Shriro still M.I.A.?

[airconvent]

Its been months but so far Shriro has failed to increase the visiblity of the Pentax range.
I've seen none of the large retailers carrying this line and only a few others do.
Lens range is also limited so much so my friends ("C" and "N" gang members) seem to pan Pentax as having too limited and really too expensive lenses support. I guess that is why there are so few posts here.

I was hoping Shriro would come up with more exciting and visible advertising, bring in the full range of lenses and keep the public informed well in advance of new products to generate interest..eg..up till now still no news on the K100D and K110D or its price range.
I really like the form factor of this baby and really want to see it become mainstream since its such an affordable camera...

what's happening??:embrass:

 

[alanswan]

Pentax never seemed to have been heavily promoted by any of its local distributor for as long as I can remember.
It seems to me that their role had always been only as a middle-man to facilitate the distribution of products to the shops that are interested.
(much like the local Playstation scene)

I too would like to see more publicity on Pentax.
But I wonder is we (Pentax users) are just so suay to keep getting passive distributors?
Or is this a decision by the "greater Pentax corporation"?

 

[Keltzar]

its hard to say whether the fault lies with shriro or with pentax themselves. This is in-light of shriro's previous success with nikon and hasselblad. It could be that the principal (pentax) being too conservative... or not providing enough marketing dollars.

Marketing dollars are required to run both consumer related promotions, and promotions to (and through) the channels i.e. retailers, distributors etc. These include incentivizing the retailers to promote their brand over another brand (through bonus schemes or others).

In this business, part of the marketing-promo budget sometimes comes from the principal... so if pentax has been slow or tight-fisted about the budget... it could be that shriro does not have enough of, or is unwilling to fork out its own share of the promo budget.

I speculate, it could be a classic case of shriro promising a big promo ... pentax being enticed, everyone does a big launch and is happy... then comes putting money to plans and the disagreement starts. So things go quiet.

 

[seafone]

we wouldn't be able to know what is exactly wrong with the shriro or Pentax. But we all know that strong marketing is important in making a product shine even though it isn't that good a product after all(e.g. like other big brand with their so-so products). So it will be a real waste if good product like K100D is not market properly. Pentax is alway under-rated. Look at the Sony alpha with so much fan-fare going on during their launch. Being a pentax user, it makes me feel kind of envy that Sony is pumping so much money into it.

I would like to see the pentax market share grow. Good news is that, I read somewhere that Pentax imaging is now actually making profit and back in BLACK compare to same time last year where they went red.

Anyway, I think Shriro may not be that bad after all. I recently notice advertisment of Pentax *ist DL on the cab a couple of times on the road. Though the advertisment on the cab isn't that attractive, but at least... I am seeing something there.

 

[southernoise]

less marketing also good. at least we're not PAYING for their marketing campaign.

C'mon... Brand new DSLR with a capable kit lens for less than $1000. At least I know what I'm paying for!

 

[lizzy]

saw pentax ads on buses if i am not wrong...

 

[airconvent]

I think Shriro's advertising campaign is not very effective and it is not getting enough visibility. I believe with better publicity, they can sell more cameras, increase the owner database here and naturally, the range of accessories will improve both in availability and cost.
Price is very atractive but I think their adverts need to be sleek like the Nikon and Canon ones and in addition, convey more info about the product. Need not capture the semi-professionals but if they can tap a large segment of the beginners market and build from there..it would be good. They can also market the pentax as a second/backup grab and go camera too...

If the dealers are not there, they can even consider opening an outlet where their entire range of lens, etc can be showcased and purchased rather than force the owners to hunt around for stuff that simply is not there.

 

[lizzy]

i think putting more pentax stuffs on display in more shops will bring more exposure... less ppl buy pentax cos they can't buy what they can't see...

 

[airconvent]

my seasoned photographer friends alway cite lack of lens support as a reason for not purchasing the camera. shriro should make available the complete range of pentax lenses and if required, also trade in sigma and tamron lenses as well to offer the buyer a full range..

 

[kraterz]

Shriro one lousy company. They really dun budget properly for advertising. Their service almost as poor as Jebsen & Jessen, thanks to that Nikon dump Shriro and took over their service and support for nikon stuffs.

Pentax has such great and cost effective stuffs I wish some other better company handle their sales and support here. Mebbe sg too small market for Shriro.

 

[airconvent]

I'm beginning to wonder why Nikon dropped them in the first place. looking at the way pentax is being marketed and how nikon is now, I can suspect its the lack of product visibility.
just look at all the adverts for nikon now! they are everywhere...

the sony alpha camera is only out a week and already the major retailers are stocking them (check the adverts in today's papers) so where is pentax? I sincerely hope that shriro can appreciate with a price so attractive, if they can hardsell the other features, the market size can grow. I mean, why not tie ups with school photographic clubs, etc? surely there is a large market for entry level dslr in this areas ?

I have an interest for them to grow the market here because the large the owner base the larger the accessory and lens market...