We trained the world’s first octopus to use an underwater camera. But for this product demonstration to really work people had to know it was for real. So we created an event where the public could come and see this amazing performance for themselves and then we shared it with the world.

The underwater camera market has been flooded with inferior products and waterproof phones. Sony needed to refocus attention on their Cyber-shot TX30 as sales were declining. To show people how easy it is to take great underwater photos with this camera, we gave it to an amateur photographer who lives underwater and created a unique product demonstration.

The Octographer was covered by everyone from the New York Times and CNN to the Discovery Channel and National Geographic. Hundreds of photo blogs and photography websites also picked up the story. The amazing underwater performance by Rambo and the TX30 was Sony’s most successful product demonstration of all time and the most shared camera campaign of all time. The Cyber-shot TX30 went from 85th to the No1 most searched product on Sony’s website and the camera sold out in New Zealand in 48 hours.

By training an octopus to use a Sony Cyber-shot we were proving that anyone can take great underwater photos. But it was important to show that Rambo’s skills were real. An animal behaviorist worked with Rambo for 6 weeks, then her skills (Rambo is a she) were announced on national TV. The public were invited to New Zealand’s largest aquarium for a very special photo session. Hundreds of people turned up to be shot by the Octographer and their photos were shared online. The footage of Rambo at work was made into a unique piece of content that was shared around the world. Since the launch Rambo had performed again at the aquarium for the public and TV crews.