Re: [Leica] The lights are on...but nobody's home

[Nathan Wajsman <wajsman@webshuttle.ch>]

It seems that Leica's marketing (BTW, Bill E.'s original post seemed to confuse
marketing with advertising--they are not the same!) is better in some countries than
others. I have been pleasantly surprised to see how prominent Leica is in Swiss camera
stores; in Zurich almost every store I have visited has a Leica or two (mostly M6 but
often also R8) in the window, and many shops have a good selection of new M and R
lenses. And to top it off, LFI is sold in the Zurich airport newsstand!

Nathan

Emanuel Lowi wrote:

> I can understand Leica's reluctance to launch full-scale magazine ad campaigns.
> Locking horns publicly with the Japanese makers is probably highly cost ineffective.
>
> What concerns me more is the attitude of many dealers. I've been into several
> stocking Leica shops who seem curiously indifferent to the products. They have the
> stuff on the shelf yet seem unconvinced as to their excellenceand good value. They
> just don't get it. It is funny for me, as a customer, to have to sell Leica to the
> sales staff.
>
> We all know why Leica is great, especially the unique M line: the way the cameras
> become an extension of your hands and eye, the unobtrusiveness, the fine quality.
> Despite the cost, we all know that spending $2000 for an M6 means 40-50 years of
> photographic enjoyment and lasting value. Almost no other marque offers that.
>
> So why isn't Leica working harder to sell retailers on this? Seems to me this is the
> first step towards pumping up sales worldwide. I hope this will happen soon,
> especially here in Canada - once Leica's 2nd home - where Leica has seemed nearly
> anonymous.
>
> Emanuel Lowi
> Montreal

- --
Nathan Wajsman
Overijse, Belgium and Zurich, Switzerland

e-mail: wajsman@webshuttle.ch

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