What is the marketing budget for Canon for the camera division and overall for the current financial year?
We will be spending around Rs. 55 crore on the marketing of our products for camera division. The overall marketing budget for Canon group for the current fiscal is Rs. 110 crore. Last year, the marketing spend of the camera division was Rs. 40 crore and the over all marketing spend of our group was Rs. 80 crores.
What will be the break up of your marketing spend between above-the-line (ATL) and below-the-line (BTL) activities?
Out of the total Rs. 55 crore marketing spend, 50% will go in ATL activities and the rest 50% in BTL activities. Among the ATL activities, the major outlet will be Print, TV, digital and outdoor. So of the Rs. 27 crore that we will be spending on ATL activities, 30% will go to TV, 40% to print, 20% to outdoor and 10% to digital. But this break up is for the first half of the financial year. For the second half of the year we will disclose the plan later.
What is the break-up of the marketing spend on BTL activities?
The BTL activities will basically be focused on four areas: a) Roadshows b)Retail push c) Dealer programmes and d) Community building.
Among these four, 50% of the marketing spend will go to retail push, another 25% to Roadshows, 10% on dealer programs and rest 15% on community building.
You have significantly raised the marketing budget of your camera division. What are the marketing objectives you are looking to achieve?
The marketing objective I can say is twofold: first is the immediate result and second is a long term goal. The immediate objective is to increase our market share in various categories of camera. And a larger goal is to create strong brand awareness for Canon in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.
What is your current market share and how much increase do you expect by the next financial year?
In the lifestyle camera segment, we currently have 20% market share. We are expecting it to go up to 40%. Overall digital camera market, Canon commands 18% share at present which we expect to go upto 25%. And we are already the leader in the Digital-SLR segment with 60% market share.
In the present scenario, what is the biggest marketing challenge for Canon India?
The biggest challenge will be to get the channel partner’s mindset change. At present the channel players (distributors and dealers) have a more tilted attitude towards electronic companies who also sell cameras. We want those people to focus on Canon when it comes to cameras. That will be our biggest marketing challenge in times to come.
And it is not just the channel partners, the general consumer perception too is the same: when it comes to quality Sony is the number one player. How are you going to tackle that?
You are right and the only way we can change that perception is by letting the consumers know about Canon technology. To convey the consumers that the technology used in our cameras is far superior than that used in Sony cameras and we offer a better product. We are training our executives and sales people who are appointed at retail outlets to convey this message better. We want to tell the consumers that when it comes to television Sony is no 1 but when it comes to cameras Canon is the no. 1 brand. That is the only way to do it.
You have recently launched one TV campaign for your lifestyle camera range Ixus. Any other TVCs that you are planning to launch?
No that will be the only TVC for this year. One TV commercial in one year is enough for cameras.
The recently launched TVC is basically for your lifestyle cameras. What about the rest segments?
The lifestyle segment requires a different treatment and that is why we have launched a TV campaign for it. But the rest of the camera segments don’t really require a TVC and thus we will be supporting them through various other mediums. Also, for our powershot range of cameras (which is entry level camera) we plugged in ‘the best powershot’ in IPL. Where the best shot is branded as ‘powershot’. We will continue to do such activities. |
