Leica Mini M “Leaks” May Have Been Part of a Clever Marketing Scheme

sneakpeek

It wasn’t very long ago that Leica began teasing its Mini M camera on the homepage of their website. Purported leaks of Mini M began to surface, including photographs and specifications.

Slowly but surely, the black box labeled “Mini M” on the Leica website began to open up as the rumors continued to flow through the blogosphere. Some sources had confirmed that the rumors and images were, in actuality, the real deal. Others, on the other hand, were convinced the leaked images and specs were fakes.

This "leaked photo" of the Mini M (foreground) reportedly appeared in a French iPad publication
This “leaked photo” of the Mini M (foreground) reportedly appeared in a French iPad publication

This 'shopped image also "leaked" yesterday
This ‘shopped image also “leaked” yesterday

But a big question has come up: is this all just a clever marketing scheme put together by Leica? Did Leica release fake Mini M rumors with specs too unimpressive to be true to draw attention to the Mini M, and to make the real camera seem fantastic by comparison when it finally is announced? If so, this would be a spectacular method of marketing this new product, which is slated to be revealed on the 11th of June.

If you take a look at the Leica website at this time, the black box reads, “Heard the rumors? Get the truth: Leica Stores – June 11th.”

Leica Truth Teaser

A closer look at the mysterious box on Leica's front page
A closer look at the mysterious box on Leica’s front page

This does, essentially, imply that what we’ve been hearing on the grapevine is nothing more than, well, rumors — perhaps even fake rumors from the horse’s mouth.

Here’s what Mirrorless Rumors is saying about the previous leaks:

As I told you the day I posted the image, there is only one way the rumor could not be true. And that is that Leica made a marketing campaign by spreading false rumor deliberately around the world. If true this would be the first time a company does it. And in my opinion a very clever strategy!

It won’t be very long until the air is cleared and we have the truth about the Mini M come next week.


Update: It now appears that the leaked images and specs were NOT part of some strange marketing scheme.

Discussion