Dec 4, 2008

Mktg - Canon plans to make photography big in India

Chhavi Tyagi

Canon launched a large-scale on-ground campaign, the Canon Image Fest, with hopes of taking photography to many parts of the country. Initially, it set its eyes on 10 Tier II cities, starting with Jaipur. However, the success of the campaign has altered its plans.

After the experience in Jaipur and then Chandigarh, Canon has made the campaign bigger. Starting January, it will now go to 24 cities.

Shunichi Senda, director, ICP, Canon India, says in an official communiqué, “We at Canon are looking forward to reliving the experience of Jaipur. The response was overwhelming and we are happy to see people’s keen interest in photography. Canon now takes immense pride in bringing this fest to Chandigarh. We realise how critical Tier II cities are for the growth of Canon, and this is a step towards strengthening our foothold in these cities. The fest is yet another step to get closer to customers and cater to their needs.”


The activation is being handled by PDM India; its parent agency, Percept/H, is responsible for the mass media promotions.

Sanjay Shukla, head of promotions division, PDM India, tells afaqs!, “Canon invited pitches from many agencies and they were impressed by the idea presented by us. What also worked in our favour is our strength across cities, which was an important requirement of the activation.”

The campaign is a sales-cum-promotion generation exercise for Canon. The activation starts with putting up a readymade Canon Image Lounge in the selected cities, which showcases the brand’s cameras and photo printing products.


The target audience is contacted through mailers and tieups with clubs and top schools as well as through press ads. Schoolchildren are invited along with their parents and a special creative zone is created by PDM. Children and parents can dress each other up with the many props available and then click each other. There is also a wall where the pictures are pasted. The best picture gets a Canon camera or any of the other products as a prize.

The various activities are held on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, with PDM covering two cities in one month. Thus, with 24 cities to cover, the campaign will run for another 12 months.

The activation agency is in the process of finalising the cities to which the campaign should be taken. Some of those finalised are Ludhiana, Jamshedpur, Guwahati, Kochi and Nagpur.


Shukla says that Canon has already seen an upsurge in sales through the campaign, though he did not divulge any numbers.

PDM India has also created another property with ace photographer Atul Kasbekar, who will conduct photography workshops. The campaign was launched in Kolkata and there are plans to take it to Mumbai and other cities as well.

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