[Nass]

Spotted this whilst googling, a comment by Mark Sherengo, sales and marketing director, Pentax Imaging

The shortages seen by some major manufacturers this year presented an opportunity for Pentax. We had inventory that we carried over from 2010, so it allowed us to sell volume units at a higher ASP. Moving forward, we realize that to be competitive we have to have the right market price. So for us, we have to meet the market by advertising more than we have of the past. Talking about our technology, since we’re a little bit different, takes a campaign that heavily leverages social media. This introduced us to another generation that helped our brand grow.

In the point-and-shoot business, we have always stood with the highest ASP in the waterproof category. We are in our 11th generation in that segment, with a $349 price point. We actually raised the price last year, and volume did not go down. We were able to help a lot of the smaller photo specialty stores raise their ASPs. They remember that. They are helping us as we continue to grow, and we’re looking forward to the excitement of the Pentax brand that is going to be infused with more marketing dollars.

The source is an interesting read on what's happening in the camera world post-tsunami. Link here: Cameras Emerge From Tsunami Setback - 2011-08-22 04:01:00 | TWICE


I'm sure that this will be welcomed because I think we've all seen that Pentax is poorly marketed. But, I would like to give a personal take on this.

Advertising more is good, but advertising better is even better. I'm a technology marketing professional myself but have not been bowled over by some of the marketing and advertising that I've seen from Pentax USA in the last 3 years. That includes the poorly spelled posts on Facebook, the posters without campaign-specific URLs and the flashy train wraps. In the end I personally stopped bother following you on FB because comments kept being deleted without any communication.

Moving forward, I'm not privy to the processes that Pentax use to ascertain the effectiveness of the marketing spend. But before increasing the budget, please make sure that you have the means in place to do so. Database-calculated ROI, please. I would also urge Pentax to take a very serious look at segmenting user-types and ensuring that marketing spend and advertising content appeals and really hammers in on those rather than churning out generic USP-less products. It seems to me that the state of the whole camera and optics marketing segment is astonishingly poor, almost as if the marketing is conducted despite users rather than with specific real users in mind.

It is interesting that you have mentioned social media. I happen to run the @PentaxOnline account by myself in my spare time, which actually has 6,175 followers. The largest Pentax-related Twitter account (I think?). You could make it so much easier for people like me to help you, you really could.

I note that the PPG is currently closed for a revamp. As a minimum, I hope that you are making it more viral, with such things as 'tweet' and 'like' buttons, and putting it into a technology other than Flash. Flash can't be bookmarked so you'll find that although there is fantastic work on there, the PPG isn't the popular web destination and marketing tool that it should be.

[Northern Soul]

The Facebook page is odd. It seems whenever I read comments - it doesn't matter what the post was about - there will be someone posting something like "This is rubbish. When are you making a FF camera"

This must be tremendously frustrating for Pentax.

Personally I'm not that bothered about the marketing. I like that my camera is a little unusual. If more sales meant more lenses or lower prices then I don't mind. Otherswise I care as much about how Pentax advertises as I do how any company whose products I use advertise - I've not seen an advert for my breakfast cereal ever, but it still tastes nice and fills me up.

[LowVoltage]

The Facebook page is odd. It seems whenever I read comments - it doesn't matter what the post was about - there will be someone posting something like "This is rubbish. When are you making a FF camera"

This must be tremendously frustrating for Pentax.

Omigosh, yes. When I approached my employer about making a Facebook page I had to be very clear about the pitfalls of allowing people to post comments. It seems, when it comes to businesses, social media is regularly used as a soapbox for the malcontents. Anything positive only comes from the manufacturer!

I look forward to seeing more advertising from Pentax in the style of their K20D ads from a number of years ago.