Kern & Sohn, who make and distribute exceptionally precise scales, boosted sales and reached millions of potential new customers, through the unlikely combination of a little-known gravity phenomenon and a travelling garden gnome. Here’s how: The company wanted to grow their reputation and market share in the education and science sectors. But with millions of labs and schools around the world, the challenge was to engage this widespread audience whilst standing out in a commoditised market. So we decided to conduct the world’s first mass-participation gravity experiment.

This revealed an amazing fact about Earth’s gravity: It actually varies, so you’ll weigh slightly more or less wherever you go. To demonstrate the capability of the Kern product, we set out to measure these tiny fluctuations by sending a gnome (also called Kern) with a set of scales around the world. It worked: Millions learned about gravity, tens of thousands shared our content, and thousands joined the experiment.

Our activity increased traffic to their site by 256%, and achieved a 1,042% ROI based on new distributor sign-ups alone. A TED talk about the gnome’s journey has been held. In several countries, the experiment has even been added to the national curriculum.

In November 2011, a single flight case containing a chip-proof garden gnome and a set of Kern precision scales began its journey from laboratory to laboratory around the world.We asked participating scientists to simply weigh the gnome, record the result on our experiment website, take some photos then sent him to his next destination. We gave participants sharable content including videos, gravity facts and the gnome’s travel snaps, allowing them to help spread the word.

Along the way, we also continually updated the gnome’s very own blog with the news of his travels – this helped us drive traffic to the site and build a fan-base.Mid-March, when the gnome reached the South Pole, we generated social media news releases amongst key influencers in science, education and global media. This generated huge consumer and target audience interest in Kern and its experiment.

Overnight, Kern and its Gnome Experiment became a global sensation, bringing together academics, scientists and media in a global discussion about Kern and its gravity experiment.

Week 1 After Media Launch: News, science and education shows ran dedicated Kern segments • Story reaches audience of over 355m in 152 countries • Every 20 seconds someone, somewhere signed-up to participate in the experiment• Visitors to Kern’s corporate site increased 256% • 1,445 new leads generated: 40% schools, 25% scientists • 16,386 websites linked to GnomeExperiment.com which saw 52,425 views • By Week 2, 1042% ROI achieved based on new distributor sign-ups alone • Sales to targets jumped by 11%; the experiment became a TED talk • Kern’s story was added to the curriculum in several countries • All on a production budget under €30,000. The experiment continues.