Canon puts $3m into helping camera buyers upgrade

The public has a lot to answer for when it comes to making life not so easy for the photo industry.

Canon marketing director Darren Ryan claims consumers don’t know how to use the technology embedded in today’s digital cameras with most not getting off the automatic function.

With sales of digital compacts and DSLRs slowing, Canon has launched its biggest-ever marketing and media campaign to “help” camera users get the most out of their equipment and encourage them to trade-up to more sophisticated models.

Ryan told the conference that Canon will spend around $3 million on media alone to drive its recently-announced World of EOS marketing program, which has so far attracted more than 20,000 new members and 180,000 unique visitors online.

“We expect the category to grow this year,” he said.

"This is our biggest-ever spend on DSLR and our biggest investment in driving the category back to growth. We need to help people understand the benefits of moving up.”

Although reluctant to provide details, Ryan said Canon said would be doing some “really cool things coming down the pipeline later this year – so stay tuned.”