Sharp, along with two other voices in picture quality – RED and THX, launched the Art of Amazing Campaign to promote and foster the development of 4K content creation, while recognizing independent filmmakers and their work and engaging the online community in the experience. The campaign showcased Sharp’s passion for providing superior picture quality and allowing viewers to experience video the way it was originally intended to be seen. This is achieved through advancements in resolution technologies and greater accessibility to the technology. At the forefront of this development, Sharp went straight to the 4K creative communities themselves. Sharp tapped into an existing market of content creators and visionaries to host The Art of Amazing 4K Film Competition, largely fueled by social media. The official call to entry (open from October 1 – November 15) was amplified via RED and Sharp social media networks and public relations support, attracting a remarkable field of entries. After narrowing the entries to four finalists, Sharp facilitated crowd-sourced voting on Facebook to determine the winner. Building out a robust landing page, voters were encouraged to view the final four-minute films before selecting their favorite Each finalist received a trip to the Shot on RED Film Festival in Hollywood on Dec. 4 and 5, where their film was screened and the winner announced. The campaign oriented around the recent release of the first THX-Certified Ultra HD 4K television – the Sharp AQUOS 4K Ultra HD LED. Reinforcing Sharp’s position as a premium brand in the consumer electronics marketplace, the socially-driven campaign also positioned Sharp as an active leader in quality content development. This entry deserves to win because of the results it achieved in using crowdsourced video content to inject unbridled energy into a social media campaign. The campaign engaged film makers and enthusiasts both digitally and in person. Further amplifying the contest and 4K content, the Shot on RED Film Festival had 780 attendees. The festival's landing page, which included the Sharp logo, AQUOS 4K TV and link to the brand's homepage received 15,000 page views. 9+ hours of original 4K content were shared at Sharp’s booth at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the industry’s leading trade show. The video content gathered, primarily from budding filmmakers, was also distributed within Sharp’s in-store displays and via online channels, garnering enormous exposure for the innovative creators. For Sharp, the video content in the Art of Amazing campaign generated thoughtful conversation around the launch of the AQUOS 4K Ultra HD TV, the industry’s first THX-Certified Ultra HD 4K television. Sharp was able to leverage an existing audience of influencers, who are passionate about having consumers see their creations the way they intended, to create excitement around its 4K TV offering, elevate the brand’s recognition and access original 4K content. Sharp also developed new partnerships with the film community that will spur more creativity for future endeavors. The film competition tapped into over 200,000 filmmakers and generated 175M+ media impressions across social, digital and PR initiatives. Further, $250K+ in creative costs were saved and 127 pieces of original 4K was developed. On Twitter, there were 400 new followers, 2,946,679 impressions, 1.8 million #Sharp4K impressions, 3.3K #Sharp4K mentions, and 241 Twitter chat contributors. On Facebook, there were 23,973 New Fans and 26,378,436 Impressions. On YouTube, there were 250 new subscribers and 4,000 unique views. Sharp also hosted an hour-long 4K Twitter chat on technology and content to promote the Art of Amazing, which became a trending topic. Official participants were HH Gregg, OFF Hollywood and THX. The campaign expanded coverage for Sharp’s 4K TV offering and raised awareness of the brand's leadership in the 4K space among technology, trade, entertainment media. Unique coverage - 99% of it reflecting positive sentiment - appeared in key target outlets including, The Hollywood Reporter, About.com, Broadway World, CE Daily News, Rapid TV News and TWICE.
