Aspiring amateur photographers are being invited by Toronto-based Sony Ericsson Canada to upload their best camera-phone photos to a new microsite, where their efforts might result in not just viral glory, but substantial prizes.
Launched yesterday, the search for ‘Canada’s Next Top Mobile Phone Photographer’ offers prizes ranging from the brand’s camera phones to a $10,000 ‘picture-perfect’ vacation. In true viral spirit, the initial judging will be done by everyone who visits the microsite and chooses their favourite shots by midnight March 23. The top three vote getters will each win a Sony Ericsson K850i Cyber-shot 5 Megapixel camera phone.
Then those winners will be challenged to capture and post new images for judging by a panel of celebrity judges consisting of renowned Canadian photographer Peter Burian, Canadian Idol winner Brian Melo and Techno Blogger Amber MacCarthur. One grand prize winner will receive a $10,000 travel certificate, while nine semi-finalists will get Cyber-shot 5 phones.
The contest is being publicized by the Toronto-based iPR Group through public and media relations as well as online through media buys on such photo-sharing communities as Yahoo, Flickr, MySpace and PhotoBucket and in photo galleries on Canada.com, theglobeandmail.com and CTV.ca. Media buys were handled by Toronto’s MediaEdge, and creative was produced by Iris New York.
