Nikon

The Objective

#MakeItIconic.Legendary photography brand Nikon (@nikon.eu) produces cameras and lenses that allow creators to go beyond the moment. Setting out to bring their latest innovations into the spotlight with Gen Z, Nikon wanted to drive awareness and consideration in this key demographic.

Their ultimate goal was clearly in sight: claiming the #1 spot amongst camera brands for video content on TikTok and becoming top of mind for the next generation of visual storytellers.

The Solution

Teaming up with agency partnerscharles & charlotte and Odaline, Nikon developed a campaign concept with groundbreaking co-creation at its core. It allowed creators to let their ideas run wild, proving brilliantly that the best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing – and might sometimes be much more akin to art.

To enable this, Nikon put the creators into the driver’s seat, equipping them with premium photography tools – but no briefings or video scripts. Instead, they received mystery boxes containing several mirrors and a single request:unleash your creativity!

This approach gave creators a platform to showcase their unique artistic perspectives without being constrained by a rigid creative framework. From portrait and cinematographic styles through to fashion & beauty, the campaign saw photo and videography creators of all stripes present their visual talent. In doing so, it provided the ideal stage to wow the audience with Nikon’s impressive camera portfolio.

Nikon leveraged a number of TikTok solutions for its campaign success: finding the right creators with their own vibrant TikTok community via TikTok Creator Marketplace (TTCM) set them up for a strong start. TikTok Creative Center distilled insights into sound trends on TikTok, the Commercial Music Library gave the team access to pre-cleared tracks to use, and with CapCut they applied finishing touches à la TikTok to their final edit.

The strategy resulted in authentic TikTok creatives aligning the latest content and community trends to produce impressive ads with a native look and feel.Teaming up with agency partnerscharles & charlotte and Odaline, Nikon developed a campaign concept with groundbreaking co-creation at its core. It allowed creators to let their ideas run wild, proving brilliantly that the best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing – and might sometimes be much more akin to art.

To enable this, Nikon put the creators into the driver’s seat, equipping them with premium photography tools – but no briefings or video scripts. Instead, they received mystery boxes containing several mirrors and a single request:unleash your creativity!

This approach gave creators a platform to showcase their unique artistic perspectives without being constrained by a rigid creative framework. From portrait and cinematographic styles through to fashion & beauty, the campaign saw photo and videography creators of all stripes present their visual talent. In doing so, it provided the ideal stage to wow the audience with Nikon’s impressive camera portfolio.

Nikon leveraged a number of TikTok solutions for its campaign success: finding the right creators with their own vibrant TikTok community via TikTok Creator Marketplace (TTCM) set them up for a strong start. TikTok Creative Center distilled insights into sound trends on TikTok, the Commercial Music Library gave the team access to pre-cleared tracks to use, and with CapCut they applied finishing touches à la TikTok to their final edit.

The strategy resulted in authentic TikTok creatives aligning the latest content and community trends to produce impressive ads with a native look and feel.

The Results

Creative freedom delivers, and Nikon’s campaign was a perfect example. Creators were given free rein to concoct their own content masterpieces from the mystery boxes. Their individual expressiveness flourished, producing a series of instant hits with the TikTok community.

Nikon’s innovative and creative concept truly paid off, generating more than 25 million views with a watch time of up to 34% above the benchmark and with brand awareness (unaided) increasing by 16.8%. Perception of Nikon as a modern video brand went up by 19%, while purchase consideration increased by 4.55%.

To round off the standout success story, the creatives received major recognition at the TikTok Ad Awards 2023, where they took home the Greatest TikTok Award in the DACH region.