THE XPLORING BRIEF

The digital revolution has made photography accessible to everyone as the digital camera market is developing faster than other creative media, both technically and creatively. People now have an ever-expanding choice of tools to create their pictures while one product innovation is chasing the next. Everybody is able to document their lives and to explore their creative potential without taking any risks. Not only have people been empowered to create more images of their lives but also to share them and collaborate with others. Photographs have become the new social currency that people are trading on social networking sites to influence others and express their identity. It’s a universal language everyone can understand, but the quantity of images has taken over the quality of photos leading to digital inertia. Digital cameras are becoming commoditized in the megapixel and price battle. Consumers are trying to stay on top of the digital camera swamp as they are stuck in a tyranny of choice. What all camera brands are failing to do is to create an emotional connection with people who may not be passionate about photography as such, but use digital cameras in their everyday lives.

The purpose of this Xploring project is to uncover a strategic insight that will help us lift people’s rational barriers and take us to a powerful organizing idea.

Areas of Curiosity:
- The rise of creativity in people’s everyday lives
- People’s hidden creative talents
- How people reportage their lives in pictures
- How people’s see the world through their camera
- People’s passion to preserve their experiences on pictures
- What makes a good camera for ordinary people


THE XPLORING TASK
Xploring is based on a very simple principle:
If you want to understand how a tiger hunts, don’t go to the zoo...Go to the jungle.

Xploring is much more than gathering information, it means going into unknown territory. Taking risks, perhaps taking a wrong turn. It means following your gut and listening, really listening. It means trusting your instincts, over and beyond the facts given. Knowing that when you do, you'll see more, understand more.

We will spend the next weeks with real people in the real world to understand the things that matter to them when taking pictures. Our Xploring journey will take us to people living in Germany, Poland, Russia, Italy, Spain and the U.K. We will go to their homes, spend a day with their families and friends, share their personal memories, connect with them through social networking sites, go on a night out, play with their cameras, listen to their stories, and observe their creative abilities…etc.


28 July 2009

My big fat wedding

I am invited to Zeina's & Christopher"s wedding. 135 guests, almost all equipped with a camera. Plus 2 professional wedding photographers and a camera man. Zeina wants to make sure that the once in a lifetime event she's been looking forward to is fully documented. The guests have travelled from countries and continents to be part of the big day. Everyone is dressed up for the occasion, picture perfect, ready to be photographed from all angles throughout the day. As we are waiting for the bride and groom to arrive everyone is taking pictures of each other. Family & friends are building formations to be captured by the camera. People just can't get enough of each others images. As you are posing for one camera another appears next to it, taking the exact same picture from a slightly different angle. Anything from compact, to entry level SLR to professional cameras is amongst the guests. The bride and groom finally make an entrance to the ballroom. The crowd is hysterical. All eyes and lenses are on the couple. People have now moved from images to little Mpeg films. The best moment of the day has to be filmed (although there will be an official wedding video). Bride and groom seem a little overwhelmed by the attention as they slowly make their way to their seats. The hysteria calms down as dinner is being served. But the main act is still to come: The after dinner party. Once the formal part is over people are getting out of their composed shells. Uncles and aunties are showing off their crazy dance moves, the bride's friends passing shot glasses around, people are singing and dancing. Little stories are happening all over the room. And again, as things are happening they are being captured on memory sticks. The ones that you hardly notice are the two professional photographers. They are equipped with fat lenses to zoom in and out and get close to the action without disturbing it. As the night progresses the party gets crazier. Everyone is drunk and probably not able to remember everything, but the cameras are still wide awake. I wake up the next morning with a big headache. My friends and I go through the pictures we have taken. "Oh that's nice. Oh no that one is horrible. Oh my god I can't even remember this....!" Thanks to our cameras we are reliving the evening. And it was great fun!

Insights:
Pictures help us relive the moment.
The spontaneous shots that people don't notice tell the best stories.
Everyone wants to have their own version of the moment.
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