Canon
Take Stories
How do you show the strengths of four different cameras in one campaign?
When Canon launched four new cameras, two digital compacts and two DSLRs, the challenge wasn’t simply to promote them, but to differentiate them in a single, unified campaign. Each model had distinct strengths, yet all had to be showcased without blurring their individuality. The brief was bold: to turn technical features into human stories, and to inspire people to see themselves in the right camera.
The answer was “Take Stories.” If Kodak had owned the Moment, Canon set out to own the Story. Where a Kodak Moment captured a fleeting instant, a Canon Story unfolded over time — richer, deeper, more personal. “Take Stories” was Canon’s declaration that photography wasn’t just about freezing seconds, but about shaping narratives.
Rather than rely on specifications or product shots, Canon placed cameras in the hands of four ordinary people and followed them as they used photography to tell the stories of their lives. For three weeks in Zürich, London, Tuscany and Rome, documentary crews captured their journeys — not as actors in an ad, but as people revealing who they were through the images they took.
The Campaign
At the heart of the campaign was a simple truth: cameras are not bought for megapixels or shutter speeds, but for the lives they help capture. Each person was paired with the camera that best suited their style and situation — from portability for everyday spontaneity, to creative control for more ambitious expression. By watching them shoot, audiences could see in action what made each model unique.
Take Stories was designed as a fully integrated campaign. Films ran across television and online platforms; stills became print, outdoor and in-store activations; behind-the-scenes content fed social engagement. The real-world settings — city streets, countryside vistas, moments at home — became natural product demonstrations, showing Canon cameras not as gadgets but as companions in life’s narratives.
A new platform
Internally, the campaign resonated with Canon’s long-standing belief in the power of imagery to enrich lives. Employees, sales teams and retailers could use the stories as proof points in conversations with customers, turning product education into emotional storytelling.
The results established a template for Canon’s brand storytelling in Europe. By reframing cameras as tools for self-expression, Take Stories drove both understanding and desire. Consumers no longer had to interpret a spec sheet; they could see themselves reflected in the lives of others.
Awareness of the new models lifted across markets, and Canon strengthened its position as the brand that empowers anyone, not just professionals, to tell their story through photography.
Take Stories was more than a product launch.
It was Canon’s answer to the Kodak Moment:
A redefinition of what photography means, moving from capturing
single flashes of time to embracing the ongoing narrative of life itself.
Agency
Dentsu Amsterdam
Role
Senior Art Director
Responsibility
Concept and Art Direction
