MUMBAI: Canon India, a digital imaging company, will spend Rs 400 million on marketing during this festive season, 34 per cent more than a year earlier.
Canon India‘s camera division marketing spends comprise almost 72 per cent of Canon India‘s overall marketing budget of Rs 1.42 billion for 2012. This year, the camera division also has increased its marketing budget from Rs 760 million in 2011 to Rs 1.02 billion in 2012, which is also an increase of over 34 per cent.
Canon has registered a 32 per cent growth in the first six months of 2012 driven by a strong 60 per cent growth in its camera business. The growth drivers were "aggressive" marketing, new product launches, "attractive" pricing, retail expansion and portfolio expansion. Canon has also entered into the cinematography domain with the launch of its Cinema EOS C300 camera.
The company has rolled out a new marketing campaign for Onam, featuring its brand ambassador Anushka Sharma. The Onam campaign is an extension of Canon‘s ‘What Makes Us Click‘ campaign. The company is also pushing its in-shop and retail visibility by placing Ground Standing Boards (GSBs) and point of sale material at all Canon retail outlets in the region.
Canon India SVP Alok Bharadwaj said, "We are reconfiguring our photography business in India with youth-centric propositions using a three-pronged strategy of celebrity endorsement, imaging brand stores expansion and strong product lineup."
To kick-start its festival sales plan, Cannon has announced price reduction for 11 camera models. We are also expanding imaging brand stores to 100 by end this year. All this will help us to reach revenues of Rs 21 billion in 2012 with a market share of 25 per cent in cameras and 45 per cent in DSLR.
Last year, Cannon held the No. 1 position in the DSLR cameras category and were among the top two digital cameras brands in Kerala during Onam and it aims to replicate that performance or go a step further. "We would like to announce signing of three new brand stores in Kerala to be opened before Christmas this year."
Canon India assistant director and head of ICP division Seiji Hamanishi added, "Canon has a substantial market share in Kerala and plans to further its leadership during the current festive season. To consolidate this lead, Canon has recently launched a new range of 21 camera models and nine new lenses."
The models where Canon slashed the prices are - 5 models of Canon PowerShot Series - A1200, A2300, A2400, A3400 and A4000; 4 models of Canon IXUS series - IXUS 125, IXUS 240, IXUS 500 and IXUS 510; 2 models of Canon PowerShot SX series - SX 240 and SX 260. As part of the Onam festive offer, Canon is also offering a 4GB SD card and a carry case to each customer on the purchase of a digital camera.
