Want to effect your customers’ behavior in a major way? Make the thing they’re striving towards fun.

As part of its new campaign “The Fun Theory,” Volkswagen converted the stairs in a Stockholm subway station into functioning piano keys. Each step played a different note. Walking up the staircase became an opportunity to play a little ditty. The result: 66% more commuters than usual used the stairs instead of the escalator.

Another part of the campaign included equipping a trash can with cartoon sound effects. Every time someone threw out a piece of trash, a high-pitched whistle sounded (think Wile E. Coyote falling off a cliff).

The sound effect got people curious. They wanted to hear the odd whistle again, so they picked up litter off the ground and threw it away. In one day, the Fun Theory trash can collected 90 more pounds of trash than any neighboring trash can.

Both initiatives nudge people towards a positive behavior — not because it’s the right thing to do, but because it’s the fun thing to do.

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