How can Leica Camera Best Spend its Ad Budget?

[ferider]

I think we agree, Bill, although I said revenue, not profit. I would assume
that the Panasonic collaboration brings in as much money as the M line,
but I don't know for sure.

I am a typical customer, and so is my wife who uses an LZ30.
But we don't really know where Leica is going, as consumers,
Nikon, Canon, Sony, etc brands seem much clearer.

At RFF we are biased, naturally things revolve around the M line.
Not sure that the M line is really as important in the Leica business
plan.

We all assume that failure of the M8 implies failure of Leica. It could
also mean Leica just giving up on film cameras and RFs and focusing
on being a lens supplier, like Zeiss was on and off for a long time.

Whatever - as a consumer I feel totally disoriented, and was shocked
how new products were announced last year. Seems like totally
chaotic to me.

I like your idea about student classes, competitions, etc. This is
primarily brand creation. If Leica believes in RF, they should promote
the low end as well, e.g. hire Hayek and come out with a
new Leica CL (the Smart Leica 🙂 ), less than US 400 including a 40mm,
exactly for the younger, newer customers. It could help making
film shooting "hip" again. Like VW selling a new Kaefer ....

Now that would be great.

Roland.

 

[BillBingham2]

I like the idea of a new CL. The CM could do, but does not have enough control nor interchangeable lenses. While they could go to Cosina, it think they need to stay with the unique size/configuration of the CL. Update the meter and shutter and I think you have the ultimate carry camera for young photographers.

I agree, Leica seem to be coming out with the shotgun approach. Lots of little stuff, hoping something will hit. I would love to see which lines provide what profit. I am hard pressed to say that I blame them, but there are niches they could hit hard and bring in some much needed cash without expending a lot of capital (e.g. 4/3s lenses).

I've always thought that if you can not do marketing in one medium well, don't do it. An add here or there in magizines will not keep the name where they need it. Perhaps the answer is the seed some cameras with high profile folks. Canon goes for the hot athetlic babes, Leica goes for the people who have made it. They have made it and now can afford a Leica, they must be out there.

I still think they should gut the R system and take the lenses and put them out in Canon, Nikon and 4/3s mounts. Stop all new work on bodies, focus on lenses.

B2 (;->

 

[Andy Aitken]

The only Leica ads I've seen are in my wife's Vanity Fair - between diamond encrusted watches and $5k handbags. I guess that would use up their entire budget for a start. The VF ads don't even say anything (all stlye and no content). I think this tells us all we need to know about their marketing strategy.

How could they improve on this? Well, look for better value for money for a start. I'm willing to bet they could get a run in the best photography magazine in the US and every EU country for the same price as a run in VF.

 

[Nachkebia]

Magnum is the way to go I think, well they can always ask me to shoot promo 😀 😀

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Buy Cosina and make an entry level M, or get Cosina to make it for them like they do the Zeiss Ikon.

And an entry level M digital too using Cosina body and Epson electronics.

Somewhat along those lines. I'd make an "entry-level" Tri-Elmar: 21, 35 and 50mm, f/2.8, with all-molded elements (they already do that for aspheric elements), and all-carbonite housing. Perhaps they could call it the Tri-Carbonar? 😀

 

[bob cole]

How can Leica best spend its ad budget? [2]

How can Leica best spend its ad budget? [2]

After I made a few suggestions the other day, I'd like to propose a different approach:

A 12-month, interest-free deal -- strictly for the M-8 because it's so expensive --along the lines of the Bose radio and Home Shopping.

Assuming a retail price for the M-8 of, say, $4,999 usd, you might pay $1,000 down and get 12 months to pay the $3,999 balance at the rate of $333.25usd..
each month.

As an added attraction, Leica might throw in a small gift, like a T-shirt, a baseball cap, a key ring, a special M-8 owner's pin, a jacket, a belt buckle, each with the Leica logo...

 

[Jason Sprenger]

Candid photography has the image of a rude endeavor. RF manufacturers would do well to position themselves as the civilized alternative.

I'd recommend a TV / Web ad stressing the strongest points of the M system, the quiet shutter, the compactness, and the lens quality.

Show a grubby, waddle-bottomed, wannabe paparazzi in a boonie-hat interrupting an elegant stage performance with the "bizzz-gazzit" of his DSLR rig that's bigger than a Speed Graphic, popping its blinding flash, whilst ordering people to act natural.

Then show the same scene as it should have been with a calm cool fellow lifting an M to his eye after moving the aperture to 1.4 and recording the performance w/o missing a beat, interspersing with a montage of fabulous shots.

The tag line could be something like "Capture the scene without making a scene."

 

[Magus]

Post deleted by posters request

 

[outforalaska]

Sort of like the James Bond movie franchise where his wristwatches have been Omega (used to be Rolex and Seiko) and cars BMW (or is it now Lotus or Aston Martins). Imagine our favorite spy 007 taking surveillance pictures of the bad guy or his trophy babe (apologies in advance if I offended anyone...). Nevermind, the fact that I can still remember what he used in the movies is scary...

Having said that, cross-branding into other genres could help too.

As an example, Mercedes-Benz in Japan had a B&W print ad campaign for one of their new models. In the pictures there were two people posing as photogs. One person holding what looks like a M3 the other a M7. I suppose for M-B that pairing is sinonomous for luxury and refinement.

It's stuff like that, I think will achieve more Leica awareness...

Personally I'd like to see a Leica and Porsche pairing. Even today both the M-series and 911 maintain their quintessential shape and function...

I also agree with you strongly. My take is a bit offtopic from the preceeding quote, but Zen's ideas certainly helped me invision some of my own.
While it could be attributed to my youth and "spoiled" childhood; I can say I have often begun to like things in a most materialistic manner, often wanting something for the brand name (Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Ferrari [can't say I've had the pleasure of that one yet]). Fortunately I have come to appreciate the reason some "high end" brand names carry such a high price tag through quality, style, and craftsmanship. For me Leica is no different. Growing up on a hand-me-down Canon AE-1, I often pined for a Leica with the idea in mind that it is the best. My photographic interests rolled toward the aspects that Leicas strongly take hold and the real reasons to want a Leica caught up and ultimately surpassed the brand name desire.
I think, today, in the US, there is a large percentage of others that are very materialistic. It could also be argued, quite easily, that most people want digital cameras. Portraying the Leica M8 (maybe the M9 - w/ full frame sensor to combat online side-by-side comparisons to big Canon Dslr's) as the best money can buy, a sexy camera, and accompanied by the best optics; in my opinion, would be a good angle for today's Leica marketing. Think Victoria's Secret models, clean cut & young male photogs, etc using Leica M8's.
With a larger M8 income to the company, I don't think the tradition of film M's would need be dropped. Let's just hope they keep cameras like the MP around. While I hate to think that people would buy Leica's for the, "wow, a Leica!" factor; I think more people (than today) would begin to appreciate the superior quality of Leica products.

 

[Magus]

Post deleted by posters request

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Nikon gave cameras to some flickr photographers and then used those photos to promote the camera.

I don't think you can spend it more wisely than that, if you can pick the right people to use a product. I wouldn't let Julia Childs promote skating boards, and you wouldn't go to Tony Hawk as your first go-to guy for cutlery reviews.

My twopence.

 

[35mmdelux]

THey need to make sure they have an ad in every elite photo-related magazine for starters.

EDUCATION. Leica needs to not just sell, but to EDUCATE the market why the Leica is the ICON of photo instruments and its place in photographic history.

PUBLISH. With its connections and resources publish some books that address the needs of the market beyond the gadgetry. Example: Ansel Adams made his success from his trilogy of educational books, not monlogues. He became famous as an educator.

 

[PlantedTao]

Leica has been trying to make M profitable for a while now without much luck... (witness M5, CL/CLE, a la carte etc...)... they tried high end SLRs - great cameras but i suspect that they never made a dent in the sales of Canon/Nikon/OM... i think they need to make affordable P&S in the same vein as the D-Lux and market the heck out of them... as much as i hate to think it, Leica needs volume to sustain itself...

use the Porsche model... they've gone from near bankruptcy in the late 80s/early 90s to being one of, if not the most profitable car maker in the world... and they did it by selling volume products that were inferior in many ways to their flagship product (boxster/s, cayenne) - they used that money to improve their best in class iconic 911 and now, they've improved and expanded their line to include another best in class coupe in the Cayman/S...

they need to speak to Porsche AG

I think this is a very great suggestion...as others have stated they need to get affordable cameras out there to the masses, inexpensive P&S and/or low-end M's. Creating volume really puts your name out there, along with a slick add campaign (iPod).
As with Porsche, the more you see on the road (boxsters, Cayenne) the more you realize it is an affordable vehicle. Before it was a rarity to see a Porsche...now not so much. That is a good thing. It draws people in...and then once you get your customers attention you can start talking about the higher end models, etc.
I don't think they will succeed...CV landed a very deadly blow to Leica and is doing what Leica should have done long ago.

 

[5:00 PM]

Leica had a damn good ad agency seven years ago

Leica had a damn good ad agency seven years ago

Take a look at this German TV spot for the M6 from 2000 (QuickTime):

http://www.leicapages.com/quicktime/M6ad.mpeg

I've been in marketing forever; this is a brilliant ad. In just 20 seconds you see individualism, precision, intimacy in the midst of a crowd, time standing still and the decisive moment. Reshoot this with updated cameras and run it on Discovery HD, BBC America and other slightly snooty cable networks. The web site will be overwhelmed.

That's the easy part.

 

[Vics]

Product placement in feature films and in the commercials of luxury cars. Get people asking, "What's that?" Everyone who knows about Leica wants one, so the thing to do is to increase the number of people who both know and want one.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

How can Leica Best Spend its Ad Budget?

By hiring a good proofreader. I see frequent mistakes in their literature and pamphlets.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I have never ever seen a leica ad except for shops that sell leica stuff.

Have you seen a DB2 database ad except for shops that sell DB2 database stuff? Still, there are some sales. It would be foolish to lump it together with the XBox and Playstation market.

The market for Leica is more complex, specialized and paradoxical than that.

 

[bob cole]

How can Leica Camera Best Spend its Ad Budget?

Ask yourself these questions:


Question: Who has lots of money for expensive stuff like a Leica?
Answer. Doctors, lawyers, dentists, pharmacists, Wall Street people, show-business people, politicians and rulers.

Question: What luxury stuff do they buy?
Answer: Patek Philippe and Rolex watches ; yachts, speedboats and sailboats; diamonds, pearls and other jewelry; real estate, homes and condos; around the world cruises; airplanes, helicopters and classic cars; Mercedes and BMW.

Question: where do these luxury sellers advertise?
Answer: Wherever it is, that's where Leica should advertise.





Tiger Woods advertises Tag Heur watches regularly in The New York Times...Years ago famous people advertised Rolex watches just about everywhere , from National Geographic to Paris Match.

How about world-famous people advertising Rolex?

Something like this for today's buyers [the second is from Luigi's site]:

 

[johnastovall]

By putting that ad money to R&D to fix the IR problems of the M8 without external filters and coding of lenses .

All the ad's in the world won't convence me to buy one until it is a mature digital camera and not a bundle of "Kludges."

 

[Mohan]

I think leica was responsible for one of the best adverts I’ve come across in any medium, but I’ve only noticed it in one small camera shop. Simply Kordas legendary photo of Che Guevara with the tag line “How revolutionary can your camera be?” and the leica red dot.

My Dream savoir M would be a new cheapened and Asian made M2, perhaps made from alloy with an M4 style rewind and a meter, sold as a kit with a lens rather like the CV 35 2.5 Pancake II, perhaps it could be packaged with 5 or 10 rolls of Tri-X and a small book (maybe with Magnums involvement) chronicling some of the great photos taken with M’s, it would need to be priced at around $1000 with its main competition being the “Prosumer” DSLR’s (D200, Eos 30D) and the target market being artsy but affluent 20-30 something’s, who must be a large proportion of DSLR buyers and also the crowd who fell for the Lomo thing, rather like Lomo it should be marketed as a tool too carry everywhere and create lo-fi Black & white shots, things that DSLRs suck at. Unfortunately it should also be marketed as a fashion statement and symbol of your taste and creativity, rather like a Macbook Pro.

Black and white film rather like vinyl should become kind of a counter culture thing for younger people. I grew up with CD’s and Mp3’s but now most contemporary music I buy is new and on vinyl (much of it is not available on CD)