[monochrome]

@Ron: If what we are seeing is the very first, opening rounds of Ricoh's restoration of Pentax - and there is, say, three years from now an entire series of these unbranded short films (which is what this really is) - then good for them!!

In just this weekend we've seen

• An attempt to market a "cool" product without diluting Pentax brand
• Pop Photography Pentax display ad
• Introduction of what appears to be the Pentax branding theme on Ricoh's website
• Educational lens comparisons on the Ricoh website featuring Pentax lenses
• A short film featuring a Pentax user, but subtly reaching out to the right-brain of people
• A Pentax product internet banner ad

In my somewhat obnoxious "Plan" posts I've written that once Ricoh started they would release "things" week after week after week for months and quarters in order to re-establish the brand. They'll overwhelm DPReview and DPI (and the rest) with obligatory front-page announcements and reviews. Throw in some ad revenue to garner favor and suddenly Pentax is viewed as a legitimate brand again.

Repeat these simple brand themes often enough; repeat the sense that Pentax teaches people how to get better images (it is implied that using another company's gear is OK - but here's why ours is better for you) often enough; repeat the release of incrementally improved new products that retain the essential quality and durability of a Pentax often enough; and eventually you drown out the knee-jerk hate posts. Eventually they'll have "their" brand-identified customers, who have chosen Pentax as the alternative to CaNikony, not another CaNikony.

Personally, I think we are seeing right before our eyes the very first steps of the brand Plan implementation. We'll have to be patient to see whether they follow through and what further products are released, but my bet is we'll look back at the late summer of 2013 as the turning point.

People are accustomed to being disappointed and then starved by Pentax. Changing that is part of the Plan, I think. It will take time.

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Last edited by monochrome; 09-08-2013 at 07:39 AM.

[Spodeworld]

Completely agree. There's no obvious connection between the video and pentax as far as I can tell.

I'm sorry, but I failed to see this as advertising.

First, it's a great video - beautifully done and very artistic. He should absolutely be proud because it really is a superlative creation. I am not a videomaker, but this style is 100% what I would aim for personally.

But, no Pentax banner, intro, watermark, closing, video title ("PENTAX: It's an addiction, really." or "It's an addiction, really." - PENTAX), can't read the camera logo, barely read the strap, and he never once mentioned Pentax.

So, is "Pentax" the addiction, or getting lost? Show this to 100 non Pentax people and I would bet a few DA*'s that 100 of them will say this is an advertisement for travel or Havana itself. Regardless, the point being, they won't cue in to Pentax. But because it's on the Pentax Youtube channel? And how many people click on the actual video as opposed to watching from the embedded video on Facebook? 5%? 10%?

This is a mismanaged and ultimately failed attempt at Pentax advertising. A beautiful work of art nonetheless, but I had to watch it three times to make sure I wasn't the one that missed any Pentax references, and I was looking for them.

-Heie

[Andi Lo]

Completely agree. There's no obvious connection between the video and pentax as far as I can tell.

I've watched a couple of the videos recently posted (including this one) and most of them don't really have "Pentax" plastered as the forefront of the ad. They don't seem to be trying to sell a camera, but the experience of using the camera.

Talking about specs pentax have not much to offer vs the competition other than size and price, imo, and it's not a very strong case. The reason I love pentax is how nice it is to use, and how enjoyable it is to shoot with a pentax. These ads imho hit the nail on the head for me. I think a couple of ads featuring a travelling photographer with DA / FA limited set, and we're set