Nikon/Your Day: Social media marketing done right
With all the crap floating around the world of social marketing, some days it’s nice to see a campaign that gets it right. Case in point, Nikon with their “Your Day in 140 Seconds or Less” user-generated video contest.
What Nikon got right:
Tapping into a passionate and creative audience: If you’re going to run contest asking people to create videos, it helps to market it to people who have both the skills and the enthusiasm to bring those videos to life.
A clear and buzzworthy concept: Now where have I heard the number 140 before? Smart move by Nikon creating a link to the Twitter crowd, making the contest that much more novel and worthy of the all-powerful retweet.
Contest entries that can generate buzz forever: The end result of all the entries this contest should generate? A nice library of creative videos that could serve as linkbait and conversation starter indefinitely.
Big splash, PR worthy prize: $100,000 is still real money, no matter what the folks in DC might say. Plus another $25,000 for an audience voted winner (itself, another smart move), and you have the makings of a significant prize worth people talking about
Direct tie in to a major value proposition of the product: The product Nikon is highlighting here – the Nikon D5000 D-SLR – happen to take video, a feature they’ve been pushing. Even smarter however…
They didn’t make using a Nikon mandatory: Any camera is OK, opening up the contest to the widest possible community.
Rules that inspire, not crush, creativity: Make a video, no more than 140 seconds long, about your day. That’s it. It could be an animation, stop motion, your ideal day, your worst day, somebody else’s day, a day that takes a week, black and white, whatever.
Outstanding partners/judges: Instead of just creating a contest and flogging it out there with paid banners and blogger pitches, they lined up three judges who are celebrities in their own, well targeted communities. Rainn Wilson, better known as Dwight from The Office, has the mass market and comic appeal. iJustine made her name in short Web based videos (lifecasting, 300 page iPhone bill, etc.) and is definitely geek-famous. Chase Jarvis brings serious photographer cred. Each brings a ready made, trusting audience to the contest and lends Nikon immense credibility.
They also, of course, have the usual Facebook and Twitter accounts to help spread the word. All in all, a very smart social media marketing effort.
*I’m not in any way affiliated with or compensated by Nikon or any player in this campaign. I just think it’s a great idea.
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