Nikon D40 Camera- Picturetown Advertainment

So, the new campaign concept for the Nikon D40 Camera may not exactly fall within the confines of what is traditionally defined as advertainment, but advertainment itself is untraditional, so I think it is ok to post about this neat new campaign. I found out about this new ad campaign through a wonderfully well-placed (and probably pretty expensive) hard-stock insert of a picture of the D40 camera itself, in its actual size. I found this ad in the December issue of People Magazine (it was my girlfriend’s copy of the mag., I don’t usually read it, I swear). Next to the insert is a traditional, full-bleed ad that describes the overall campaign concept where it says “Go to stunningnikon.com/picturetown for proof that people start taking amazing digital pictures the minute you hand them a Nikon D40. Recently, we gave 200 D40’s to the people of Georgetown, SC. Check out their pictures and learn more about the Nikon D40.”




I instantly took a liking to this ad due to the fact that the insert catches the reader’s attention immediately (also, the pages automatically open to the insert if the mag. is set down, due to its hard-stock, which is always a good idea), and the ad provides more information. Plus, the camera insert itself opens up, with a similar description of the “Picturetown” idea, and also an added incentive for people to check out the Web site: a sweepstakes that automatically enters you in to win a trip for two to Tuscany, Italy if you visit the site. Now that is good stuff…the insert catches attention and breaks through the clutter, the ad further explains the concept, and the inside of the insert gives added incentive to learn more, all the while, every piece of advertising has the Web site in bold yellow letters on a black background, now that’s excellent brand spiraling.

The site itself is where the advertainment comes into the picture (corny, I know…) a bit more clearly. You can select from a number of options on the site, which is simply yet sleekly designed, including “The Story, The People, The Pictures, The Nikon D 40, and Enter To Win.” Before you get to the homepage, however, the site loads and the message displayed sets up the premise for the entire campaign, it says “Anyone can take a great picture with the Nikon D40. To prove it, we gave 200 to the people of Georgetown, South Carolina.” I find this message to be well-thought, and well-directed…I like the idea.

Once the site loads, if you click on “The Story,” an informative video shows the whole process of the cameras being handed out, and it re-emphasizes the average Joe factor here, showing that these people are just like you and I, and by no means photography experts. “The People” further proves this fact, and then “The Pictures” section really drives home the point that the camera is capable of taking good pictures, even when in the hands of average Joes. This section is set up as a large, interactive gallery, where you can see a bunch of thumbnails of photos at once, scroll over them to get more info., and then click on them to see a bigger copy. Overall, Nikon shows a good melding of traditional methods of advertising (magazine, etc.) in an untraditional format (unusual insert), and good use of interactivity on the Web site itself; all of this adds up to good advertainment.