Nat Geo Launches ‘My Nat Geo Covershot’ On Facebook, Fans Can Create Their Own Nat Geo Traveller Cover

National Geographic Channel is back with CoverShot and this time they’re set to battle it out in the unexplored and beautiful Northeast. 10 photographers will compete with each other in the nerve wracking run to get their photograph on the cover of a National Geographic Traveller magazine. The first episode will go on air this weekend on April 26, with the social media promotions already on.

The channel has launched the ‘My Nat Geo Covershot’ contest on its Facebook page where fans of the show can experience their shots on the cover of a Nat Geo magazine. All fans need to do is upload their pictures and add a caption through the Facebook app to create a virtual cover page of the magazine.

Every week, 2 winners with the best shots will be announced during the show. The mega prize winner gets 2 tickets to travel to the North East, the battleground of CoverShot, sponsored by Roads Less Travelled. Besides this, the top 8 winners of the show will also get a free annual subscription to National Geographic Traveller India magazine.

My Nat Geo Covershot

Designed and executed by digital agency Flying Cursor, Facebook forms the main platform for the contest with Nat Geo India having a fan base of more than 10 million on the social network. Hosted on a Facebook app, one need not ‘like’ the page to be able to participate. You can read through the Terms & Conditions link at the bottom, or go through the tabs for Gallery, Prizes and Winners to know about the prizes, the schedule of winner announcements and what others are uploading.

Click on ‘Create my cover’ to upload your shot. The app guides you with step by step instructions using which you can upload your image in a given format, add a caption and then set it up by cropping it into position inside the yellow rectangle of the magazine. There are options to change color of the caption and font size. If you like what you see, you can go ahead and submit, or else redo it the way you want.

Post submission, the app provides social sharing buttons of Facebook and Twitter. You can choose to download your original Nat Geo Traveller cover too, or continue with the process to submit more shots. I submitted two of my favourite clicks taken at a hill station and downloaded the cover pic created by the app for my reference.

The contest has been promoted on the Facebook and Twitter pages of Nat Geo India. Also, the works of photographers who had participated in Nat Geo Covershot last year are being exhibited in Delhi this week. A Facebook event has been created for the exhibition.

Reaching out to photography enthusiasts

For a photography-led television show with aspiring photographers battling it out for the perfect shot for a prestigious magazine like the Nat Geo Traveller India, a Facebook photo contest like ‘Nat Geo Covershot’ is well aligned. Moreover, the campaign provides gratification that is relevant to a photographer community always looking for brand recognition. Who wouldn’t want to win a trip to the beautiful North East and have their name announced on national television!

The campaign has also been smartly integrated with television. By choosing to announce the winners on the show itself, Nat Geo has ensured guaranteed viewership.

Also design-wise, the Facebook app has a neat and non-cluttered look. The instructions are simple and navigation is smooth. The change in the background images adds to what could have been another boring photo submission Facebook app. The month-long covershot contest is on till May 13, for all you photography enthusiasts.