2012 Gold Business to business

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. Beyond business results (21% sales uplift), the story reached 350 million+ people in 150 countries, propelling Kern to the top of Google rankings. The experiment 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. They wanted to build their 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. The strategy was a global experiment, aimed at creating a globally newsworthy campaign without the usual costs. This would help boost Kern’s search rankings, which are critical to success: around 20% of Kern’s sales are through online search. Creating sharable content would give greater social reach and also help engage key journalists, bloggers and influencers.

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 ones. 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. They’re charmed by the spirit of the experiment, happily escorting the gnome to landmarks from mountain tops to distant beaches, generating loads of exotic, shareable imagery. 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 one week of reaching the South Pole, the story reached an audience of over 355 million in 152 countries. There were three requests every minute from people wanting to weigh the gnome. After two weeks, 16,386 websites had linked to GnomeExperiment.com, pushing Kern from page 12 to page 1 on Google (average based on typical keywords), resulting in a 200% increase in traffic, an 11% sales uplift and a 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, Graham Jenks - Art Director, James Nester - Copywriter, Aphrodite Paxinou - Digital Producer, Nick Hearne - Art Director & Social Creative U-Dox, Blair Metcalfe - Pr Lead (Ogilvy Pr), Piet Johnson - Photographer (Piet Johnson Photography)