The way how m4/3 cameras are marketed?

(lol about the sensor size and motion blur part)

Just saw that moment and first thing that came to my mind is that we really don't see Oly and Pana making such presentations like the phone manufacturers keeps.

Like how about making a live small event where each of the manufacturer is allowed to invite specific amount of photographers and even tech news sites journalists.

Would such thing improve the visibility?

That you need to convince! Olympus and Panasonic do almost NO marketing in North America. I recall seeing some real commercials during the first season of Orphan Black on BBC America. But nothing since and nothing anywhere else.

Just have a look at those two presentations by Olympus:



They are introducing couple of nice new features, some of them just begging to be shown. But Olympus can only do this. Put a guy in front of the camera to read a marketing blurb, accompanied by some slideshow. Nothing against the guy, he's doing a great job here, but videos like that are just plain boring. It just looks half-assed. Make it interesting, or you're going to get ignored. That PowerPoint presentation might have been nice on a company meeting, but nobody outside wants to watch that, seriously.

So yeah, that was rather disappointing, to be honest. If you want to boast about something, at least try to do it with a bang. As a bare minimum, show it.

I liked their DSLRarm campaign, though. That was a good effort.

And don't even get me started on Panasonic. It seems like those guys can't even launch a product properly. They are a bit of a laughing stock in my country. Reading their press releases is quite entertaining and guarantees a chuckle or two with occasional LOL. I even had to run their original English press release through google translate because I initially thought it's how they did it for my country (fortunately it was not the case, google translate was much worse).

The camera market is collapsing. Or at least the camera market has consolidated to a niche high end pro-sumer marketplace that is fairly narrowly defined. That is why we have seen Olympus and Panasonic devote resources to the high end space in their recent product designs. Camera companies are going out of business or launching products like the Nikon 1 that get very little traction and don't make money.


There is little point in marketing to the general public into a collapsing market place. The world of the late 20th century and the early 21st century, where the general public considered buying a separate camera from the smart phone is gone.


Olympus actually does have some marketing spend that it puts into the photography magazine space. Olympus also does targeted marketing in the web space.

I'm yet to see any marketing at all from Panasonic in the UK.

Not so much as poster in the window of my two 'local' M43 stockists (LCE and Park Cameras).

I like the Olympus manager presentations as they have the charisma how he does handle the camera and how he moves his hands, adds weight to words etc.

But there is just something that Olympus does wrong. It is like they are targeting everything to soccer moms -level audience like watch their tutorial videos.

At least the Olympus personnel has learned the scripts unlike the OP video of Google press event for Android 5.0. It still hurts to my soul as I watched it and I felt so bad about the people not knowing what they need to talk and only looking the screens at front most of the time etc.

And then comes the modern style where it looks like people jumps to stage from the bed. Like doesn't people go trough stylist chair anymore before events starts? Even in daily political journalism politicians are like they haven't shaved for few days or someone has yesterday's make-up.....

I must add that I often like the Canon presentations/advertising as they have the spirit and pride in those.

bryanbrun said:

There is little point in marketing to the general public into a collapsing market place. The world of the late 20th century and the early 21st century, where the general public considered buying a separate camera from the smart phone is gone.

Olympus actually does have some marketing spend that it puts into the photography magazine space. Olympus also does targeted marketing in the web space.

Click to expand...

The target group needs to be found first.

It doesn't help to sell a 17-25mm focal length idea to average consumer as the smartphone does offer it.

It doesn't help to show them 10fps when a smartphone gives 30-120 frames a second.

So what is left? Telling about new ISO or new improved silent shutter? No.

It should be marketed with the possibilities system camera offers. Ultra-wide Angle objectives with single exposure, telephoto objectives for cropping field of view, portraiture distances and so on.

The marketing really should be there reminding people that photography is much more than street photography, family snapshots and selfies with some high speed videos!

Reminding people that a camera with a fixed focal length isn't going to offer them the possibilities they would like to get. So it is like education with field of view, magnification ratio, time control and dreams.

Advertising in a camera magazines is like selling a condoms only in a sex stores.

Rusk said:

(lol about the sensor size and motion blur part)

Just saw that moment and first thing that came to my mind is that we really don't see Oly and Pana making such presentations like the phone manufacturers keeps.

Like how about making a live small event where each of the manufacturer is allowed to invite specific amount of photographers and even tech news sites journalists.

Would such thing improve the visibility?

Click to expand...

As I recall, Oly did do some big invited events with the launch of the EM-1 ... most of the early reviews and samples came from these. Of course only Olympus knows how effective they are.

In the UK at least, Olympus has had a strong presence at trade shows I've been at - and send top level staff to answer questions etc.

Olympus certainly seems to be attempting to reach people directly. I must average anout 3 e-mails a week from Olympus selling "Buy direct from Olympus" and discounts for lens/camera combinations.

Olympus and Panasonic are elite photgraphic systems and only tthose worthy enough should be granted the privilege of ownership.

hahaha no

I realized that Olympus marketing was a joke in 1983 after getting an OM-4. The small size, superb glass, OTF Flash (1/1000 Sync, OTF - 1983!),and innovative multi-spot metering really impressed a lot of photographer friends of mine. That I could nail any lighting situation even with slide film made them envious... but Olympus' utter lack of any serious exciting marketing left the whole OM series nothing but a niche.

As I'm typing this I see a nice shot of an X-T10. It makes me want to buy one. Gotta go, off to B&H to buy an X-T10...

Astrotripper said:

Just have a look at those two presentations by Olympus:

They are introducing couple of nice new features, some of them just begging to be shown. But Olympus can only do this. Put a guy in front of the camera to read a marketing blurb, accompanied by some slideshow. Nothing against the guy, he's doing a great job here, but videos like that are just plain boring. It just looks half-assed. Make it interesting, or you're going to get ignored. That PowerPoint presentation might have been nice on a company meeting, but nobody outside wants to watch that, seriously.

Click to expand...

Those I find odd that they don't train the takes in so short and controlled things.

Colin K. Work said:

Rusk said:

(lol about the sensor size and motion blur part)

Just saw that moment and first thing that came to my mind is that we really don't see Oly and Pana making such presentations like the phone manufacturers keeps.

Like how about making a live small event where each of the manufacturer is allowed to invite specific amount of photographers and even tech news sites journalists.

Would such thing improve the visibility?

Click to expand...

As I recall, Oly did do some big invited events with the launch of the EM-1 ... most of the early reviews and samples came from these. Of course only Olympus knows how effective they are.

Click to expand...

Yes they went to the ship and had all kind test places there. And then they have the castle event with horses and light painting and so on.

Those are good ones as they clearly added visuality to the camera. But those ain't targeted for the average audience but for hobbyist.

Pros get their information from stores and mouth to mouth. Most pros don't spend time on web but they are doing what they do 8 hours a day.

But oly or pana should not focus to pros but to wider audience.

Many doesn't get what apple does. It presents the technical mumbo to show consumers how impressive and difficult task it was to build a iphone.

But how they wows their audience is not by technicalities but how the technicalities are used for daily life!

What is so amazing thing with a 1/320 shutter speed for flash? Or 40 RAW buffer?

That information should need to be opened to the people!

120fps for camera is nothing for consumer. Until they see that with that they can see their kids emotions slowed down when they are jumping around. A instant hit and big impact to consumers feelings.

And camera manufacturers makes best effort just with "Capturing your memories" like what?

Bassam Guy said:

I realized that Olympus marketing was a joke in 1983 after getting an OM-4. The small size, superb glass, OTF Flash (1/1000 Sync, OTF - 1983!),and innovative multi-spot metering really impressed a lot of photographer friends of mine. That I could nail any lighting situation even with slide film made them envious... but Olympus' utter lack of any serious exciting marketing left the whole OM series nothing but a niche.

As I'm typing this I see a nice shot of an X-T10. It makes me want to buy one. Gotta go, off to B&H to buy an X-T10...

Click to expand...

Look at him!


He is in control! He shows how to do things in normal environments in simple way!

Take that to shows.

They have very good trying although.
compare to this.

They are marketed?

Ulric said:

They are marketed?

Click to expand...

Actually yes. And I was hit by their advertising of the coming "OM-D" at 2010-2011 time and then forgot the system until E-M1 was released and I was considering and testing different systems.

So it was actually fairly close that I would have missed the OM-D line if not because their advertising in TV.