"I AM GENERATION IMAGE"

[Braineack]

Anyway, I think these two ads are good starts....Nikon immediately needs to DITCH Ashton Kutcher, forever, seriously...he's too much a celebrity endorser; I think advertising works much better if people can imagine themselves as the people in the ads, and celebrity culture is so strong it has created a we/them divide.

well maybe they can start packaging the Nikon 1 with the Lenovo Yoga.

 

[Derrel]

I noticed the NYT article stated, "The choice of outlets in which the campaign will appear reflects the affinity of the target audience for digital media. Rather than running in traditional media like television or print, which Nikon has used in the past, the ads and related content will appear online and on a long list of social media platforms: Facebook, Flickr,Google Plus, Instagram, Twitter, Vimeo and YouTube."

THAT is a HUGE change in direction for Nikon. Also, those hyperlinks above are Nikon's official USA presence on-line on those platforms.

 

[dannylightning]

Marketing to these young kids is probably not going to work, I am sure there are some exceptions but I have worked at a collage for several years now. we have student employees and I have seen many groups of these kids come and go and most of them have the same general attitude and way of thinking

this is my observation as to why 90% of these kids are not going to own a DSLR, sure there are going to be some exceptions but...

These collage kids want easy and convenient, its all about instant gratification these days, they need to be able to post pictures right from the camera to things like twitter and snap chat because putting it on a computer and than sending it to a website is too much work for them. The only attention span they have is staring at the screen on their phone, They even text message each other when they are setting in the same room instead of talking. I cant see any of them ever using anything but full auto mode on the camera because it will be to much work. I cant see them carrying anything around that wont fit in their pockets because most of walk to work and everywhere else they need to go, a DSLR is just one more thing to lug around. They leave their wallets and cell phones laying around in rooms unattended when they have to leave the room, sometimes they even leave that stuff in their mail boxes at work over night. most of them are broke and often wonder how they are going to get food for the day and these cameras are not inexpensive. they seem to think the cameras on their phones take great photos and so on. When they do their work they do it as fast as humanly possible so they can get back to the conference room as soon as possible and set on their butt and play on their phones, most could care less about quality of work.

 

[CmazzJK]

Time will tell. Even if they get 1/4 of the current generation cell phone snappers it would be a nice sales boost for Nikon. However the biggest hurdle to overcome with regards to the D-SLR vs Cellphone debate is convenience. The reason the internet is flooded with images is because of the simple convenience of having the camera built in to your phone. As the saying goes "The best camera is the one that is always with you". Given the choice I don't think most people are going to be willing to carry around a bigger D-SLR and possibly additional lenses just to take selfies, and snap casual pics of friends while they're out at the clubs.

In my case however you will have to pry my Nikon D-SLR's and lenses from my cold dead fingers.

I disagree, the deciding factor is almost always money in every instance. A $200 phone w/camera or $500 or more camera w/o a phone... For young kids without jobs probably not gonna be buying a new DSLR.

 

[CmazzJK]

I think it's a good concept, and the two ads are pretty good! I like the thought they are trying to plant in peoples' minds, the benefits that would accrue if only they had, "A better camera to capture it with," leading to....better memories, better self-expression.

The WEIRDEST thing...this very morning, shortly before I woke up, I had a vivid,delightful dream that Nikon had started a new ad campaign and business strategy, which caused the majority of the camera business to follow Nikon's strategy--which was about being "authentic" and "legacy"...they had pivoted their brand's image and had started playing up their brand and their F-mount's long legacy, a sort of battle strategy against the "new mounts" like the m43, Fuji's X, Samsung's NX mount, and the four different new Sony mounts we've seen over the last 10 years. Me and this lady who had seen the new campaign and was reporting its success to me were both expressing mutual joy about Nikon's all-new ad campaign.

And then, this very morning, I wake up and see this??? Freaking me out!

Anyway, I think these two ads are good starts....Nikon immediately needs to DITCH Ashton Kutcher, forever, seriously...he's too much a celebrity endorser; I think advertising works much better if people can imagine themselves as the people in the ads, and celebrity culture is so strong it has created a we/them divide.

Derrel if this is seriously how intricate your dreams are my man you need to hit up the decaf lol.

 

[photoguy99]

They don't need 1/4 of the cell phone users. They need like 1/1000 of them to profoundly change their circumstances. Maybe 1 in 10,000.

It seems to be a solid ad, but it does need to be paired with some products, I think. If this is the direction, they need to get frictionless about putting photos online. They need to give people a way to cull, edit, and upload with a couple of clicks and swipes. They need wifi in the camera and they need to partner with instagram.

It could be huge if they did it right. A d3300 with a pancake lens, a modest digital zoom feature, and instagram? Potentially a total killer.

 

[cgw]

Both poignant and a bit desperate, too. Recall Nikon pulled something similar some years back(D40? D70?)by distributing DSLR kits to selected members of the citizenry to help them get more out of lives--or so the ad copy read. Taking this to print or TV would be an utter mistake. Just too many broke-ass "Generation Image" types struggling to keep up with their phone plans, let alone pop for a DSLR. Maybe Mom or Pop will roll a D5300 kit down the basement stairs this Xmas.

 

[photoguy99]

They don't have to capture the poor ones. In fact, nobody wants to capture the market of "people who can't afford my product" unless they're profoundly stupid. Nikon just needs to capture the affluent ones. Of which there aren't a huge number, to be sure, but Nikon doesn't need there to be.

You might as well say that Rolls-Royce is a bunch of fools for building expensive cars, because, really, who the heck can afford them?

 

[Derrel]

Taking this to print or TV would be an utter mistake. Just too many broke-ass "Generation Image" types struggling to keep up with their phone plans, let alone pop for a DSLR. Maybe Mom or Pop will roll a D5300 kit down the basement stairs this Xmas.

I disagree very much with the idea that taking this to TV would be a mistake: I think they are making a wasteful, penny-wise yet pound-foolish mistake by NOT taking this campaign to TV. Why? Because so many broke-ass millenials and college students still depend on Mom & Dad's financial largesse...and TV is where the advertising would reach MULTIPLE generations of people: pre-teens, tweens,teens, millenials, and others, right on up to Grandparents. This campaign might not work like flipping a light switch to ON...it might take some time...this is the kind of campaign that is designed to instill brand awareness, but also desire. I think ther danger for Nikon is in AIMING too closely at one market, by targeted social media advertising, and spending millions of dollars on a focused ad campaign aimed at largely POORER customers, without the means to actually PAY FOR a d-slr. I think getting parents and grandparents in on this is a much smarter strategy than a stealth campaign aimed at millenials and ONLY millenials. Nikon is trying to offset a world-wide smart phone revolution here...no time for micro-marketing to only a narrow segment of the entire world population.

Secondly--the idea of "my generation" is dangerously specific, but has the possility of having broader appeal to older, and younger people. I think Nikon is missing the barn entirely with the idea that ONLY millenials are using smart phones instead of buying a "real camera". The baby-boomers with grandkids to snap pics of have just as much impetus to make better images--and they have the $40,000 credit limit Visa cards to buy ENTIRE Nikon d-slr systems...if only they are convinced they could see benefit from it. I think the "my generation" concept could work for people of multiple generations, and I think showing too-young or too-specific a stereotype is a risky ad decision that might alienate potential buyers.

Again...NOT taking this to TV will ensure that it's targeted at people who have low buying power and who ALREADY HAVE cellphone habits and social media habits ingrained: I think TV and print would stand a great chance of attracting parents and grandparents who would buy a Nikon for the young people in their lives, as a way to connect, and as a way to "give the kids an edge". And at the same time, USA prime-time network advertising could instill the NIKON BRAND LUST among YOUNGER, future customers. D-slr camera sales is a two-horse race, with a lame third horse still not yet scratched... the way this market is, getting customers EARLY might be worth a few million dollars today, by getting elementary and junior high kids interested in the Nikon "brand".

Father's day, Christmas, and graduation season are HUGE camera sales times. I think this idea, this brand-building, this desire for a higher level camera, a NIKON-branded aspiration, needs to go more mainstream than just the phone-zombie generation that can barely afford its data plans for watching movies and porn on their mobile devices.

 

[cgw]

Again...NOT taking this to TV will ensure that it's targeted at people who have low buying power and who ALREADY HAVE cellphone habits and social media habits ingrained: I think TV and print would stand a great chance of attracting parents and grandparents who would buy a Nikon for the young people in their lives, as a way to connect, and as a way to "give the kids an edge".

TV? Target audience isn't there and watches online, not anchored in front of the big Samsung and not network. Print? Where? The library? Can't see what you don't buy. That's two strikes, two out, bottom of the ninth for Nikon. Their targeted demographic seems mostly MIA where I see Nikon merch sold, be it big boxes or surviving camera stores. Brand lust? They've got it bad but I'm not sure they're jonesing for Nikon. This just isn't aspirational advertising.

 

[photoguy99]

cgw, Derrel addresses everything you complain about, in the post he wrote BEFORE yours. It's like he has a time machine or something.

 

[cgw]

cgw, Derrel addresses everything you complain about, in the post he wrote BEFORE yours. It's like he has a time machine or something.

Good luck selling D750s to the market Nikon thinks it's after:

Nikon Is Generation Image | byThom | Thom Hogan

 

[bribrius]

They don't need 1/4 of the cell phone users. They need like 1/1000 of them to profoundly change their circumstances. Maybe 1 in 10,000.

It seems to be a solid ad, but it does need to be paired with some products, I think. If this is the direction, they need to get frictionless about putting photos online. They need to give people a way to cull, edit, and upload with a couple of clicks and swipes. They need wifi in the camera and they need to partner with instagram.

It could be huge if they did it right. A d3300 with a pancake lens, a modest digital zoom feature, and instagram? Potentially a total killer.

Agree with this to a large extent, except for forgetting the size.
I mentioned in another thread I watch a documentary on polaroid instant cameras and why they were such big hit. One of the reasons it was a immediate and personal experience. Basically the photo came out immediately and they could show it to their friends, family, whatever. With digital it somewhat replaced polaroid instant film but with a very similar concept. Now they can talk to their friend on the phone take the photo with the same phone. And upload it with the same phone to their friends and family. The dry digital provided a continuation in much the same way as polaroid broke ground with instant film. A very immediate and personal experience caught in a instant that could be instantly shared. (you really should consider watching that documentary if you haven't).
so over the years polaroid goes on a mission to make their instant film cameras more compact, as that is what their users want.

so now we compare that philosophy and experience to both a cellphone user (which some phones are pretty damn amazing) and dslrs.
The idea of taking a photo with a dslr, editing it for a hour, ordering prints on line and waiting a week. This is not the philosophy that grew polaroid or made in camera phones a hit. It needs compact, easily edited or not at all, and instantly transferable to show others.

while I do believe they can do the last two, I don't believe they can do the first one with a dslr. And following polaroids extinction in instant film and the goal of decreasing camera size and always trying to make it quicker and more personal I don't think you will get that from a dslr.
The mirrorless may be abe to catch some of that upper end market, will have a better chance of capturing that in the future at least. I don't see a dslr doing it. Just the size takes away the personal experience of carrying it around which is what polaroid ran in to, not to mention the need for it to be immediately uploadable or printable. Even those with dslrs now use their camera phones (primary communication device ) much of the time. Using a Nikon, by and large is not a "my camera personal experience". It isn't normally instantly uploadable. it isn't compact to carry around. And it isn't quite as fun as what polaroid and later the phone makers offered and is real hard to sell as a "personal experience" as the finished product being immediately available and usable at that moment.

 

[photoguy99]

Thom Hogan is a dipshit. I cannot imagine why you keep citing him.

He's seriously irritated that Nikon is using VIDEO to sell a STILL camera? Yes, yes they are. Also, they are using WORDS. And they sell the STILL CAMERAS for a substance I call MONEY. I don't think Thom is actually that big of an idiot, he's just scrambling for anything to say that sounds vaguely sensible and slams Nikon. And he's almost making it.

 

[bribrius]

Time will tell. Even if they get 1/4 of the current generation cell phone snappers it would be a nice sales boost for Nikon. However the biggest hurdle to overcome with regards to the D-SLR vs Cellphone debate is convenience. The reason the internet is flooded with images is because of the simple convenience of having the camera built in to your phone. As the saying goes "The best camera is the one that is always with you". Given the choice I don't think most people are going to be willing to carry around a bigger D-SLR and possibly additional lenses just to take selfies, and snap casual pics of friends while they're out at the clubs.

In my case however you will have to pry my Nikon D-SLR's and lenses from my cold dead fingers.

I disagree, the deciding factor is almost always money in every instance. A $200 phone w/camera or $500 or more camera w/o a phone... For young kids without jobs probably not gonna be buying a new DSLR.

it is partly the money, but a lot of it the experience. Understanding what people do with their phones. People are very ATTACHED to their phones and their phones are very PERSONAL.
Think about what that means. They talk on it, surf the web on it, keep all their friends in contacts in it, text on it, pretty much everything you can imagine (day planner, alarm calculator) I know many in which their phones IS THEIR LIFE. in a nutshell. Putting the ability to make photos in that same phone was almost a gift from jesus. As the tablet and phone line gets blurred (pretty much both at once almost) this becomes even more the case. These people are not going to ditch a cellphone for a dslr replacement because the dslr is not a replacement. As the phone is pretty much their entire life wrapped around it or in it. And since most photos from the newer ones are still good enough for a decent sized print if they want they can run down and have them printed that minute at a do it yourself automated place or at a one hour photo (almost as good as instant film, almost). And it fits in a neat little case they can carry around in their pocket in most cases. Other thing, most of these phones come with plans. They aren't actually going in hock on it (in most cases) for six hundred all in one cash payment but on a two year contract often with a discounted family plan, it just happens to take pretty damn good photos too. Two totally different worlds.
Now if they intended to print more than 1 in a thousand images to a wall hanging I would say yeah, they might want a dslr. Most of these images never see print at all and the ones that do they aren't putting on a canvas.