The Fun Theory: Engage your audience by creating "fun" content

The Fun Theory competition and series of videos created by Volkswagen offers some interesting lessons on developing an engaging video content marketing campaign. Some of these are over a year old now, but if you haven't seen them, the most popular video by far, with almost 15 million views, features the transformation of a subway staircase into a large keyboard.

The underlying premise or "theory" being demonstrated in the video is that if you make something fun it can change people's behavior for the better. Volkswagen's related marketing premise is that more people will purchase smaller, gas-sipping, environmentally friendly cars if it's fun to drive them. 

Fun is inherently engaging

One of the things that's interesting about these content marketing videos is that they engage the viewer just as they engage the participants in the experiment. Watching their delight makes you smile, and you have to share it with your friends on Facebook with the wish that someone would make the stairs you climb every day musical and more fun. 

But in addition to being entertaining like thousands of YouTube clips, the experiments themselves are all about  turning the everyday and mundane into something that's, well, fun. However fleeting it might be, in this case that heightened engagement can be quantified: 

• After the piano keys were installed on the subway steps, 66% more people took the stairs than previously did on a normal day.
  
• The garbage can simulating the sound of a rock dropping into a deep well collected 72 kg of rubbish on a given day compared to 41 kg for a silent can in the vicinity.
• And the recycling center that rewarded people with scores, flashing lights and noise for feeding their bottles and cans attracted nearly 100 users, compared to a conventional box that was used only twice in the same evening.

We like hard numbers, but we're a business, we're not fun

Granted, Volkswagen's Fun Theory video campaign is consumer-oriented. But if you can make climbing a set of stairs, throwing away trash, recycling, and driving the speed limit fun, and change people's behavior, then business-to-business marketers can make the everday interactions and communication that you have with your customers more fun and engaging. 

I know I always appreciate it when someone does anything to take the dullness out of an otherwise lackluster workday. By expending a little creativity and effort there are ways to be both professional and fun, and more deeply engage current and potential customers alike. Stay tuned for more examples. 

From press releases to case studies and research reports, I'm always on the lookout for examples of B2B content marketing that breaks the mold and isn't boring and formulaic. Send me your examples and I may feature them here. Thanks.