2012 Gold Best use of search, natural or paid-for

Client Kern & Sohn

How did the campaign make a difference? This experiment used a travelling gnome to prove a little-known theory about Earth’s gravity. 16,000+ websites and blogs linked to the website, propelling Kern from page 12 to the top of search rankings. The experiment was Twitter Top News, became a TED talk and was even added to several national curricula.

What details of the strategy make this a winning entry? Kern makes some of the planet’s most precise scales. Kern wanted to build its reputation and revenue in the global laboratory and education sector, but there are millions of these institutions and no credible data on who buys science equipment. Plus Kern’s marketing budget was lightweight. But approximately 25% of Kern's sales are from customers who find Kern through online search. So boosting Kern's search ranking, as well as their reputation, could significantly boost revenue. This required bait links from credible relevant science websites, using keywords such as: ‘precision’, ‘weighing’, ‘scales’, ‘science’, ‘education’, and most importantly, ‘Kern’. Sharable content would give greater social reach, help engage key journalists, bloggers and influencers and boost search performance by encouraging social interactions (Likes, shares and retweets).

How did creativity bring the strategy to life? This was the world’s first mass-participation gravity experiment: one that reveals an amazing, little-known phenomenon. Earth’s gravity actually varies, so you'll weigh slightly more or less wherever you go. These fluctuations wouldn’t register on typical scales, but they do on Kern scales. Carefully selected Kern customers and scientists around the world were invited to play a starring role. They receive a kit containing a set of scales and a special test weight: a chip-proof garden gnome. Participating scientists weigh the gnome, record the results on the website, take photographic evidence, then send him on. Each world-famous institution the gnome visits is a highly credible endorsement for Kern, from the South Pole to CERN – he’s even set to experience weightlessness in NASA’s Vomit Comet. As he travels, he drives traffic to the site and explains the science through his very own Tumblr and Twitter accounts.

Results Within two days of his reaching the South Pole, the story was Twitter Top News, reaching 355 million+ in 152 countries, having been shared by New Scientist, NASA, Huffington Post, Reader's Digest, National Geographic and the BBC, as well as appearing on TV. After two weeks, 16,386 websites had linked to GnomeExperiment.com, resulting in a 200% increase in traffic to the Kern e-catalogue, an 11% sales uplift and 1,042% ROI. After a month there was a 21% sales uplift across the entire Kern range.

Team Charlie Wilson – Executive Creative Director, Emma de la Fosse – Executive Creative Director, James Nester – Creative Director, Graham Jenks – Creative Director / Art Director, Aphrodite Paxinou – Digital Producer

Other Contributors Nick Hearne – U-Dox (Art Director and Social Creative), Blair Metclafe – Ogilvy PR (PR lead), Piet Johnson – Photography