I’m a fan of Google.
As a brand, as a company, and as a web browser (Chrome is beautiful, fast and user friendly) Google goes above and beyond, with lots of funny little hidden jokes along the way. On Chrome, for example, when shockwave or flash player crashes, a page saying “He’s dead Jim.” would appear. This is a clever little reference to all the dispensable characters in the TV show “Star Trek”. Likewise, when there are internet connectivity problems, a cute like pixelated T-Rex shows up on your webpage along with your error message; a reference to the Tyrannosaurus in “Meet the Robinsons” whose arms were too short to reach what it wanted. The most recent chrome update has actually made that little guy just a little more fun. The space bar or up arrow key on most computers initiates a game with our short-armed friend, something cute and entertaining for when your internet has issues.
I think what Google does in these instances is really quite powerful. Inserting a little humor into situations that are typically a source of frustration and annoyance really helps build your brand. That got me thinking about a suggestion I had made a while back in a comment, something about a game on a billboard for when you’re stuck in traffic. While it doesn’t have to be on a billboard, VW doing something to make traffic jams, an unpleasant hassle for all drivers, into something fun is a great chance to build the brand through brand experiences. I’ve played around with the idea of a “VW Button” but what would it do? Maybe you push it and it inserts fun into everyday things. Doesn’t something like that exist already though?… I’ll stick with the traffic jam idea.
This idea is NOT realistic but that’s okay, because I’m realistic a little too often. This one is for the ridiculous.
Same premise as post 25, extra boring traffic jam, but this time let’s use the billboard. Let’s do the ‘hidden camera’ style thing and include footage of the set up. The billboard is an LCD screen, or whatever the electronic billboards usually are, and powerful loudspeakers are installed in the area where the billboard is visible. During regular traffic, it flips between ordinary ads. We see rush hour roll around and things come to a four-line virtual stand still. Suddenly we see the billboard flash brightly a few times and a boot-up sound pipes over the loudspeakers. A ten second countdown next to a picture of a chair flashes on the billboard. At zero a buzzer sounds and music starts playing (all fairly well known songs). most people are probably still confused but the first few catch on. Some car doors open and we see a chinese fire drill in progress. The music stops abruptly and those who are playing do a mad dash back into their cars as a picture of a chair flashes on the billboard. More people start to understand. As the music starts again, more car doors open as people join in. the game gets bigger each time and eventually the traffic-jam annoyance is forgotten. When the game ends the billboard flashes “Thank you for playing.” “Fun. Powered by VW.”
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