• by Christine Champagne , November 9, 2010

Olympus really put its camera center-stage in its campaign

When constructing the "Look What You Can Do"-themed campaign promoting the Olympus PEN E-PL1, the media and creative teams at the Boston office of Mullen wanted to put the camera in the hands of consumers. But that's not so easily done - only the true enthusiast is going to be motivated enough to rush out to the camera shop for an in-person demo, after all. So Mullen decided to provide potential buyers with a hands-on trial they could take part in at home, work, or anywhere for that matter, through an online augmented reality experience that is a key part of the cross-platform campaign the agency launched for the camera in April.

By pointing a tip-in card found in Wired and Popular Photography - or downloaded via getolympus.com/PEN - at a webcam, visitors to getolympus.com/PEN can hold a virtual, life-size version of a PEN E-PL1 in their hands and actually get a feel for the camera. (Those who don't have webcams can check out a video of the demonstration on the Olympus YouTube channel.)

Some of you might recognize the guy leading the augmented reality demo, by the way: He's Mullen senior vice president and group creative director Stephen Mietelski, and with his low-key, self-assured demeanor, he's an appealing presence. "He knew the camera really well, so it was easy for him to talk about it, and he comes across as everyman. He's not alienating," says Mullen senior vice president and group creative director Michael Ancevic when asked why Mietelski was cast over, say, a celebrity (after all, Nikon is using Ashton Kutcher, while Canon's got Maria Sharapova) or even a well-known photographer. "Also, we didn't want the experience to seem too slick or overly produced."

Total Immersion architected the augmented reality experience, which happens to be Mullen's first time using the technology. "We keep saying it's the world's first-ever augmented reality demonstration because it's not just, 'Here,' a random building sticking up out of your hand or whatever," says Ancevic, adding, "I'm not knocking that, but in this case, augmented reality is used for a powerful demonstration."

Liz Cutting, senior imaging analyst at NPD Group, sees the augmented reality demo as a creative way to introduce the PEN E-PL1 to consumers. It's one of a new breed of cameras known as Micro Four Thirds or mirrorless hybrids, which fall somewhere in between compact cameras and DSLRs. They offer consumers better quality photos than they can take with a simple point-and-shoot, and they have detachable lenses, but they aren't as bulky as a DSLR. The PEN E-PL1 also shoots HD video.

Micro Four Thirds are popular in Japan, where they make up 20 percent of the entire detachable lens market, according to Cutting. But here in the United States, they were only about four percent of the detachable-lens segment at the start of the summer, she reports, stressing that when it comes to marketing these cameras in the United States, the manufacturers - Olympus, Panasonic, Samsung and, more recently, Sony - have a lot of work to do. "The marketing and advertising is going to be quite important in growing the market. Just building awareness is a huge task right now because you aren't going to hear Micro Four Thirds and say, 'I need that!' " Cutting says. "So it's a matter of educating consumers and saying, 'There is a new class of camera, and it's something to be considered.' "

According to Mullen vice president and media creative Dustin Johnson, the camera will be purchased by a person who cares about quality photography and wants a professional camera experience but at a more realistic price point. (The Olympus Web site lists the estimated retail price of the PEN E-PL1 at $599.99; amazon.com and other online retailers are selling it for around $550.)

The PEN E-PL1 will certainly appeal to the serious photographer who doesn't want to lug a DSLR on vacation, and Johnson notes that there are elements of the "Look What You Can Do" campaign that will reach more serious photographers. But the campaign also has components aimed at a mass audience, including the parent who wants to snap better family photos.

Metamercial
Television is the primary vehicle through which the masses are targeted. "The category is very competitive. We needed to stand out, and TV is still the No. 1 place to do that and make an impact very quickly," Johnson says.

With that in mind, Mullen produced a 30-second TV commercial titled "Amazing," which is running on cable networks including Bravo, Comedy Central, The Discovery Channel and the National Geographic Channel. The active, colorful spot finds a young woman who appears to be on vacation strolling around a nameless but nonetheless charming city with her PEN E-PL1 in hand, snapping photos and talking about how amazing the camera is.

There's certainly plenty for her to photograph as she explores the city - we see everything from a hang glider landing on a bus to a pack of dogs dressed like bees. Ultimately, the woman reveals that what's most amazing about the PEN E-PL1 is that the commercial we are watching was shot with one.

Ancevic points out that other elements of the campaign, including print ads and the aforementioned augmented video, were also shot with a PEN E-PL1. "The campaign is about proving what the camera can do," Ancevic says. "So instead of just saying, 'Here is what it does,' we actually wanted to show what it does."

Potential purchasers also get a vivid demonstration how the art filters included with the PEN E-PL1 can dramatically change the appearance of an image through a demo that Mullen and Mediahub planted in Wired's first-ever app for the iPad. "The timing of our campaign was fortuitous," Johnson says, noting that the iPad was rolling out just as the campaign launched. "Again, as with augmented reality, we wanted to find good, simple ways of conveying the fact that this is a technical product that's approachable, and the iPad was perfect for that."

Hands All Over
Additionally, Mullen put the PEN E-PL1 - and now we're talking real cameras, not virtual ones - into the hands of a few shutterbugs via the "PEN Your Story" competition, which had entrants submitting brief proposal videos to the Olympus YouTube channel, explaining what they'd shoot if they had a PEN E-PL1. Six people were ultimately chosen and given not only the camera but also $5,000 each to make their visions reality.

That sounds like a smart - not to mention inexpensive - way to get some varied video content made. "When you look at production budgets these days, it makes sense to crowd source," Johnson acknowledges.

The six winners include a young singer, who wanted to win so she could shoot her own music video. She cleverly sang her entire pitch, which included lyrics like, "With full aperture control, I'd film my vision like a pro."

Also among the winners: an earnest artist who planned to make a video exploring the concept of space and the afterlife; and a young woman full of enthusiasm and Southern charm who wanted to give the underprivileged girls she mentors the summer of their lives with the $5,000, capturing all of the fun, of course, with the PEN E-PL1.

In addition to showing how the PEN E-PL1 can be used by anyone to shoot great HD video (the winners' final videos were posted on the Olympus YouTube channel in August), the competition also got people talking about Olympus. Visitors to the Olympus YouTube channel voted for their favorite pitches, making them an instrumental part of the selection process.

"We used this campaign as an opportunity to really bolster our social media efforts," Johnson says, citing Olympus' presence on Twitter and Flickr and pointing out that the campaign with YouTube also included activation on Facebook as part of the experience. "It's quadrupled our Facebook fans since it started," Johnson says, "which is really going to set the table for the future in building an audience for the Olympus brand."