Wednesday, October 14, 2009

The "Fun" Theory

There is something that was lost during my progression through life that I recently realized: fun.  As a kid, we were all attracted to what was fun to us.  Even my loyal, but slightly retarded doberman innately chooses what's fun for him through his decisions throughout the day.

Just yesterday, my girlfriend was telling how when she was walking our dog, the local high school students were hesitant and scared of the dog.  Yet a young boy not much more than 5 years old came up to her asking to pet the animal -- because it was fun.  There was no hesitation, no ingrained fear that was learned and imposed by parents and/or society.  

Somehow, as we grow up, more and more of things that we enjoy and that "makes things fun" becomes suppressed by things "we have to do" and "what we can't do".  As the video below clearly shows, when you make things more "fun", much more people will be inclined to use it.  This is a very important lesson.  The fundamental, primal emotional connection we have with "fun" overrides all of the rules and logic we imposed on ourselves.



As a marketer, if we are able to create products and services that tap into this primal emotional state that we all seek, the more successful we will be.  This is one reason why certain items are such an emotional purchase.  Everyone's idea of fun is unique and different.  But one example is cars.  Everyone knows a Toyota Yaris can get us from point A to point B just as effectively as a nicer car, but emotions makes up a large portion of what we think is fun (or "cool") and what is not. 



We can apply this to our everyday lives as well.  Everything good takes hard work, but if we learn to seek and find the fun things (and humor) in what we do everyday, it will just make your day that much better.

For more interesting videos, sponsored by VW, please go here.

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