An insistent beep makes Alok Bharadwaj turn to his smartphone. He reads a message, puts it down and launches into a full blown rant: "Smartphones are the biggest murderers of modern times," fumes the executive vice-president of Canon India. "Its first victim was pager, then MP3, FM, audio cassettes, CDs and now digital compact cameras," he says, adding that he uses the iPhone only for selfies.
His anger is understandable. Camera makers in India have lost the first round to the ubiquitous smartphones. Compacts — the main weapon in their arsenal — are a thing of the past, thanks to phones sporting mega-pixel cameras. Powered by fancy lenses and with a range of apps that unleash everyone's inner Annie Leibovitz, they first clicked with the youth, and are gradually finding traction even with an older segment, thanks to their ease of use, ubiquity and the ability to quickly share photos or upload them to popular websites.
However, a battle-scarred Bharadwaj is now ready to fight back with a new weapon — DSLR (digital single-lens reflex cameras).
"For the second round, gloves are on, the helmet is stronger and the knock-out punch has been carefully planned," he exults. While it's too early to judge the winner, the Indian arm of the Japanese digital imaging company is leaving no stone unturned.
Late last month, Canon India rolled out its entry-level DSLR range, EOS 1200D, to reach out to new users such as amateur photographers, hobbyists, and even smartphone upgraders. DSLRs which contributed just 15 per cent to Canon India's business since 2008, shot up to 65 per cent in 2013. And this year, it's set to account for over 75 per cent.
DSLR was always considered a camera for the serious photographer. Its users were a breed apart from the point and shoot generation. The cameras were notoriously difficult to use and bulky. But now DSLRs are being pitched as an aspirational product, with a tempting price point tacked on. The tagline of the new campaign is Everyone Can with a Canon.
"It's a logical move," admits Harsh Verma, associate professor of marketing at FMS Delhi. With low-end digital cameras on the verge of extinction, what option are camera makers left with? The campaign tries to convince potential buyers that DSLRs are not as esoteric and complex as they'd believed them to be. "It's not that people didn't have money to buy a DSLR. But it was intimidating due to the technicalities associated with it. The move to popularize DSLRs will certainly open up the market," says Verma. However, the big challenge is to redefine their core proposition. "Instead of saying that you can capture a picture, they have to say that you can capture a moment or life."
Canon's new approach targets women and children with a marketing strategy that lays special emphasis on engagement. "A very thin line divides photography and creative photography. And if people cross this line, I am sure they won't go back," says Bharadwaj.
With household penetration hovering at a minuscule 1% in India as compared to Japan's 300%, Canon sees enormous potential. "It is still a household product and not a personal product. That's why penetration is so low," says Bharadwaj. Canon is sure over 4.4 million households will be able to afford a camera by 2016.
"We are targeting women in our communications and wooing them because they will help in changing the perception," explains Bharadwaj. "In countries such as Singapore, over 50% of target audience for DSLRs is female." Many young mothers that Canon has spoken to complain about their kids being addicted to smartphones; the company hopes to supplant a bad addiction with a good one: photography.
Through its 110 Canon Image Square stores, which account for 25 per cent of Canon's camera business, the brand is trying to not just sell but engage with consumers. During afternoons, these stores turn into training workshops for kids and women.
By organising free and paid sessions for camera buyers and photography lovers, tying up for photo tours and photo walks where it supplies equipment and rolling out school and college contact programmes, Canon is trying to widen the zoom of catchment area. But with a price tag that's still on the higher side —- an entry-level model of DSLR costs over `28,000 — how will the brand ensure that people lap these up? Market growth doesn't happen with a drop in price, says Bharadwaj, dismissing the theory that cheap products will necessarily sell like hot cakes.
"What happened to Nano? It was positioned as the cheapest car," he points out. The market will grow on the back of a strong proposition, better communication and engagement with consumers, he says. However not everyone is as optimistic. "It's like trying to swim with 100kg cement bags tied to your legs," says Anand
Halve of chlorophyll a Mumbai-based brand consultant. Particularly because for most workaday photographers, smartphones are perfect and the largest number of people do not need such a complex and specialised piece of equipment, he feels. "Trying to revive the camera market is as difficult as making people buy sewing machines," he concludes
The crux of the matter is that while everyone can with a Canon, will enough people bother since they also can with an instrument that's buzzing insistently just an arm's length away?
His anger is understandable. Camera makers in India have lost the first round to the ubiquitous smartphones. Compacts — the main weapon in their arsenal — are a thing of the past, thanks to phones sporting mega-pixel cameras. Powered by fancy lenses and with a range of apps that unleash everyone's inner Annie Leibovitz, they first clicked with the youth, and are gradually finding traction even with an older segment, thanks to their ease of use, ubiquity and the ability to quickly share photos or upload them to popular websites.
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However, a battle-scarred Bharadwaj is now ready to fight back with a new weapon — DSLR (digital single-lens reflex cameras).
"For the second round, gloves are on, the helmet is stronger and the knock-out punch has been carefully planned," he exults. While it's too early to judge the winner, the Indian arm of the Japanese digital imaging company is leaving no stone unturned.
Late last month, Canon India rolled out its entry-level DSLR range, EOS 1200D, to reach out to new users such as amateur photographers, hobbyists, and even smartphone upgraders. DSLRs which contributed just 15 per cent to Canon India's business since 2008, shot up to 65 per cent in 2013. And this year, it's set to account for over 75 per cent.
DSLR was always considered a camera for the serious photographer. Its users were a breed apart from the point and shoot generation. The cameras were notoriously difficult to use and bulky. But now DSLRs are being pitched as an aspirational product, with a tempting price point tacked on. The tagline of the new campaign is Everyone Can with a Canon.
"It's a logical move," admits Harsh Verma, associate professor of marketing at FMS Delhi. With low-end digital cameras on the verge of extinction, what option are camera makers left with? The campaign tries to convince potential buyers that DSLRs are not as esoteric and complex as they'd believed them to be. "It's not that people didn't have money to buy a DSLR. But it was intimidating due to the technicalities associated with it. The move to popularize DSLRs will certainly open up the market," says Verma. However, the big challenge is to redefine their core proposition. "Instead of saying that you can capture a picture, they have to say that you can capture a moment or life."
Canon's new approach targets women and children with a marketing strategy that lays special emphasis on engagement. "A very thin line divides photography and creative photography. And if people cross this line, I am sure they won't go back," says Bharadwaj.
With household penetration hovering at a minuscule 1% in India as compared to Japan's 300%, Canon sees enormous potential. "It is still a household product and not a personal product. That's why penetration is so low," says Bharadwaj. Canon is sure over 4.4 million households will be able to afford a camera by 2016.
"We are targeting women in our communications and wooing them because they will help in changing the perception," explains Bharadwaj. "In countries such as Singapore, over 50% of target audience for DSLRs is female." Many young mothers that Canon has spoken to complain about their kids being addicted to smartphones; the company hopes to supplant a bad addiction with a good one: photography.
Through its 110 Canon Image Square stores, which account for 25 per cent of Canon's camera business, the brand is trying to not just sell but engage with consumers. During afternoons, these stores turn into training workshops for kids and women.
By organising free and paid sessions for camera buyers and photography lovers, tying up for photo tours and photo walks where it supplies equipment and rolling out school and college contact programmes, Canon is trying to widen the zoom of catchment area. But with a price tag that's still on the higher side —- an entry-level model of DSLR costs over `28,000 — how will the brand ensure that people lap these up? Market growth doesn't happen with a drop in price, says Bharadwaj, dismissing the theory that cheap products will necessarily sell like hot cakes.
"What happened to Nano? It was positioned as the cheapest car," he points out. The market will grow on the back of a strong proposition, better communication and engagement with consumers, he says. However not everyone is as optimistic. "It's like trying to swim with 100kg cement bags tied to your legs," says Anand
Halve of chlorophyll a Mumbai-based brand consultant. Particularly because for most workaday photographers, smartphones are perfect and the largest number of people do not need such a complex and specialised piece of equipment, he feels. "Trying to revive the camera market is as difficult as making people buy sewing machines," he concludes
The crux of the matter is that while everyone can with a Canon, will enough people bother since they also can with an instrument that's buzzing insistently just an arm's length away?
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