"Changing The
Way We Are Thinking"-
A review of the
Canon 2013 Roadshow
By Loftus Viljoen
When you do reviews, you are looking for benchmarks or past
experiences to get a fresh angle on your approach. With my last review on the
Canon Expo, I nearly ended up with a gag order and retraction litigation as someone
did not like my comparisons. In any case, that was a storm in a teacup and
nothing came from it.
One of the 21st Century’s blessing or evils
[depending how you look at it] is the one of choices. A couple of decades ago
we only had two choices when choosing a product and that was either “take it or
leave it!”and things changed when manufacturers started to extend their product
range and this became known as “branding”.
At school I always wanted a Nikon, but when I left school in
the early 70’s I only earned R150.00 per month and after my studies, lodging
and car instalment were paid, there wasn’t much left. The only camera I could
afford then was a Minolta SLR. For the
next about 30 years that was the brand of cameras I used. During those early
years B&W 35mm was the film of choice and I had my own darkroom to develop
my films and photos. The skills we then
had was to change the shades between dark and light [playing with exposure],
dodge and burn etc. and then colour developing came and we had to learn what
effect the blending of colour [and colour filters] had on our images. This was all done manually
and our trials and errors were an expensive exercise. Colour slides then became
very popular and we changed to that format and for many years that was the
format I used.
As the years moved on I graduated, set my career, got married
and started a family and so we became
interested in outdoor activities, which included wildlife and nature, and scuba
diving. For the latter we needed a 4x4 and we started off with a bumpy Toyota
double cab 4x4 [very heavy on fuel] and after watching the Dakar Rally we saw
the Mitsubishi Pajero winning this gruelling event for a couple of years in a
row. So we bought ourselves a Pajero- a much softer and family friendly ride.
Mitsubishi was, probably with every right to do so, very vocal about their
achievements and successes. So Pajero became my brand of choice.
To share my and my elder son’s [he started diving at the age
of 12] underwater experiences we needed an underwater camera and looking around
we saw that Nikon had a Nikonos 3
underwater camera and my interest in that brand was aroused again - so I bought
myself one. To cut a long story short on the very first dive the seals of the Nikonos
3 failed [and no fault of mine] and I “drowned” the camera. Neither Nikon nor
the dealer wanted to take responsibility for
the defect and I had to write my
Nikonos 3 off as a bad experience. A year or two later my wife passed away and
that put an end to our diving adventures and it also changed our priorities for
outdoor activities. After 7 years I sold the Pajero and by the time I remarried,
I needed a new bigger family car and the choice fell back on a Pajero. With the
Pajero came a 4x4 course and what we didn’t realise was that this were the
trials for the Mitsubishi 4x4 Eco Challenge and before we could take a deep
breath we were in the semi-finals in Askham in the Kalahari where the brand
continued to impress me.
Our exploits in the Eco Challenge was published in a couple
of magazines and this lead to the establishment of our off-road caravan and
trailer rental business. At that stage there were only two manufacturers
producing off-road caravans and after research we decided to stick with one for
the time being. These caravans were supposed to be rugged and a rental company
was the easy place to check the R&D of the caravans. This created the
interest by editors in stories and reports on the equipment and on the
destinations. Not long after that the other manufacturer approached us. They
wanted a couple of their caravans represented in our fleet, and featured in the
articles and photos as it was part of “branding”.
There is a difference between a product and a brand. A brand
is made up from various products that a manufacturer has available whereas a
product comprises of a single or multiple units. So when you see the adverts
“Canon – you can” or “I am Nikon” or “Mitsubishi Motors” it all refers to the
brand rather than a specific camera or motor vehicle. Some products may be the
flagship items to promote the brand. You
will see taxis, buses, aeroplanes and even caravans branded in the colours of a
specific brand [other than the manufacturer of the taxi, bus etc.] and because
they are mobile, the chance that it will be seen by many consumers increases.
Other branding may take the form of advertisements, bill boards and so forth.
More or less the same time we started the off-road caravan
rental business, it was the dawn of the digital age and I realised that I had
to upgrade from film camera to digital. I thought I will stick to Minolta who I
have supported for close 30 years, but as it appeared they were taken over by
Sony so I bought myself a Sony digital camera - the least I say about this
experience the better, only it was very disappointing. So the time arrived for
me to buy into the Nikon brand I so desperately wanted to own through the
years. This drove me to the local camera dealer who sold all the available
brands. Listening to me and assessing my needs for travel, wildlife and photo
journalism and the fact that safaris are always prone to dust and vibrations,
he simply told me “I can sell you a Nikon but what you need is a Canon because
your equipment are going to need more regular service and maintenance than the
ordinary camera user and at this stage Canon’s service is the best”. Practical
considerations: that is how I became a Canon user – that was 10 years ago.
Brands have the way of changing the way we think and react to
a product, and the more you see and hear
of a brand the more likely you will be coerced into buying a product of that
brand – once in it becomes an expensive exercise to get out. Yes, you can get frustrated with a brand and
you may even change brands as a result of it – and if you get a special deal
from one it may even be a financial decision rather than staying a “loyal”
supporter to change brands: I am the last person to judge someone changing
brands for the better of their business. Brand choice by contract is completely
different to brand choice by preference. I am very sceptical about taking
advice from contracted brand users
because always in the back of my mind the old Dutch proverb: “Wiens broodt men
eet, diens woordt men spreekt” springs to mind when I hear them speaking from
public forums.
The way of promoting brands have become a highly
sophisticated business or management plan like the subtle “leaking” of
information of a new product and let us use the new Canon 200-400 f4 x1.4 lens
as an example. People have seen glimpses of this lens at the London Olympics and a few lucky ones got the opportunity
to field-test this lens with strict orders on secrecy and whatever they might have
to say about what the field results may
yield until the official release of the lens. All the rumours under a cloud of “secrecy”
has only one effect: brand awareness and interest in the product/s of that
brand. Consumers awaited the release of this lens with great anticipation and
although most people will never buy that lens due to its cost factor it has
already done its job by heightening the interest in the brand. A new released lens without a camera means
nothing so the consumer will undoubtedly look at a camera worth its mettle to
compliment the lens and start dreaming about them until the reality of the
price tag kicks in and then their eyes will wander away to the other cameras
and items on display. Some camera manufacturers
may also make use of workshops or courses to promote their brand or may
even launch competitions – all these efforts are aimed at changing the way consumers
look at their brands.
One of the ways that Canon in South Africa succeeded in
keeping consumers aware of the brand was to create a prestigious and exclusive
brand awareness event for the photography community called the Canon Roadshow.
To be eligible to attend this show you have to be invited and if you like Canon
to know of you, you had to register with them and they will send the invites
out. This event has become so popular on the social calendar that within 48
hours after the invites were sent out, the Roadshows were fully booked out. This
year there were 3 venues: Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg.
Why do the Canon Roadshow stand out from all other expos,
workshops or courses I have attended? First of all it is exclusive and you will
not find non-Canon products like tripods,
quick release camera grips, rapid
release straps or software on display. Canon has the edge on exclusivity in
respect of the event and I reckon it is
unlikely that they will participate in other shows or expos where they will lose
this advantage. Secondly the Canon Roadshow is not a workshop nor a photography
course in the strict sense of the word as it is unlikely that you will get a
lesson of how to use your camera and a
detailed explanation of all the functions of the dials or buttons on
your camera – most of the time you just get a reference to a new function on a
new camera. Thirdly you will have well known photographers to inspire you with
their work and presentations and they will have new material that was not published
before in their presentations. This is a criticism I have against other shows,
expos, workshops or courses, because they tend to have the same people using
the same material and telling the same story as they did at other events – that
is simply boring and uninspiring. I don’t have a problem with using the same
people – it is just them telling the
same old story.
This year the Canon Roadshow attracted a total
of 1950 bookings of which 1500 really turned up giving an attendance percentage
of 77% [with Cape town achieving the best attendance percentage of more than
80%]. Unfortunately most of the 23% who did not turn up failed to cancel their
bookings and by doing so deprived others who wanted to go but who were too late
with their bookings. I hope in the
future that the invitees will realise that the Canon Roadshow is a prestigious event
and a No-show after confirming a booking and failing to properly cancel that
booking may have an influence on their future invites. I am quite sure the
Marketing people at Canon is going to figure a way out to ensure a higher
attendance percentage. If I have a criticism I would say that Canon should pin
the dates and venues of the Roadshows well
in advance or give clear instructions on their invites so that the invitees can
check their diaries.
I loved the choreography of the style of the presentation
this year by Roger Machin and Abri Kriegler and how the one presentation flowed
over into another. I loved to hear about the new cameras and lenses and what
will suit the kids, mom or dad and about the FREE DPP software you can download
bearing in mind that the latest development in editing software is that you
cannot buy perpetual licences for much longer and that you need to subscribe
for renewable software licences on an annual basis.
In the background one of South
Africa’s top aviation photographers, Mark Mansfield, waiting for his turn to
present his section on aviation photography, was using a standard Canon
Powershot camera taking shots all over the place.
Earlier Craig Dutton, another
presenter and one of South Africa’s leading sports action photographers, was
telling us how good the 200-400mm f4 x1.4 lens, which was released just a
couple of days earlier, was during the field testing at the London Olympics and
how the angles or views for a shot could change so quickly just by the flip of
a switch. His best had yet to come.
Most of us only take photos of aeroplanes
at and during Air Shows, but Mark
Mansfield does it professionally and at aviation events all over the world.
Some of the aeroplanes’ fuel bill and just keeping it flying will easily cost
R20,000 or more per hour so setting up a shoot like that takes careful planning
and execution. If you, the photographer,
makes a mistake or did not get the shot it will be costly. There are different
types of shots and the way you could change the layout. It was also refreshing to hear him
say that he seldom uses the M mode in shooting and that one of his preferences
is to shoot in Av mode. And then he describes how the little Canon Powershot
camera gives him a different view and
shots in aviation photography. This made me [and many others] have another look
at the Powershot camera as a backup camera.
And as they changed speakers from
Mark to Craig a stunning action sports sunset photo appeared on screen and
before Craig even said one word I knew [and many others attending as well] this
Man Can [with a CANon]. I can’t remember seeing Craig moving around [as a
matter of fact I can’t remember seeing him] I was just mesmerized by the photos
on the screen and the crazy angles he used.
What do Mark and Craig have in
common? They use the Canon brand and their skills to “Change the way we are
looking”. Yes we will look differently to the way we use our equipment and it changed the way we
are looking at how we take our photos.
I didn’t come to the Roadshow for
freebies or doing a review on it. I came to see what they can offer me in terms
of “out-the-box” thinking photography wise and with that I think they succeeded:
Canon, however, also had some freebies
which included a Canon Shooting Jacket for the attendees. This was an exclusive
gift to the attendees. I wore mine to a coffee shop after the event and I heard
one guy said to his girlfriend “Geez, that guy must be a good photographer –
he’s got a Canon jacket.” Just imagine 1500 Canon Shooting Jackets out there
walking through all spheres of life taking all types of photos and onlookers
thinking “This must be a good photographer - he’s got a Canon jacket!” This time Canon
had their thinking hats on: brand awareness and even if one of those 1500
Shooting Jackets is using another camera everyone will look at the branded jacket.
Freebies aside, the overall
impression I have of the Roadshow is that it is exclusive and with the overall
content of the show it does “Change the way we are thinking.” Thinking of:
·
how we look at the brand,
·
how we look at
equipment
·
how we look at taking our photos.
You may think I am biased towards
one brand against another, but I am not: some years Canon will have a better
camera or lens and another year it will be Nikon’s [or whatever] turn and when
it comes to brand awareness I am acutely aware of the pros and cons of both
brands, but you will never find me criticising someone for choosing the one brand above the
other.
The competition for brand awareness
are fierce, especially in the photography industry, so you can expect that the rivals will come out with
something special and more probably at an expo or event where Canon will not be officially present
and will use it to the “change the way the consumer think” about their brands.
I will look, with interest, to see what will happen.
The photos of the helicopters firing flares and the cover
photos for Air News are the photos taken
by Mark Mansfield and published with his permission and the rest of the photos
are mine and they have the central theme in common.
©2013 Loftus
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