Last week it was Nikon relaunching their brand, this week it’s Olympus who are throwing down the marketing gauntlet in the digital camera market, with the appointment of a new advertising agency and the roll out of a major marketing aimed at taking on Panasonic in both the Mirrorless, interchangable lens and “tough” camera markets.Marc Radatt, Olympus Imaging Managing Director told ChannelNews that the Japanese camera company, is set to launch several new digital camera’s including a new PEN camera range. He also said that 2011 is set to be a “brutal” year, as several brands look to expand their market share in Australia in what is becoming a crowded digital camera market.
Radatt admits that Olympus marketing has been “lacking” of late which is why he has appointed DDB Sydney as its creative agency.
“We were lacking last year when it came to marketing, but we are about to change this with an extensive marketing program that is in part funded by an Olympus Corporate investments in Australia”.
“We intend to further expand our market share in both the Tough camera market where we are already #1 while picking up market share the mirrorless camera market with our new Pen camera range”.
He admits that one of his main targets is Panasonic who grew market share in the Tough camera market after launching their “skipping” TV commercial in 2010.
Radatt said that DDB was handed the account without a pitch and replaces The Furnace who only got the account in 2009.
In 2010 Olympus spent $100,000 on main media in the 12 months to December, in the prior year they spent $1.4 according to Nielsen.
Radatt said: “The mirrorless interchangeable lens camera sector is a growth opportunity and we’re looking to position ourselves as leaders in that space.”
Radatt said “DDB Sydney impressed us from the very start of the appointment process, with their creative thinking and an in-depth, integrated agency offering. We’re excited about the partnership and look forward to working with them collaboratively to achieve strong results for our business.”
