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  • AWARDS :
    BRANDED CONTENT & ENTERTAINMENT
  • SUB CATEGORY :
    BEST USE OF NON-FICTION FILM
  • COMPANY ENTERING :
    LEO BURNETT SYDNEY, SYDNEY
  • ENTRY TITLE :
    CANON DECOY
  • BRAND :
    CANON CAMERAS
  • ADVERTISER :
    CANON
  • AGENCY :
    LEO BURNETT SYDNEY, SYDNEY
  • EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR :
    GRANT MCALOON/VINCE LAGANA
  • CREATIVE DIRECTOR :
    KIERAN OTS
  • COPYWRITER :
    BJOERN INGENLEUF
  • ART DIRECTOR :
    STUART TOBIN
  • PHOTOGRAPHER :
    CHRIS MEREDITH/JIN LIM/LYNDAL IRONS/KATE DISHER-QUILL/
    FRANKY TSANG/TRISTAN STEFAN EDOUARD
  • ACCOUNT DIRECTOR :
    JONNY BUCKNALL/LAURA DOWLING
  • ACCOUNT MANAGER :
    LAURA CERVIN
  • STRATEGIC PLANNER :
    LISA BURPRICH
  • AGENCY PRODUCER :
    ADRIAN JUNG
  • FILM PRODUCTION COMPANY :
    THE POOL COLLECTIVE, SYDNEY
  • DIRECTOR :
    CHRIS IRELAND
  • EXECUTIVE PRODUCER :
    CAMERON GRAY/PETREA LAMBERT/EMMA DE TELIGA
  • POST-PRODUCTION COMPANY :
    HECKLER, SYDNEY
  • EDITOR :
    EDWARD COPESTICK
  • SOUND PRODUCTION COMPANY :
    NYLON STUDIOS, SYDNEY
  • CAMPAIGN SUMMARY :
    PHOTOGRAPHY IS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR AND ACCESSIBLE WAYS TO EXPRESS YOURSELF CREATIVELY. BUT SO MUCH OF PHOTOGRAPHY IS TAUGHT THROUGH STUDYING TECHNIQUE AND EXISTING IMAGES. THERE IS AN ABUNDANCE OF CONTENT AND EVENTS THAT FOCUS ON HOW TO SHOOT AND HOW GEAR WORKS. BUT WHEN IT COMES TO GROWING CREATIVELY AND DEVELOPING YOUR OWN UNIQUE STYLE PHOTOGRAPHERS HAVE NOWHERE TO TURN. TO ENCOURAGE PHOTOGRAPHERS TO RIP UP THE RULEBOOK OF TRADITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND START DISCOVERING THEIR INNER CREATIVE VOICE WE CREATED ‘THE LAB’ A SERIES OF EXPERIENCES AND CONTENT DESIGNED TO SHIFT CREATIVE THINKING BEHIND THE LENS. LIFTING PHOTOGRAPHER’S CREATIVITY, RATHER THAN THEIR CAPABILITY. AND WHILST THE FOCUS OF EACH EXPERIMENT WAS ALWAYS ABOUT THE CREATIVE PROCESS, AND NOT THE OUTPUT, THE RESULTING IMAGES WERE POSSIBLY SOME OF THE MOST CREATIVE THE PARTICIPANTS HAVE EVER TAKEN. THE EXPERIMENT THAT RESONATED MOST WITH OUR PARTICIPANTS, THE WIDER PHOTOGRAPHIC COMMUNITY AND THE WORLD AT LARGE WAS ‘DECOY’. FOR THIS WE INVITED SIX PHOTOGRAPHERS TO A PORTRAIT SESSION. EACH GUEST WAS TOLD A DIFFERENT BACKSTORY ABOUT THE PERSON WHOSE IMAGE THEY WERE ABOUT TO CAPTURE (A COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN, A SELF-MADE MILLIONAIRE, A RECOVERING ALCOHOLIC, A MAN WHO'S SAVED A LIFE, AN EX-INMATE, OR A SELF-PROCLAIMED PSYCHIC). THE TWIST? NONE OF THOSE BACKSTORIES WERE TRUE. NEVERTHELESS THE IMAGES THAT WERE TAKEN DIFFER GREATLY IN BOTH STYLE AND CONTEXT, ELICITING A DIFFERENT EMOTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE SUBJECT. THIS PROVED THAT HOW YOU APPROACH YOUR SUBJECT AFFECTS THE STORY YOU TELL AND THAT A PHOTOGRAPH IS SHAPED MORE BY THE PERSON BEHIND THE CAMERA THAN BY WHAT IS IN FRONT OF IT. TO DATE DECOY HAS BEEN WATCHED MORE THAN 5 MILLION TIMES WITH OVER 17,000 COMMENTS AND ENGAGEMENTS, SHOWING THAT THIS CONTENT HAS SPARKED A WIDE-SPREAD CONVERSATION ABOUT CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY.
  • THE BRIEF :
    PHOTOGRAPHY IS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR AND ACCESSIBLE WAYS TO EXPRESS YOURSELF CREATIVELY. BUT SO MUCH OF PHOTOGRAPHY IS TAUGHT THROUGH STUDYING TECHNIQUE AND EXISTING IMAGES. THERE IS AN ABUNDANCE OF CONTENT AND EVENTS THAT FOCUS ON HOW TO SHOOT AND HOW GEAR WORKS, WHICH CAN LEAD TO SIMILAR PLACES. BUT WHEN IT COMES TO GROWING CREATIVELY AND DEVELOPING YOUR OWN UNIQUE STYLE PHOTOGRAPHERS HAVE NOWHERE TO TURN. SO TOGETHER WITH CANON WE CREATED AN EXPERIENCE THAT WOULD HELP MORE ADVANCED PHOTOGRAPHERS DEVELOP THEIR CREATIVITY AND THEIR ORIGINALITY INSTEAD OF THEIR TECHNICAL SKILLS.
  • THE STRATEGY :
    OUR AUDIENCE WAS PHOTOGRAPHY ENTHUSIASTS, WHO HAVE INVESTED YEARS DEVELOPING THEIR PHOTOGRAPHY SKILLS USING ONLINE CONTENT, BOOKS, PAID COURSES, PHOTOGRAPHY WALKS/MEETS AND TALKS FROM PROFESSIONALS. THEY ARE FAMILIAR WITH MOST SHOOTING TECHNIQUES AND ARE NOW HONING THEIR OWN STYLE. LOCALLY, CANON IS THE MARKET LEADER IN DSLR AMONG THIS AUDIENCE, BUT FACES STRONG COMPETITION FROM OTHER BRANDS. CANON MUST SHOW THAT IT UNDERSTANDS ENTHUSIAST'S PASSION AND THEIR MINDSET TO STAY RELEVANT TO THIS AUDIENCE. WHILE THEY OFFER CLASS-LEADING CAMERAS IN THIS MARKET, CANON'S AIM IS TO INSPIRE AND ENABLE THESE PHOTOGRAPHERS, RATHER THAN SELL THEM ON PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS. ONLINE TUTORIALS ARE A POPULAR FORM OF CONTENT WITH THIS AUDIENCE, WITH MANY PHOTOGRAPHY PLATFORMS AND MOST MAJOR BRANDS CREATING ENDLESS TUTORIAL VIDEOS. HOWEVER, THESE ALL TEND TO FOLLOW THE SAME FORMAT - TEACHING THE PHOTOGRAPHER HOW TO ACQUIRE AND REPLICATE A SPECIFIC TECHNICAL SKILL, RATHER THAN ENCOURAGING THEM TO EXPERIMENT AND THINK FOR THEMSELVES. IN ORDER TO ENCOURAGE PHOTOGRAPHERS TO START DISCOVERING THEIR INNER CREATIVE VOICE WE DECIDED TO CREATE A SERIES OF EXPERIENCES AND CONTENT PIECES THAT WOULD DISRUPT THE TRADITIONAL TUTORIAL FORMAT AND STRETCH THEIR CREATIVITY AND THE WAY THEY THOUGHT ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY, RATHER THAN THEIR TECHNICAL ABILITY.
  • THE EXECUTION :
    ‘THE LAB’ CONSISTS OF A SERIES OF DIFFERENT EXPERIMENTS; EACH CAREFULLY DESIGNED TO INSTIGATE SOME SERIOUS CREATIVE ENDEAVOUR AND MENTORED BY A LEADING PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER. AND WHILST THE FOCUS OF EACH EXPERIMENT WAS ALWAYS ABOUT THE CREATIVE PROCESS, AND NOT THE OUTPUT, THE RESULTING IMAGES WERE POSSIBLY SOME OF THE MOST CREATIVE THE PARTICIPANTS HAVE EVER TAKEN. THE EXPERIMENT THAT RESONATED MOST WITH OUR PARTICIPANTS, THE WIDER PHOTOGRAPHIC COMMUNITY AND THE WORLD AT LARGE WAS ‘DECOY’. FOR THIS EXPERIMENT WE INVITED SIX PHOTOGRAPHERS FROM OUR COMMUNITY TO A SPECIAL PORTRAIT SESSION WITH OUR PHOTOGRAPHY MENTOR. EACH GUEST WAS TOLD A DIFFERENT BACKSTORY ABOUT THE PERSON WHOSE IMAGE THEY WERE ABOUT TO CAPTURE (A COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN, A SELF-MADE MILLIONAIRE, A RECOVERING ALCOHOLIC, A MAN WHO'S SAVED A LIFE, AN EX-INMATE, OR A SELF-PROCLAIMED PSYCHIC). THE TWIST? NONE OF THOSE BACKSTORIES WERE TRUE. NEVERTHELESS THE IMAGES THAT WERE TAKEN DIFFER GREATLY IN BOTH STYLE AND CONTEXT, DISPLAYING A DIFFERENT EMOTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE SUBJECT, PROVING THAT HOW YOU APPROACH YOUR SUBJECT AFFECTS THE STORY YOU TELL AND THAT A PHOTOGRAPH IS SHAPED MORE BY THE PERSON BEHIND THE CAMERA THAN BY WHAT IS IN FRONT OF IT.
  • THE RESULT :
    ‘THE LAB’ AND ESPECIALLY ‘DECOY’ RESONATED WITH THE PHOTOGRAPHIC COMMUNITY AND BEYOND ALL ACROSS THE GLOBE. DECOY WAS VIEWED OVER 5 MILLION TIMES, WITH ONLY 20% OF VIEWS OCCURRING ON THE YOUTUBE DOMAIN, A CLEAR INDICATION OF ITS VIRALITY AND APPEAL TO A BROADER CREATIVE AUDIENCE AS IT WAS EMBEDDED ON A VARIETY OF EDITORIAL SITES AND BLOGS. THE CONTENT WAS SHARED OVER 8,000 TIMES AND WAS PICKED UP BY TOP REACHING BLOGGING PLATFORMS AND NEWS AGGREGATORS SUCH AS REDDIT, MASHABLE, THE DAILY MAIL AND PETAPIXEL. WITH OVER 17,000 COMMENTS AND ENGAGEMENTS THIS VIDEO SPARKED THE BEGINNING OF A RELATIONSHIP WITH NEW FOLLOWERS, INCREASING CANON'S TWITTER FOLLOWERS BY 2% AND THEIR YOUTUBE SUBSCRIBERS BY 1%, AND PROVING THAT THIS CONTENT HAS SPARKED A WIDE-SPREAD CONVERSATION ABOUT CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY.