Canon reaches out to Hong Kong's youths [GALLERY]

COMPANY:CANONEVENT:CANON PHOTOMARATHONDATE:6 OCTOBER 2013LOCALE:HONG KONGEVENT OBJECTIVE:To promote an interest in photography Hong Kong and encourage participation from the wider community as well as enhance the brand’s favorability to its audience.EXECUTION:This was a photo competition organised by Canon where the event was opened to two groups of contestants for this contest: an open category for photo enthusiasts aged 18 and above as well as the student category for people aged 12-17.For the first category, this was an open enrollment where participants were restricted to using only interchangeable-lens type digital camera. 1500 participants were selected randomly from this category where selected participants were required to donate HK$120 to Heep Hong Society (CPM’s chosen beneficiary for 2013) within the specific period as enrollment fee. Heep Hong Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing professional care, education and training services to children and young adults with developmental problems and support services for their families.For the second category, Canon encouraged secondary schools and welfare organisations for children with special needs to participate in the competition.[gallery link="file" ids="26544,26542,26540,26539,26538,26537,26536,26535,26534,26533,26532,26531"]With "Shoot for Hong Kong" as the event slogan, 1,500 contestants competed in the open category across Hong Kong, capturing different faces of Hong Kong through their camera lens.Over 108 students from the second category participated in this category, where they submitted two photos under an assigned theme on the event day. Photography workshops were also offered to registered students prior to the competition day.Canon Hong Kong conducted pre-event publicity efforts to drum up interest ahead of the event. There was a press conference for the event, and enrollment ads in local newspapers. There were also editorials and advertorials in local newspapers and magazines announcing the launch of the event.Promotional videos were also broadcasted on RoadShow, as advertising platform in the Greater China region, through spaces on buses, bus shelters and outdoor signage. The brand also marketed the event via digital and social media, including the CPM official Facebook page and Pinterest account.The event convened at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre where contestants subsequently travelled round the city to capture unique images to fulfill the slogan of the contest. The photos had to be based on three different themes:Light, Shadow and MotionDot, Line and SurfaceMountain, Sea, SkyThe event also made extensive use of technology, where each contestant had to e-register for the event using QR codes. The photos were also uploaded online and a judging system was also set up onsite. During the competition, a web mobile game was opened for contestants to check-in at their photo shooting location.The grand award winner will represent Hong Kong in the Canon PhotoMarathon Taipei in autumn 2014.The event agency for the event is Jack Morton Worldwide.RESULTS:The event saw 1500 contestants participating in the event. The event also raised HK$197,210.88 and 20 Heep Hong Society children were invited by Canon Hongkong to take part in the event as an effort to fulfill one of the Heep Hong Society’s goals of contributing to a more inclusive society.The event also maintained CPM’s green credentials with another carbon neutral year through a programme of reducing and offsetting the event’s carbon footprint.All registration fees went to supporting the cause of Heep Hong Society. The brand also saw an increase in social media engagement following the event.There was also PR coverage across print, including The Standard, U-Magazine, Hong Kong Economic Journal and e-Zone as well as TV such as RoadShow.LESSONS LEARNED:One of the biggest challenges in organising the event was finding the appropriate location as there were not many choices of venues to fit 1500 people, said Candy Mau, senior manager of corporate communications division of Canon Hong kong Company.The brand overcame this challenge by ensuring there was crowd control within a 30 minute time frame.“We implemented barcode scanning during registration which helped speed up the registration process,” Mau added.For future events, Canon will continue to collect feedback from contestants’ surveys, as well as stage a review meeting with various service agencies.