Nikon has become the first graphical advertiser on Yahoo-owned photo-sharing Web site Flickr.com in a deal arranged through media services firm ID Media.
The partnership includes placement of ID Media client Nikon’s logo on photos taken with the Nikon camera on Flickr’s home page at www.flickr.com, as well as a photo contest and a photo gallery sponsored by Nikon.
“The reason why we went with Flickr is they have a unique consumer who wants to be discovered, who wants to share their photos,” said Andrea Kerr, account director at ID Media, New York. “We wanted to try and help facilitate that interaction.”
Flickr members post photos and view, share and comment on photos posted on individual pages that are linked through friend groups. Basic membership is free and follows guidelines that are regulated within the group.
The Nikon logo appears on Flickr’s home page and on the welcome screen when members log in. Photos taken with a Nikon camera also will feature the logo. Clicking on the logo redirects users to camera information or to the Nikon “Stunning Gallery,” a collection of pictures submitted by visitors to the site and selected by Flickr staff as “most stunning.”
“The people we are targeting already have an affinity for the Nikon brand,” said Jeff Hinz, director of client services at ID Media. “We are not interrupting people who aren’t interested. We are keeping it confined to the Nikon community.
“We’re not just promoting a product,” he said. “We’re very sensitive to the online community that already exists.”
Ms. Kerr agreed.
“We didn’t want to be in your face,” she said. “We wanted to give the consumer specific information that they would be interested in.”
The deal also entails an instant-win contest, which is entered by registering online via links on the Nikon and Flickr sites. The contest runs through July 21 and will give away four Nikon CoolPix S6 Digital Cameras.
ID Media is a direct response and digital media services company with 20 years of experience specializing in telecommunications, technology, entertainment and consumer electronics. Nikon, Tokyo, began in 1917 as an optical firm. It has companies in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. Flickr was launched in February 2004 and is part of Yahoo.
“This obviously wouldn’t work with everything,” Mr. Hinz said about ID Media’s approach to promoting Nikon on Flickr. “This was a very unique situation. We spent over six months researching this partnership. We’re hoping to help consumers interact with Flickr and have freedom, have ownership in the space.”
