Originally posted by Docrwm M,
In his defense he did solicit input through FaceBook. I will not use FB but many do and his use of the internet to get folks to talk to him is a strong point IMHO. I would have preferred that he came here in the open and talked to us, but alas there are those at Pentax HQ in Denver who think we're all barbarians here and who probably "warned" him about us.
Yes, it is a positive thing that he used Facebook as a marketing and feedback tool. Consumer-product companies are supposed to do that these days. I really want to believe that there is at least one marketing analyst on the Pentax staff whose job it is to monitor and mine attitudes and preferences on sites like Pentax Forums.
I've worked for some of the leading brands on the planet, and that is the daily job description of whole teams in marketing strategy and branding departments. While many of us here may disagree about product choices blah blah blah, as a whole, there is a lot of trending clues and information from people who care about the brand and who are using the products in a full range of ways. That is highly valued.
After two days' reading, an analyst could have easily summarized perceptional values around the Q--what works and what does not. So to hear the gentleman quoted as not getting direct feedback on a product that has rich user feedback out there for the taking is rather depressing.
M