With DSLRs sales expected to explode over the course of the next 6-12 months, consumers thinking about making the jump up from a digital point-and-shoot may only need but a nudge to take the plunge. With that in mind, we salute the latest DSLR commercials from Nikon that are placing their latest DSLRs in the hands of amateur shutterbugs asking them to tell the story of their town through digital pictures. The first stop on this picture-taking tour/ad campaign has been Georgetown, SC and we have been treated to residents’ pictures of some of the 200-year-old oak trees and young children playing in the surf of this port town – all taken with Nikon DSLRs.
With thousands of pictures now posted on the Internet along with the ones displayed on the television commercial, Nikon has dubbed Georgetown as their first “Picturetown” as part of this nationwide marketing campaign that actually zeros in on the Nikon D40.
The idea here is to prove that anyone can take a great picture with “the easy-to-use D40” and from the images we see on the TV spot that certainly appears to be the case. Nikon tells us that in mid-March of this year, hundreds of Georgetown County residents, with no professional photography experience, attended a casting call with hopes of being cast in the Nikon commercial. The commercial was actually shot in Georgetown County in late March by HSI Productions, a Los Angles film company. Those chosen for the commercial spot were given a Nikon D40 with instructions to take pictures of their everyday lives and of the people they know and love. The photos were collected and the residents interviewed in order to make the final commercial, which first aired last month. The complete image collection of Georgetown can be viewed on the “Picturetown” Web site, www.stunningnikon.com/picturetown
What Nikon has done here, along with putting Georgetown, SC on the map, is create great buzz for the entire DSLR category by showing consumers that great (not good) images are possible by jumping up to a DSLR. The category has changed dramatically in the digital era and the Nikon spots make that very clear. Bravo, and we’re looking forward to the next stop on the tour.
