Photography is at the heart of the Canon brand. So when faced with increasing camera competition, Canon Australia briefed us to create a direct campaign that would re-affirm its leadership of the Digital SLR category. Canon wanted to celebrate its passion for photography and demonstrate that it that takes an active interest in photo-enthusiasts’ personal development. We needed an inspirational campaign that would capture the imagination of new and current DSLR camera users, and in so doing, drive loyalty for the Canon brand.

The Canon photo5 competition was our solution. Targeting this niche audience through online advertising, EDMs, posters and online forums, photographers were encouraged to register with MyCanon to receive their photo5 pack, consisting of 5 items, a box, a balloon, a piece of chalk, a sheet of cellophane and dot stickers. Using one of these objects, entrants must push their imaginative thinking and camera skills to conceive and capture their most creative photographs. They were given 3 week to upload their photographs online. The competition website hosted the entries in an online viewing gallery and offered useful creativity tips.

The response to photo5 was immediate. The online advertising generated 24,531 click-throughs alone, whilst 59% of the EDMs were clicked-through as news of the competition spread through online photography forums. All 2,500 photo5 packs were snapped up within days. 5,194 photographers registered on MyCanon, 61% of which were NEW members. A staggering 3,200 images were uploaded onto the gallery. The quality was outstanding; finalists were judged by a panel of award-winning photographers and the photo5 community lodged over 5,721 votes in the online voting forum to decide the winners. Canon considered it so successful that photo5 run again in 2009.