The Gnome Experiment - Precision Scales and Calibration
Kern & Sohn
Issue 23 | May 2012
Agency
OgilvyOne London
Creative Team
Executive Creative Directors: Charlie Wilson, Emma de la Fosse; Creative Directors and Creatives: James Nester, Graham Jenks, Nick Hearne
Production Team
Aphrodite Paxinou, Chris Haines, Teresa Chao, Fahim Chowdhury, Daniel Tanner
Other Credits
Clients, Kern & Sohn: Albert Sauter, Tommy Fimpel ; Photographer: Piet Johnson ; Ogilvy PR Team: Blair Metcalfe, Pete Dyson, Allan Edwards
Date
Mar 2012
Background
Kern make some of the world’s most precise weighing scales. They wanted to grow their reputation and market share within the science and education sectors. But there were millions of schools and labs around the world. The challenge was to find a way to engage this global audience.
Idea
Kern has embarked on the world’s first mass-participation science experiment: one that reveals a little-known global phenomenon.
Earth’s gravity actually varies, so the same object will weigh slightly more or less depending on its precise location.
In a scientific twist on the travelling gnome prank, Kern set out to measure these differences. Participating scientists around the world simply weighed the gnome, recorded his weight on the website, then sent him on to his next destination.
Results
Within two days of media launch, the story had reached 150 countries with three people requesting to weigh the gnome every minute.
After two weeks, over 16,000 websites had linked to GnomeExperiment.com which pushed Kern from page 12 to page 1 on Google, resulting in a 21% online sales uplift and a 1042% ROI.
TED held a talk dedicated to the experiment, while several countries made the Gnome Experiment part of their national curriculum.
The experiment continues.
Our Thoughts
Weighing scales is a pretty obscure category, even in the B2B world. But this campaign invites so much general interest into the equation that it seems to have become a bit of a phenomenon. It even leaves you with a pestering urge to go weigh a gnome.