A Speed Camera Lottery? Bake a Little Fun into Your Customer Experience

December 13, 2010 Leave a comment

Everyone hates traffic cameras, but how would you feel if you got paid for driving the speed limit?

Let me introduce you to the Speed Camera Lottery, where law abiding drivers have a chance to win money contributed by speeders.

This initiative is the latest idea from the Fun Theory. The Fun Theory was started by VW with the thought that fun is the easiest way to change people’s behavior for the better.

The challenge for this project was can you get more people to obey the speed limit by making it fun to do? The answer, as it turns out, is yes. The average speed before installing the Lottery Camera was 32 kilometers per hour. During the Fun Theory experiment, 24,857 cars passed the speed cameras with an average speed of 25 kilometers per hour, a reduction in speed of 22%.

I have written about the Fun Theory before, but I don’t think this question can ever be asked enough:

What are some “fun things” your brand could be doing to influence your customer’s behavior?

Oftentimes these are simple…even silly ideas. For instance, the toy store Imaginarium has a double doorway, one for grown-ups and the other for the little ones.

Though many of us adults might not think this is a big deal, you better believe that kids get excited. This small gesture prepares kids for a great experience that is tailored toward them. An excited child equals good news for the toy store and bad news for parents checkbooks.

Never underestimate the power of building fun into your brand and appealing to your customers emotions. People buy with their hearts, not their minds.

Filed under Branding, Customer Experience, Marketing Tagged with , , , ,

Simple + Sanuk…Pass it on!

January 14, 2010 Leave a comment

Simple vs. Complicated

Look around the marketplace; simplicity consistently outperforms complexity.

Even if their product is indeed complicated, successful brands are able to make it simple.

One brand who has caught my attention with simplicity is Sanuk. Started in 1997, founder Jeff Kelley started making sandals out of inner tubes and indoor-outdoor carpet. Though they have progressed in their footwear manufacturing, their products still feature “Barefoot Un-technology”. Their Sidewalk Surfers come with the description “Sorry if you were hoping to find some high-tech springs, coils, pumps, or air-bags. You just won’t find them here. After walking naturally in these, though, we’re confident that you won’t want to wear anything else.”

Not only is Sanuk simple, they’re also pretty funny too.

Filed under Word of Mouth Tagged with , , , , ,

Yahoo Picks Up Baggage Fees for the Holidays

January 4, 2010 Leave a comment

On December 23, Yahoo picked up the baggage fee’s for travelers at the San Francisco and San Jose airports. Such an act of kindness, on the busiest traveling day of the year, will certainly give traveler’s a positive feeling about the search engine.

The funny thing is that this stunt will give Yahoo far more coverage and positive WOM than its $100 million “It’s Y!ou” ad campaign.

Evidence that the best marketing is often simple and inexpensive.

Filed under Word of Mouth Tagged with , ,

Make Fun A Part of Your Brand Experience

December 17, 2009 1 Comment

The Fun Theory was started by VW with the thought that fun is the easiest way to change people’s behavior for the better. In this video they took on the challenge of seeing if they could get more people to take the stairs over the escalator by making it fun to do.

This video prompts the question, what are some “fun things” your brand could be doing to influence your customer’s behavior?

Let’s look at some businesses that have already built fun into their brand:

Satchel's Pizza

Gainesville, Florida is home to one of the funky, hippiest restaurants you will ever come across, Satchel’s Pizza. This place reeks of fun. It has a dining booth inside of a VW Van, live music, funky local art all over the place, and a “junk shop” that boasts a collection of tacky (and awesome) gifts. People can’t not talk about Satchel’s!

7-Election

Last year 7-Eleven held the “7-Election”. This promotion encouraged coffee drinkers to cast their vote for their presidential candidate when they chose a coffee cup. Red for John McCain and Blue for Barack Obama. They even launched a website to track the results. More importantly than increasing sales, this promotion got people talking. People took their coffee to the office and joked about their choice with co-workers (I’m sure much blood coffee was spilled over disagreements, can you say repeat sale!)

What are you doing to make your brand experience fun and talkable?

Filed under Branding, Business, Strategy Tagged with , ,

American Eagle Delivers Wow Factor

December 14, 2009 Leave a comment

Do you want to get your customer talking? Then wow them.

I recently placed an order with American Eagle Outfitters for some winter clothes. They shipped all of my stuff for free and didn’t leave anything out of my order. But this is what I have come to expect from any retailer. I expect free shipping, I expect to get it quick, and I expect my order to be accurate.

This is the problem that many companies face with word of mouth marketing. Your company might be good, but that’s not good enough. Nobody is going to talk about your company because everybody already knows that your company is good. You have to find a way to be remarkable, to give your customer a reason to talk.

American Eagle found a way to be remarkable, they included a $10 money card in my order. It was totally unexpected and utterly awesome. I have already told six people about it.

Word of mouth needs a reason to talk. Like the example above, it often has nothing to do with core product features. Think about it. We talk about fun and unexpected things. Burger King’s Subservient Chicken, Jones Soda’s Turkey & Gravy soda, Duct Tape’s Stuck at Prom.

Who has wowed you?

Filed under Branding, Marketing, Word of Mouth Tagged with , , , ,

← Older posts

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.