Olympus in the U.S.

I know I will be flamed for saying it, but it's true.

Olympus has no buzz in America. Their U.S. advertising is basically non-existent. There is no mainstream demand for their products and most young people have never heard of them. And don't tell me that young buyers do not matter.

Oly must create demand among regular camera buyers, not those who use this forum. Without that demand, I do not see how they can survive. Certainly very few stories carry Oly and even fewer salespeople push their products. Those of us here who endlessly discuss Oly products are a minority of a minority of a minority of camera buyers.

I love all my Oly stuff, but I am worried about the future of Oly in the U.S.

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Roberthd12

Since one is left with the impression that Olympus management has been seriously compromised right at the top, there is good reason to worry.

Marketing has also been inconsistent in New Zealand for a long time.

There have been engineering inconsistencies as well. The xD memory capacity got stuck at 2GB, and the change to the SD card was not seamless. Some models with EVFs had no diopter adjustment, which made them useless to anyone aged 50 and above. HD video was offered at least one year after it appeared on other makes. SLRs were abandoned with embarrassing haste after the introduction of the mirror-less PEN series.

I agree with you that the participants on the DPReview forums do not represent the main buying public.

Still, Olympus models have often suited me for the very reason they did not appeal to the general public. Until very recently, pre-processing in the camera was very discreet, and this makes post-processing feasable. Also, the Olympus models I had and those that I still own prove durable. You hardly ever hear of an Olympus with a dead CCD.

I hope I am wrong, but with the lack of marketing, possibly a consequence of upper management having lost direction for one reason or another, Olympus looks a bit shaky right now.

Henry

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Henry Falkner - SZ-30MR, SP-570UZ, Stylus 9010
http://www.pbase.com/hfalkner

I actually don't worry that Olympus don't openly advertise. I'm of the opinion they carry off a lot of sales through word of mouth.

To prove my point. In early 2010 I decided to buy a camera after many years without one. My father owned a Minolta and an old Oly, both 35mm cameras. I recall the Minolta was used for family snaps and landscapes and the Oly for work or slides. Personally I had a very good 35mm experience with my Yashica and was keen to renew that experience, but Yashica didn't have any Digitals that I could find. Same with Minolta. I'd also scoured auctions sites for cameras that would suit my price range, and I noted Oly's were going for good cheap prices, but researching the reviews I found to my surprise that they were held in high esteem. I think the reason they were so cheap was due more to the previous owners ignorance of what they had in their hands than anything else.

So the C2100UZ came up and I was hooked. Not one bad review, even for an old camera. And of course the SP570 followed. But having said that, I was a discerning camera buyer. I am aware that there are people buying Olympus purely on reputation and a justifiable one at that. When I stop in at the local camera shops, the Oly's are moving, a different camera each time I visit. That's not too bad.

--
In between the Hour Glass
and the lens of a secondhand camera
a dog barks orders to troops
lining a battlefield
of posies and poppy,

the diecast setting of a model
standing aloft, aloof
the rain pelting an icy tin roof
suggests the shutterspeed needs to be fast
to capture the enemy.

Robert, I am not sure about this.

Here in Germany, you also don't see any advertising from Oly. But also none from Canon.

I guess that advertising is futile in the camera mass market, because most people simply decide by price and design when they are in the stores.

More demanding customers get their information from specialized sources anyway - so why spend money on ads?

What really makes me worried though, is the management turmoil Oly started a few weeks ago.

Greetings,
Michael

roberthd12 said:

Their U.S. advertising is basically non-existent.

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Ditto for the other camera manufacturers — this is the digicam forum, so I'm referring to digicams here. There are far too many digicam models on the market for advertising to be effective. Consumers couldn't possibly remember which ones have which features and what the prices are. Digicams are bought by "going shopping."

roberthd12 said:

There is no mainstream demand for their products and most young people have never heard of them. And don't tell me that young buyers do not matter.

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My two nieces both have Oly digicams. Again, it doesn't matter which brands someone has heard of. What matters is which brands are available at the store where they go shopping. If you go to Best Buy, you will see Olympus digicams displayed, in force. When my wife bought her digicam, on a cruise ship, the on-board camera shop carried only Nikon and Olympus.

roberthd12 said:

Oly must create demand among regular camera buyers

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Why? Digicam brands and models aren't a "demand" item.

roberthd12 said:

Without that demand, I do not see how they can survive.

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Why do you care? It's no difference to me; my Olympus digicam (a 1030SW) works the same whether Olympus thrives or not.

Why do I care, you ask? Funny question.

Well, I have a lot invested in Oly cams, lenses and accessories. I like their stuff. So, you ask, why do I care if they survive? I can't believe you would think I would want my fave camera company to fail.

And we all know why the new Nikon V1 and J1 cameras are selling like crazy. Marketing and advertising...this creates demand and product placement in stores, and the salespeople are excited about the sexiness of these cameras, regardless of their quality.

--
Roberthd12

Here in the Portland, Oregon area we don't see a lot of advertising for Olympus camera products. Occasionally, I'll see the cameras described in our newspaper. Nikon and Canon seem to have a large presence from local retail stores. I'm concerned about the future with Olympus too. The management issues we read about and things I feel that Olympus has done that are less competitive (like abandoning their entry to mid-level DSLR line of cameras for a new micro system that is not advanced enough etc.). As a result, I'm looking outside of Olympus. My latest interest has been the Canon 60D (gasp). I never thought I'd be looking at the "cannons", but they have really been innovative. Relatively speaking, some of the lenses are on the small size now and the quality is high like the Canon 55-250mm IS lens (compared to some of the huge series L lenses they have). With that combination we can get reach 400mm EFL with 18 megapixels, with beautiful high quality ISO3200 photos. They even have it set up so we can shoot at the 4:3 image ratio. With all of that, at the lowest price at about $1000 to $1100 (USD) for both the camera and lens..being affordable for a lot of people.

It can be frustrating, watching Olympus slide...but we have no control over it. I think being a dual system owner (or more) is the way to go. We can't depend on one manufacturer any more. Then we have earthquakes and floods...it never ends.

roberthd12 said:

I know I will be flamed for saying it, but it's true.

Olympus has no buzz in America. Their U.S. advertising is basically non-existent. There is no mainstream demand for their products and most young people have never heard of them. And don't tell me that young buyers do not matter.

Click to expand...

I totally agree with this. Where I am located (Southern California) there is a lot of advertising for the new Nikon V1 (or whatever it is), featuring a well known actor. Olympus doesn't seem to do anything like that. I live in a county of 3 million people and yet none of the camera stores seem to carry Olympus so that you can hold it in your hands and try it out. The only option is Fry's, an electronics retailer, which is an interesting chain but in no way photography oriented.

I think Olympus would sell better if they advertised more. If their cameras sold better, I would guess that they'd put more money into camera R&D and product development, which would benefit the users. Not sure what is up with Olympus' thinking in this regard besides maybe management turmoil, shareholder lawsuits, regulatory investigations, and overdue payments to organized crime.

roberthd12 said:

I have a lot invested in Oly cams, lenses and accessories.

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In that case, it sounds like you're in the wrong forum. This is the Olympus digicam forum. Or as DPReview puts it, "the place to discuss Olympus compact digital cameras." The Olympus SLR forum is over there:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1022

My Olympus digicam doesn't take any lenses or accessories. So it's no big concern to me what happens to Olympus.

By contrast Olympus have been running quite strong advertising campaigns in the UK for the XZ1 and currently the pen series. At the same time I get the impression that their presence on photo dealers' shelves has diminished sharpely compared with the likes of Panasonic and Sony, at least where I live (Cheshire). Doesn't seem like a coherent marketing policy.

I don't think that DWIP is in the wrong forum.

I formed my opinions about what camera to buy by handling them, many times at Fry's in N. California w/o a salesman hovering around me. That's how I finally chose the C750UZ over the Canon G2. I never found a Canon that felt comfortable to hand as the Oly.

Same this time when the recommendation was the XZ-1 or the Canon G12. Having a zillion features doesn't make for good handling.

Probably the best camera store in N. Cal is Keeble and Schuchat in Palo Alto. They carry Olympus but I don't remember the last time that they advertised one.

When I bought my C750 in 2003 Oly sponsored an in-store (K and S) session for C750 users.
Now if someone would only produce a real user manual for the XZ-1............