Nikon. I am Generation Image.
Inspiring a generation that speaks through its images
The world creates 27,905 images every single second. This generation expresses itself in images — yet it has never been harder to be heard. What if Nikon were to give seven people with something to say a better camera to say it with? Could a Nikon help them make a difference? That was the experiment at the heart of the “I am Generation Image” campaign.
- ACD/Copywriter
- Cameron Fleming
- ACD/Art Director
- Calvin Lyte
- Creative Directors
- Larry Platt and Tom Sullivan
- Chief Creative Officer
- Rob Reilly
- Agency
- McCann New York
“Stream”
We launched the campaign with a film that dramatizes the reality of life in Generation Image: the constant visual onslaught we’re all exposed to every day.
- ACD/Copywriter
- Cameron Fleming
- ACD/Art Director
- Calvin Lyte
- Creative Directors
- Larry Platt and Tom Sullivan
- Chief Creative Officer
- Rob Reilly
- Agency
- McCann New York
- Directors
- Alex Topaller and Dan Shapiro
The journey
Then we sent one Nikon camera across the country to help seven people with something to say be heard. They each had two weeks with the camera to make a difference with their images. We hired a talented but unknown young filmmaker to tell the stories of how they each used imagery to make their marks. Naturally, he, too, used a Nikon camera.
- ACD/Copywriter
- Cameron Fleming
- ACD/Art Director
- Calvin Lyte
- Creative Directors
- Larry Platt and Tom Sullivan
- Chief Creative Officer
- Rob Reilly
- Agency
- McCann New York
- Director
- Douglas Gautraud
Kordale & Kaleb
When an Instagram photo of these dads doing their daughters’ hair went viral, it changed their lives. Nikon gave them the chance to tell the rest of their family’s story.
Girls With Brown Hair
It’s not easy to make it in comedy; Sam Reece and Becky Chicoine should know. But if the right video is seen by the right person at the right time, it could change everything.
Mary Mattern
This vegan chef and food blogger wants her photographs to make you hungry — and hopefully to encourage you to try cooking something new in the kitchen. Vegan donuts, anyone?
Rikki Mendias
He grew up in a shelter. Now this sneakerhead is on a mission to give new or gently used shoes to everyone in need. His images help donors walk a mile in somebody else’s shoes.
Darren Jeffries
Cyclists in New York City have a serious image problem. This photographer wants to show that cyclists can be responsible, and that they can live in harmony with pedestrians and motorists.
Tiny House Family
When their home went into foreclosure, Hari and Karl Berzins began to build a new life — and a new home — completely debt-free. Their pictures reveal their lives in 168 square feet.
Douglas Gautraud
Because our director was himself a leading member of Generation Image, we asked him to tell his own story. His film wrapped up the first phase of the I AM Generation Image campaign.
Microsite
The galleries and profile films lived on a fully responsive campaign site that tracked the camera’s journey across the country. Images from the participants were also shared through Nikon’s social channels.
- Copywriter
- Jason Tisdale
- Designer
- Hang Zheng
- ACD/Copywriters
- Cameron Fleming and Tony Jones
- ACD/Art Directors
- Calvin Lyte and Shawn Kelly
- Creative Directors
- Larry Platt and Tom Sullivan
- Agency
- McCann New York and MRM//McCann New York
Rich media
For each person featured in the campaign, we created a rich unit to drive traffic to the site. These units were shown on sites targeted to the featured photographer’s interest; for example, vegan chef Mary Mattern’s banner was shown on Food & Wine and other cooking sites.
- Designer
- Don Miller
- ACD/Copywriter
- Cameron Fleming
- ACD/Art Director
- Calvin Lyte
- Creative Directors
- Larry Platt and Tom Sullivan
- Agency
- McCann New York
Press
The campaign picked up more than 614,000,000 impressions in earned media, gaining coverage by the New York Times, PSFK, Good Morning America, TIME, Fast Company, Cosmopolitan, Slate, USA Today, the Huffington Post, and even Perez Hilton. Within the industry, it was covered by Adweek and Campaign, and it was an Editor's Pick on Creativity and SHOOT Magazine.
“Dads” case study
Of all the stories in the campaign, one proved to be particularly poignant — the story of two fathers, Kordale and Kaleb, raising three children together in suburban Atlanta.
Finalist, 2015 New York Festivals.
“I am Next” contest
From the very beginning of the campaign, people wanted to get involved in it. And they wanted to win that sweet yellow case for themselves. So we launched the “I am Next” contest to find the next representative of Generation Image. We received more than 14,000 entries from passionate photographers, artists, and activists.
The winner
By popular vote, the winner was Daniel Newman, an aspiring photographer whose brother suffered debilitating concussions playing lacrosse in high school. Daniel used his platform to raise awareness of the risks of traumatic brain injuries in sports.
Extensions
Generation Image isn’t just about young hipster millennials. It encompasses everyone with something to say — including families who don’t need top-of-the-line DSLRs.
“Homefront” :30
We found the story of a Centers for Disease Control epidemiologist who must sometimes travel to faraway outbreaks at a moment’s notice and stay for weeks or months at a time. Her husband keeps her connected to her young children thanks to his Nikon D3300 and a wireless connection.
- ACD/Copywriter
- Cameron Fleming
- CD/Art Director
- Catherine Abbenda
- Creative Directors
- Larry Platt
- Agency
- McCann New York
- Director
- Douglas Gautraud