Nikon: Creation of an Online Sensation
Challenge: After 33 years, the Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition had become stagnant: media coverage had hit a plateau and Web traffic was low. Peppercom was tasked with identifying creative and relevant tactics that would generate excitement about a decades-old brand.
Strategy & Execution: To present a fresh twist on the competition, Peppercom created a platform that enabled direct consumer and media interaction. This included the launch of the Popular Choice competition, which provided both consumers and the media the chance to participate in Nikon Small World through online voting. Moreover, Peppercom sought to identify a new group of media contacts to broaden outreach and create fresh interest in the contest by providing these targets with unrestricted access to the images. We secured national print and broadcast journalists as judges and invited them to attend the awards gala. This imparted credibility, while giving reporters behind-the-scenes access to the contest and winners.
Result: Nikon Small World coverage exploded online and became an online sensation. In the first week following the announcement of the winners, Nikon garnered more than 22 million impressions, plus coverage in hundreds of blogs. Traffic to nikonsmallworld.com, which had never before exceeded 14,000 visitors in one day, spiked to nearly 30,000 unique visitors in a single day, temporarily crashing the Web site.
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