Great blog post by Ivanka, one of my friends: Musical Stairs!
Even though we know it is good for us, we all struggle with taking the stairs when an escalator or elevator is nearby. It is a bad little habit that many people are not willing to change (including myself!). I came across this video put out by Volkswagon that created a fun and unique way to encourage people to exercise a tiny bit more. The campaign, put out by Swedish Ad Agency DDB, is called The Fun Theory and is meant to serve as a launching pad for a global competition to use fun to change people’s behavior for the better.
Volkswagon transformed a stairwell coming out of the subway system in Stockholm, Sweden into a giant functioning keyboard (remember Tom Hanks in “Big?”). Each step plays a different musical note when someone steps on it. It was an overwhelming success! Approximately 66% more people than normal were choosing to take the stairs rather than the escalator.
And in addition to succeeding in making commuters a bit more active, the stairs became an internet hit generating tons of publicity for Volkswagon. The video above has generated more than 16 million views! News about the stairs was taking over many news websites and social media sites. Some people even went so far as to make some Youtube videos with their own musical composition! Talk about creativity!
From my perspective, this campaign demonstrates that everyone has a bit of childlike “imagination” inside them and adding a bit of fun to your day can actually be good for you! As a publicity campaign it is great because it draws consumers close to the brand without bombarding them with information on why they should purchase Volkswagon. They even had contests for consumers to submit their own ideas about the next Fun Theory campaign. Great way to generate interaction with consumers!
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