Ken Ford
Refuses to suffer fools
A full page M8 ad is in the US edition of National Geographic this month. I don't think I've seen a RF ad in a mainstream (i.e. non-photo hobby) magazine since... ever? (I'm 44.)
egpj
50 Summilux is da DEVIL!
WHAT!? That is pretty good news. I'll have to go over to the local Barnes & Noble to see if I can pick one up. Should be a good read anyway for my flight home Thursday. Maybe Leica has actually put some advertising dollars away to promote the M8.
jlw
Rangefinder camera pedant
Interesting and not un-logical. National Geographic seems a perfect vehicle for reaching upscale, traditionalist-minded people with an interest in photography.
It suggests they're pitching the M8 not only to currently active photographers, but maybe to people who used to be interested in photography but drifted away over the years. A camera that combines the instant gratification of digital with the traditionalist cachet of a Leica RF might be just what it would take to bring some of them back (and with luck, also bring some of them to RFF!)
I applaud this as evidence that Leica maybe is getting itself back into being a serious, broad-based photography company.
I also suspect they may be trying to take advantage of what in the car business is often called the "halo effect." A manufacturer will build a really appealing car -- a Ford GT, a Z06 Corvette -- knowing that it won't sell in huge volumes, but that people will be interested in visiting a showroom just to see it. Once they're there, the manufacturer hopes the hero car's "halo" will increase interest in their more practical bread-and-butter models. In the case of Leica, the ads may get people dreaming about an M8 -- and then deciding to buy, say, the new Leica 4/3 camera instead of some other brand.
So, good practical marketing by the L-brand. I hope they're successful!
It suggests they're pitching the M8 not only to currently active photographers, but maybe to people who used to be interested in photography but drifted away over the years. A camera that combines the instant gratification of digital with the traditionalist cachet of a Leica RF might be just what it would take to bring some of them back (and with luck, also bring some of them to RFF!)
I applaud this as evidence that Leica maybe is getting itself back into being a serious, broad-based photography company.
I also suspect they may be trying to take advantage of what in the car business is often called the "halo effect." A manufacturer will build a really appealing car -- a Ford GT, a Z06 Corvette -- knowing that it won't sell in huge volumes, but that people will be interested in visiting a showroom just to see it. Once they're there, the manufacturer hopes the hero car's "halo" will increase interest in their more practical bread-and-butter models. In the case of Leica, the ads may get people dreaming about an M8 -- and then deciding to buy, say, the new Leica 4/3 camera instead of some other brand.
So, good practical marketing by the L-brand. I hope they're successful!
Taipei-metro
Veteran
Which page?Ken Ford said:
There is, Sony alpha, Canon, Korean car, Korean LG electronics and arthritis medicine Celebrex, and hearing aid EarMate model LT, XP-23... advertisements,
Where is M8 ads?
There is a picture of NG photog T. Cooper holding a big Nikon on end page thou.
I don't think they number the ad pages because pages 14 and 33 are numbered, and there are about 30 pages between them.
Counting up, page 37 next to the GEOGRAPHY page, Tobacco Planet.
Counting down, page 27, but still next to the GEOGRAPHY page.
Counting up, page 37 next to the GEOGRAPHY page, Tobacco Planet.
Counting down, page 27, but still next to the GEOGRAPHY page.
Ken Ford
Refuses to suffer fools
It seems that not all US copies have the ad - one of the west coast guys from PNet doesn't have it, either.
S
Stu :)
Guest
Where?!? I can't find it in mine, unless members get a different version or they ship a different version to NZ
I've got normal suspects in mine; Canon, Olympus, Sony, HSBC, Rolex, DHL, BP , Tag Heuer, etc.
Althought we did get some Leica junk-mail in the letter box last week.
Stu
PS. Like the photo of the Chinese pink poultry processing plant workers in NG.
EDIT: Opps sorry my mistake I was looking at 9/06... We haven't got 10/6 yet...
I've got normal suspects in mine; Canon, Olympus, Sony, HSBC, Rolex, DHL, BP , Tag Heuer, etc.
Althought we did get some Leica junk-mail in the letter box last week.
Stu
PS. Like the photo of the Chinese pink poultry processing plant workers in NG.
EDIT: Opps sorry my mistake I was looking at 9/06... We haven't got 10/6 yet...
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richard_l
Well-known
You're too young.Ken Ford said:
Back in the early 1950s, Leica M ads were frequent in the National Geographic. Also most of the photos in the magazine articles were taken with Leica M equipment. (The pictures were often captioned with the camera type and film.) This is what conditioned me to think of the rangefinder as a general purpose camera, not just a street photo device. Richard
VinceC
Veteran
By the late 1950s, quite a lot of National Geographic photographers were also using Nikon RF gear because of faster lenses, among other reasons. SPs with 35/1.8 and 105/2.5 were widely used.
boilerdoc2
Well-known
none in the Midwest issue. Guess we don't rate.
Wright
Wright
jlw
Rangefinder camera pedant
Maybe subscriber copies have the ad and newsstand copies don't.
Jester_rm
Member
In large magazine advertising, it's not uncommon to have different regional editions of the mag for different markets. For instance, the company I work for put a couple of ad pages in Architectural Digest, but only in the Pacific Northwest market segment. I believe National Geographic works the same way.
You might try looking on the spine of the magazine, there should be a code number somwhere (like 71S, or 61NS), all the magazines with that code number will have the same contents. Also, the same "market" can have two different versions of the magazine, and subscribers might even have a third...it depends on where the local distributor picked up the mags.
You might try looking on the spine of the magazine, there should be a code number somwhere (like 71S, or 61NS), all the magazines with that code number will have the same contents. Also, the same "market" can have two different versions of the magazine, and subscribers might even have a third...it depends on where the local distributor picked up the mags.
wooch
Newbie
I am in the West Coast, the ad is there.Ken Ford said:
Gabriel M.A.
My Red Dot Glows For You
Maybe they track your browser history, and send it back to World Company (an inside joke, for those who watch Les Guignols), and they match your profile to the advertisements on your personalized copy of Thyme, Noozeweak, and Where In The World is America Geographic.jlw said:
I'll look for a copy at the newstands.
RJames
Member
Can you send me an image of the AD... Would love to see it...Ken Ford said:
I just emailed the Account Excutive for Leica's AD placement team and he said they have not placed an AD with National Geographic... Did I misunderstand...
Thanks Jim
Chris Lynch
Film Enough.
i got mine today (the NG, not a M8), and didn't see the ad..... what's up?
AShearer
Established
boilerdoc2 said:
You don't have the correct demographics. Magazine advertising is "zoned" now by demographics. It wouldn't surprise me if the M8 ad only appeared in NG headed for the coasts, the large cities i.e. Chicago etc. Florida, Arizona etc, where the demographics are "right" for this type of purchase. That is, older affluent, empty nester etc..
S
Skinny McGee
Guest
I just got mine yesterday. I subscribe in Florida . No Ad Althought it is kinda becoming the Tom Cruise camera.. After all this you get sick of hearing about it.
John Robertson
Well-known
Nothing in mine in UK!
AndyPiper
Established
"Althought it is kinda becoming the Tom Cruise camera..."
yeah, I'm tired of HEARING about it, too - I just want to start USING it.
8^)
No M8 ad in my copy in Denver.
yeah, I'm tired of HEARING about it, too - I just want to start USING it.
8^)
No M8 ad in my copy in Denver.