marketing

Michael Zhang

Did Sigma Make the SD1 to Serve as the Brand’s “Halo Product”?

Sigma generated a lot of buzz recently after announcing its SD1 DSLR with a $9,700 MSRP, and that's probably exactly what they were trying to do. As articles all over the Internet questioned why a 14.7MP Sigma DSLR would cost the same price as Pentax's 40MP medium-format DSLR, Sigma was quick to point out that the camera would actually be selling for a slightly more reasonable street price of $6,900.

Michael Zhang

Why Using Groupon May be a Stupid Idea for Photographers

Deal of the day website Groupon is the fastest growing companies in web history and a popular way for local businesses to generate some buzz in their areas, but some independent photographers are finding out the hard way that offering special deals through Groupon might be the worst marketing decision they ever made.

Michael Zhang

200 Paper Planes Launched from Space Carrying SD Cards

Samsung recently partnered up with viral marketing agency The Viral Factory to launch 200 paper airplanes carrying SD cards from the edges of space. We first reported on this experiment back in September of last year, but they followed through with the plans and just published this video this week showing how they accomplished it. The balloon was launched in Germany, and each SD Card carried a message for the finder to prove how durable they are.

Michael Zhang

Creative Billboards for Leica Cameras

Leica recently ran a series of billboard advertisements promoting the S2 medium format DSLR and V-Lux 1. The billboards were quite unique in that they were individually made to show the wall they were placed on, with the details of the wall blown up to highlight the 12x optical zoom of the V-Lux 1 and the 37.5 megapixel sensor of the S2.

Michael Zhang

SD Card-Laden Paper Airplanes to Be Dropped from the Edge of Space

Viral marketing agency The Viral Factory is helping Samsung with an experiment in which they're planning to drop 100 SD cards attached to paper airplanes from 21 miles above the Earth in the stratosphere. Instructions will be printed on the paper airplane informing anyone who finds one of the experiment and what they can do to participate. Finders are encouraged to shoot with the cards and then upload anything taken to the Project Space Planes website.

The claim that the planes will "carry the messages across the world" is a bit farfetched, but supposedly the planes could potentially travel hundreds of miles depending on the wind conditions. The experiment is planned for mid-October.

Jessica Lum

Taylor Swift Markets New Sony Cyber-shot

Country-pop darling Taylor Swift has joined the growing list of camera-toting celebrity spokespersons. Swift's partnership with Sony hit the limelight in January during CES2010, when Swift joined in the Sony press event to announce her use of Sony 3D technology during her current tour.