Evil Advertising

[GeneW]

Olympus billboard in Toronto, Dec 2007

 

[mw_uio]

Nice capture! 😀

Mark

 

[erikhaugsby]

I like my Canon.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

I like it! 🙂

 

[chambrenoire]

Can they do that, legaly?

 

[cmedin]

Reminds me of the Saturn vs Playstation wars of the 1990s. Sega had a huge 'Head for Saturn' ad campaign, and Sony countered with 'If you're still heading for Saturn, your head is in Uranus'. Classy stuff.

 

[BillBingham2]

I rather like it too, even though I'm going Nikon.

B2 (;->

 

[Todd.Hanz]

great shot Gene, good to see you still around!

Todd

 

[shadowfox]

Guy, Olympus *need* to do this kind of stunt if it wants to survive.

Canon doesn't.

Hi Gene! 😀

 

[kshapero]

Does an ad like that really make someone go out and buy an Olympus? I doubt it.

 

[wgerrard]

Does an ad like that really make someone go out and buy an Olympus? I doubt it.

Very probably, no. But, it helps to boost name recognition.

 

[Uncle Bill]

I commented on the same shot on Flickr, I think the agency looking after Olympus' account made a bad call on this creative hopefully the creative and account people who came up with the idea get a good talk to. Trashing the competitor in this case one of the leaders in the Camera business is not a good way for Olympus to sell their own product.

This is a shame because I am a fan of their OM-1's, it saddens me that a company like Olympus would allow their Canadian Marketing department to go ahead with this campaign. I think the other billboard is of a grown man crying with the tag line that only Olympus is 100% digital. News to me but I can't find a film door on my friend's Canon 5D so making such a claim is playing fast and loose as all the cameras (save for some canon, two nikon bodies, Leica MP, M7, R9, Voightlander and Zeiss Ikon, some large format and I think Hassleblad) are digital capture and data transfer through a USB port.

As Marketing Communications/PR guy I don't feel comfortable with Olympus' marketing direction.

 

[BillBingham2]

Uncle Bill,

I think Olympus is saying that their camera system is built from the ground up to be a digital system. No vestiges to any film based system (e.g. lens mount). They scraped the OM mount and are into the 4/3s stuff 1,000%.

Would it cause me to buy Olympus, no. I like my old glass thank you and there are not enough MF primes for the 4/3s mount for my taste.

B2 (;->

 

[jan normandale]

I think this is an exercise in "brand recognition" Olympus is just getting it's name out there and when you are squeezed between two elephants like Nikon and Canon they are letting people know that it might be worthwhile asking about their cameras.

Personally I think it's a light hearted poke at a competitor and everyone is far too tense on this. If Canon wants they can reciprocate, however they won't. If they did they would only play into Olympus ploy.

If Canon owners are that insecure about their equipment of choice... well they should breathe deeply a couple of times. I don't think I can tell the difference between a digital shot from Nikon or Canon, let alone Olympus.

What I really want to know is why Gene was downtown and didn't call.....
Hello Gene! (You may remember you loaned a camera case, I've got it back for you)
;- )

 

[Gumby]

Very probably, no. But, it helps to boost name recognition.

Ya... look at the exposure it just got here.

 

[Todd Frederick]

I use both an Olympus E-10 (yeah..an "old" E-10) and an E-1 and I have no interest in anything else. The E-1 is an incredibly well built, strong, and reliable camera. I bought an HDL power grip system for $80 from Cameta Camera, and I just keeps going and going and going. I've used that for the past 4 years for weddings and portraits with consistent results. I don't like the pricey FL-50 flash. Too erratic. I sold mine and am now using my Vivitar 283 and a Nikon SB-22 in Auto Mode (manual mode on the camera). No problems. Total consistency! The Olympus dust removal system is excellent and does work. I've never had a problem with sensor dust.

 

[shadowfox]

Very probably, no. But, it helps to boost name recognition.

This is what I meant when I said Olympus "needs" to do this kind of campaign.

I'm not liking it either, but if you don't do something pretty drastic, how can you even get noticed under the shadow of an 800-lb gorilla?

Canon has proven it again and again that marketing can put you ahead of your competitors despite equal quality.

 

[Trius]

I agree with Jan. If anyone cares to do so, they can see my (lighthearted) comment on this shot at Gene's flickr post. 😀