• by Steve Smith , Staff Writer @popeyesm, August 24, 2006

Fujifilm hands off consumers from TV to the Web

Direct response marketing typically hammers a message relentlessly through one channel at a time, but Fujifilm brought its F-30 and V-10 digital cameras direct to consumers in early June by starting conversations both on-air and online.

The unusually well-integrated campaign started with two-minute "edumercials" on DirecTV created by The Go Company. Rather than featuring an 800 number, however, the spots featured the FujiFilm-rpt.com Web site, a landing page designed to educate consumers and start a conversation with them about camera features.

"The Web site became a seamless element of the commercial," says Go cofounder Denis Glennon. The TV-to-Web handoff targeted a tech-savvy Gen-X audience that already knew where to get product information.

A truly seamless multiplatform direct marketing experience requires a personal and consistent voice speaking across platforms. Fujifilm agency Sharpe Partners deployed the same TV spokesperson, visual stylings, and voice at the landing site, while an extensive banner and media buy broke the ice with online audiences as well.

"It's one brand, whatever channel you encounter at the start of the conversation," says CEO Kathy Sharpe. Like the TV pitch, the Web creative was more direct than flashy, featuring clean "come see us" calls to action that funneled the interested into a bucket of product information and direct routes to retailers.

By inviting consumers to the same online product party from multiple venues, the Fujifilm campaign also served the brand's sales channel by attracting customers who already knew what they wanted and why. "It gave the retailers the opportunity to experience the effect of this campaign," says Glennon.

The results were record-setting  generally double the typical response for a channel cluttered with messages audiences often just wave off. It just goes to show, as Sharpe puts it, "You can still kick up above industry averages with great work."