the least expensive campaigns around, and seem to require little more sophistication than a junior high science fair.
• Second, this small investment is getting plenty of bang-for-the-buck. The above video’s broken 450,000 views as of this morning, while the aforementioned Piano Stairs clip already notched over 6 million.
• Now, we can all debate whether Youtube hits translate into actual ROI, but it’s hard to argue against the idea that this campaign helps frame the VW brand as fun, clever, and able to small pleasures into everyday experiences. (I’d venture to suggest that “simplicity” could be a fourth brand attribute on display here, which is also consistent with the VW brand).

All this from a handful of cheap, simple video clips. I’d say this experiment is a resounding success.