As a pioneer in ultra high technology lens, Nikon makes spectacle lenses that offer the best possible vision to every person. However, due to the commoditization of optical lenses, frames take precedence over lenses for most consumers, and Nikon faced challenges attaining leadership amidst a cluttered and often low priced lens market.
Ad-comm Group was brought in to develop and execute a comprehensive global branding and communications strategy. We created a “premium/luxury lens” positioning and brand identity, and launched a global campaign that created understanding and stirred emotion, moving the brand from commodity to luxury and increasing market share.
Together, our strategy and creative teams developed a brand identity that harnessed and captured the innovative, technological and humanistic elements of Nikon Lenswear.
We expressed this brand identity through the “Nikon Visionaries”, a global campaign featuring inspiring individuals with corrective lens needs achieving remarkable successes and notoriety across numerous fields including the arts, sports, business, music and gastronomy.
The campaign was created to be highly adaptable, with locally relevant product and brand focused executional ability, built on an iconic layout grid that ensured consistency and immediate recognition of the campaign. Global buy-in to the campaign was ensured through the selection of locally impactful visionaries for each market; we traveled across continents finding, getting to know and filming our global Visionaries, creating stunning moving and still images and assets that were used digitally, in print and at point of sale.
The brand identity and its expression established Nikon as a global premium spectacle lens brand; we changed consumer mindset relative to spectacle lens selection, and made Nikon Lenswear highly relevant to an affluent audience that previously considered the frame but not the lens.