The challenge
S Paroutis Ltd, the local distributor of Canon photographic products in Cyprus, wanted Ultima to formulate an effective advertising campaign to promote Canon's new product lines. Ultima's task was to create a distinctive advertising campaign that would accomplish S Paroutis's selling targets and meet Canon's requirements.
Analysis
Ultima carried out market and consumer research to explore the market and dominant consumer trends in a way that would assist in the formulation of transparent communication objectives regarding the promotional campaign of Canon products.
Communication objectives
Ultima's research indicated that the principal goals of the projected campaign should be to:
Promote by means of a hard selling approach
Build recognition of specific product benefits
Draw attention to certain series of products
Increase market share by boosting sales
Target groups
Ultima found that the target market of Canon photography products in Cyprus could be divided into two major segments. The first consisted of professional photographers and highly-skilled amateurs. The second segment consisted of individuals and families using photography in order to illustrate their important moments.
Solution
Unique selling propositions (USP)
After studying the findings of the research, Ultima defined clear USPs which would serve as the basis for promotional activities.
The global slogan "You Can Canon", adapted to suit the local market situation of Cyprus, acted as a unique selling proposition by emphasising that the superb quality of Canon is affordable for the average potential buyer.
Ultima also advised the client to create attractive promotional offers, which would mainly appeal to amateur individuals and families requiring good photographic devices to capture their memories and their special moments.
Advertising campaign & communication strategy
Ultima proposed using product-oriented print and billboard ads to promote Canon products. These ads, in addition to communicating the USP through the global slogan "You Can Canon", contained information regarding the prices and attributes of the products and the benefits that were likely to derive from their use. The strategy that Ultima devised for S. Paroutis involved a hard selling approach engaging instant and occasional promotions of the product range. In some cases, Ultima suggested using print advertisements employing promotional tools such as the offer of a free printer with the purchase of a Canon digital camera. These methods succeeded in boosting the sales of particular series of Canon products.
