Experiencing Canon

Canon chose to launch two camera models to 90 European trade journalists by taking them on safari to trial the products in the heat and dust of Kenya. I was asked along to write about the launch and how experience is the key to creating brand advocates. Two features were commissioned and published by Event magazine and Conference & Incentive Travel. I also reviewed the new 1DS Mark III which featured on Stuff.TV
Check out the review

Event magazine, Haymarket Media Group, November / December 2007
In the shadow of Mount Kenya in Laikipia, a private ranch dedicated to conservancy sprawls across the East African landscape. Borana Ranch, home to the Dyer family, boasts two luxury lodges. The smaller, Laragai House, sits on the top of an escarpment, with the 17,000-feet snow-capped peaks of Mount Kenya looming over the horizon and the natural habitats for scores of wildlife on Lewa Downs cascading off to the east.

For one week in mid-October, Abercrombie and Kent carpeted the grounds of Laragai House with a luxury-tented village, comprising around 200 tents, each with their own shower, beds and solar powered lighting. The inhabitants of 90 of these canvas homes were specialist photographic trade media who had flown to Kenya via London from 16 European countries courtesy of Canon Consumer Imaging. Their purpose was to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the EOS camera system and to test two recently launched models, the 40-D and the 1DS Mark III via a bespoke EOS Safari.

The remainder tents housed tent butlers, cooks, Canon technical staff, product specialists and four members of agency GSP, responsible for the logistics, management and orchestration of a week’s worth of safari game drives, helicopter rides, presentations, horse riding, visits to local schools and evening entertainment – all against a backdrop of breathtaking beauty.

According to the head of Canon Consumer Imaging Europe Mogens Jensen, the idea to run an event that would not only celebrate the anniversary of EOS but also give delegates their first real taste of what the cameras were capable of was conceived a year before. “We wanted a location that would show off the equipment,” he says. “Wildlife is fast moving and the 40-D fires 6.5 frames per second. Kenya has perfect lighting conditions, amazing landscapes and subjects that you just don’t find in a city. So many product launches are based purely on theory and presentations. We’ve built them into the program also but the most important thing for this audience is to let them discover for themselves what these products can do in the dust and the heat of a safari.”

GSP project manager Claire Walton was tasked with finding Borana Ranch and overcoming the countless logistics of transporting guests whilst ensuring they had a life changing experience. She says: “Canon wanted game with less than ten hours flight time and a similar time zone. Delegates were flying in from all over Europe for four days so we couldn’t deal with the threat of jet lag. Africa was the obvious choice and the two most suitable locations are Kenya or Tanzania. Kenya is less of a tourist trap and Virgin Atlantic has recently opened its new route to Nairobi so we were able to secure the seats from Heathrow. We then had the logistical nightmare of getting everyone to London from 16 countries but thanks to the expertise of Events By Appointment, our travel company, everyone arrived on time.”

GSP also had the problem of transporting the 3.5 tons of camera equipment earmarked for testing by the media. The camera bodies and lenses valued at £2bn Euros needed to clear customs in just two days and permits needed to be obtained so that delegates were free to film and take photographs anywhere in the region.

Canon classroom project
As plans for the event developed, the notion of conservation and corporate social responsibility moved swiftly up Canon’s priority list. Laikipia is remote enough not to suffer from the damaging impact of tourism on the local eco system whilst Borana ranch is so committed to conservation that all the revenue from the EOS Safari went directly back into animal welfare.
The amount of game that guests were likely to see on Borana couldn’t be guaranteed however since the region is neither a national park nor the Mara so prides of lions and herds of elephants are not found roaming in large numbers.

GSP’s Walton had to fill a four-day itinerary with guaranteed photographic opportunities so added helicopter rides provided by Tropic Air around the glacier-clad peaks of Mount Kenya. On each flight guests were taken to 17,000 feet and then dropped-off in the surrounding alpine forests for a walking tour in search of macro photographic images of insects and plants.

With the helicopters increasing the event’s carbon footprint and with too many flights to offset, Canon was determined to again increase the cultural and community aspect of the trip. Walton was thus introduced to the locality’s educational needs which led to Canon agreeing to invest in three school rooms – two classrooms and a library. “On a reconnaissance mission in August, I visited the schools located locally to Borana and I was stunned by the conditions,” she says. “At one there were 52 children sitting on the floor of a grass hut. There was no point in us offering camera workshops or equipment since these schools had no electricity. What they desperately need is classroom space so we launched the Canon Classroom Project.”
Canon press and media events manager Melanie Dubois says: “Acting on the advice of the Dyer family we were able to determine what the local community needed the most. It’s not realistic to try and off-set an event of this magnitude so leaving the locality with a lasting legacy was our preferred option.”

By the time Canon and its guests arrived in Laikipia, each of the classroom projects were at various stages of development. As part of Walton’s planning for each the 16 country’s groups, GSP’s Laura Morrison ran trips to each school so that guests could turn their hand to portrait photography with the children as subjects. For Canon’s Jensen, this was a particular highlight. He says: “It was both an emotional and motivating experience to visit the schools. The children were so welcoming and had rehearsed a song to sing to us. We took a lot of shots and printed them out on portable printers to produce photos that could be donated to the school. For many of these children it was the first time they had ever seen themselves in a photograph and we were moved by their reactions. If you can combine the marketing objective of an event with a socially responsible purpose then it becomes so much more worthwhile. As a global market leader we pay so much money to hotels and venues across the world. Our strategy now is to try and redirect a proportion of that money into leaving a legacy on all future events.”

Professional photographers from the worlds of National Geographic, war-torn Serbia and conflicts around the globe spent each evening of the EOS Safari presenting their work to attendees. On the final night, guests were transported from their three nights in the African wilds and flown back to Nairobi in preparation for their flights home. “The transition from three nights in a campsite to a Hilton hotel room was difficult so it was important that guests saw something of contemporary Nairobi to show that Kenya has moved on from its status as a second world country,” Walton says. “We ran a photography competition throughout the week and announced the winners during a fashion show that showcased local designers. Only the night before, guests had dined on a spit roast lamb and witnessed a display by 40 authentic tribal dancers and here they were dining in a five-star hotel witnessing the other side of African culture. Even for an experienced agency like us this was a truly amazing event and I’m proud to have achieved my brief of staging a life-changing experience on behalf of Canon.”
See the coverage as it appeared in Event magazine