I saw this great video and had to share it. This is a fun and interesting demonstration of Volkswagen looking to engage customers in a socially progressive or civil way. We all recognise we need to take the stairs more often. One can suppose that VW is trying to associate the brand with physical fitness and fun values. Unlike advertising, there is not a story to be told here, but the values are being communicated quite clearly.

We’re all aware that we need to exercise more and this message fits nicely into the VW self-awareness narrative. The message has very little to do with the product. In fact, one could argue that the product characteristics don’t work with physical fitness values very well. So, we can assume that VW are trying to begin a dialogue from an area of  concern for society – not their product. It’s a good starting point and a good act to follow for any brand that is thinking about increasing its civil dimension.

Further, this activity provides a good example of not being preachy or claiming to be an authority on fitness or some other issue. True to the VW brand, it’s communicating in a fun and subtle fashion.

An accompanying posting adds:

We believe that the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better is by making it fun to do. We call it ‘The Fun Theory’. Other experiments have included a waste bin triggered with a sound device to make it sound like the world’s deepest and soon to be released, empty bottle arcade.

It’s nice to see this kind of activity done in such a simple and compelling way. The reactions on blogs have been numerous and positive. I would say that this brand event is similar to the flash mob events put together by T-Mobile (see previous post). Smaller in scale of course, but I imagine rather appreciated by those who participated and quite fun to watch on YouTube.

We came across a post on Optimism and Leadership via a Guy Kawasaki Tweet. Alec Sorensen discusses the impact  optimism can have on the US economy and people’s perspective. Two lessons he mentions on optimistic leadership are:

1. Don’t ignore problems, but don’t over emphasize their impact
2. Focus your efforts on positive change and keep an eye out for new possibilities

I can imagine the cynics in the audience rolling their eyes, but there is a case for optimism and hope beyond campaign slogans and marketing messages. These messages are important for society to retain perspective and some sense of harmony.

Due to the credit crunch, we have seen the opportunity for optimism arise more often – by governments, companies and other groups. We recently attended a giant sing-along hosted by T-Mobile. When we spoke to members of the audience they appreciated the effort T-Mobile was making to cheer people up and show people that times were not as hard as they seem.

Having an optimistic view is about having a balanced view, not ignoring the problems in society, but not privileging them beyond their context. Instead, we focus on the things that are working well, look to create more things that are working well and hope to eventually outnumber the problems that will always occur. This post-modern view was popularised by David Cooperrider and is now practiced in many of the world’s leading companies.

Gillian Garner, has written an article about using this theory in the development of brands and company cultures. You can read the article here.

This second event turned out to be a giant sing-along. T-Mobile handed out thousands of microphones to the thousands of attendees. Trafalgar Square was packed with people singing along to favourites old and new.

T-Mobile Hey Jude sing along

Besides being impressed with the terrific organisation of the event, the careful building of drama during the hour long filming (including the surprise singing guest, Pink) and huge crowd that gathered for the event, we were struck by just how friendly the crowd became and how much they got into the sing-along event.

We interviewed a lot of the attendees during and after the event. The most common remarks we heard were:

1. It was great to help get people together and get everyone to take part
2. Any event that helps cheer people up in a recession is a good thing
3. It’s a blast and it’s free

‘Life’s for Sharing’ is the new positioning for the brand. It’s a social narrative about intimacy, optimism and unity. The comments from customers reflect this position rather well. Throw in the fact that the brand is trying to cheer people up and that they are getting something for nothing and it’s plain to see T-Mobile have a real winner on their hands.

T-Mobile Reactions from the crowd

Of course, the audience understood that there is a commercial perspective to the event, but this was never mentioned first in their responses and it was clear that attendees were having a genuinely fun time.

Vox pops are, of course, a limited research medium (especially when barging in on people having a sing-along). It’s hard to capture the positivity that was created at the event on video or in words. In the end we were struck by how clearly separate experiences between commercial and social life are merging in a way that people not only accept, but prefer.