Nicolaos Panagiotopoulos and Vincenzo Tomini Foresti of The Gate Communications during discussions with the MTA

Nikon & Malta co-branding

A co-branding agreement was signed last month between the Malta Tourism Authority and Italian Media & PR company, The Gate Communications, representing Nikon Italia.

The agreement involves 26 professional European photographers, all members of the Nikon international academy, whom, together with Maltese photographer Rene Rossignaud, will be shooting Malta & Gozo at will and without constraints over a three day period. The photographers, who will be brought over in three groups, the first group having arrived on the 3rd of May, will be given carte blanche on what to photograph. Nonetheless the principal theme will be: Elements that make Malta and Gozo intriguing. The second group of photographers coming over to Malta will also be accompanied by a dozen or so Italian journalists from top-notch publications, who will be covering this initiative.

All images taken by the photographers, running into thousands, will immediately become the property of the Malta Tourism Authority and may be used by the MTA to promote Malta at any time and anywhere in the world. Moreover, following the three consecutive shoots, Nikon representatives and MTA officials from the Communications and PR division will select some 60-odd photographs which will then be sent to a professional photo-retouching studio and then enlarged and printed in display format. These artworks will subsequently form part of a travelling exhibition, with the current working title of: Malta Through The Eyes of Europe, which will kick off in Malta in October this year then travel to Rome, Milan, Athens and possibly Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, Germany and the UK amongst others.

Finally, Nikon Italia will also be selecting some three of the best images taken in Malta, which images shall then be the central theme of all the advertising that the company will be putting out in Italy in the coming months. Malta, apart from the images themselves, shall also be co-branded alongside Nikon in these advertising campaigns. The value of the advertising campaign, footed entirely by Nikon Italia, is understood to be substantial. All other costs related to photographers fees, equipment, studio retouching, printing etc. shall also be borne by Nikon Italia.

This initiative was conceived and formulated by Robert Zammit, on behalf of the Malta Tourism Authority, and Vincenzo Tomini Foresti and Nicolaos Panagiatopoulos on behalf of The Gate Communications.