• by Aaron Baar , August 11, 2017

With nearly everyone walking around with multi-megapixel cameras attached to their phone, the urgency to own a high-tech, stand-alone camera seems limited … unless one wants to take high-quality, memorable keepsake photos. 

Via a new campaign from Grey New York, Canon USA is showing off how everyday moments can be turned into arresting and unique photos. “How do we show the power and performance of digital SLR cameras when there’s so many other opportunities?” Rob Altman, senior manager of marketing for Canon USA, tells Marketing Daily. “When you want to take a proper photo and share it and cherish it, you need a proper camera.”

At the center of the campaign is a digital video in which a rolling lens cap sets off a Rube Goldberg-esque series of events. As different events happen (a colorful water balloon dropped on an unsuspecting man’s head, a woman looking like she’s capturing flowers in midair, a man using a blowtorch to work on a car), a woman is shown walking through scenes with a Canon SLR camera. By the end of the spot, still photographs of some of the most arresting moments (the water balloon exploring on the man’s head, giving him a blue wig of hair, for instance) are shown, along with the message: “The right place at the right time means nothing without the right camera.”

“Seeing the results at the end, you get the sense that as something is happening makes it [possible to photograph],” Altman says. 

The digital video will be supported with a digital landing page, offering tips for consumers looking to “Shoot for Greatness” with their photos. The site takes moments from the video (such as the blue hair balloon wig and forced perspective making a dog look gigantic) and shows how to re-create them using the settings on a Canon SLR camera. 

“It’s about providing some education,” Altman says. “There will be more of that as the campaign moves along.”

Throughout the year, Canon will update its digital site with more tips and information and stage live events to “re-create similar moments of people to capture” with their cameras, Altman says.