I had the pleasure of attending the annual PMA Australia Conference and Digital Life Expo in Melbourne last week.
Whilst our good friend Barrie Parsons at Photo and Imaging News has written some great material on it that may be of interest I thought I would share some of my insights.
Day 1 – DIMA Emerging Technology Conference
The focus on this day was really about the significant influence the Internet and Social media is having on the Photo and Imaging sector and there were some really interesting talks.
With retailers feeling considerable margin pressures having to compete with cheap internet imports there is really no excuse for them not having a savvy web strategy these days.
Bill McCurry gave an interesting talk on turning “Data into Dollars” and how businesses should better manage the information they have on their customers in order to extract extra sales and revenue. All good stuff but nothing really new for those who have already done the course in Data Mining 101.
A Panel of esteemed industry leaders including Dave Marshall from Fujifilm, Marc Radatt from Olympus and Clyde Rodrigues from Kodak as well as representatives from Canon and Nikon discussed the future of the industry from a Macro perspective. Whilst the talk was from very informed sources at times I had to check that it wasn’t sponsored by Apple as there was so much talk about the impact of new devices like the ipad that things got a little off track.
Of course everyone was, to a certain extent, pushing their own barrows with the key insight being how the importance of mobile devices to the Photography Industry, the continued growth in Kiosk facilities in Department stores and chains, as well as the massive growth potential in Photo Merchandise like that offered by www.photoartcentre. I must say that I did detect that the major brands are getting a little frustrated with some of the retailers in the industry and their lack of desire to pursue internet strategies. It really begs the question “will the big brands start to sell internet direct to consumer" as they have in the USA and other places, because this could do significant damage to marginal retailers who are slow to adopt more tech savvy marketing and sales initiatives.
Our good friend John Swainston from Maxwell, distributors of every photographers favourite.. the Lowepro Camera bag, gave an overview of his daughter Nathalie’s (Twitter @Natface – Social Media Guru ) take on social media due to the late arrival of a speaker. The presentation highlighted the massive growth in online communities and the importance of social media in business strategy. Whilst John was a little rusty on the details...he did manage to get a plug in for www.photoartgallery.com as one of the premier Photo Communities in Australia...so even if he didn’t know his own Twitter handle he was formally forgiven at the end of the event. By the way John...its @ozjohns.
Arguably the best speaker of the day was none other than CEO of Wiliam Pty Ltd @robertbeerworth who shed some very clear light on the do and don’ts of creating a web business and web site. As I have made every mistake that he outlined I was left wondering why you only ever run into these people after you have done all the hard work? I then left the auditorium and made an appointment to meet with him immediately!
Key takeaways from Roberts presentation for me were (and when you think about it they all sound like Blinding Glimpses of the Obvious (BGO’s))
- Start with the business process and revenue model FIRST
- If you leave the first meeting with your webdev talking about Look and Feel something’s wrong– usability is key not looks
- Find a group you can work with and that feel culturally right for your business – do suitable due diligence
- SEO is becoming less important as its impossible to keep up with the big brands and incumbents
- TRAFFIC, TRAFFIC and TRAFFIC are the keys to your online success – know where it is and how to get it for the right price
The industry day was concluded with a good meal and a few quiet drinks before the opening of the expo.
DAY 2 – Let the show begin
After a brisk walk along Southbank to Jeff’s Shed day 2 of my visit gave me a chance to explore the Expo, attend some meetings with some of our Corporate clients and listen to a few of the many talks.
All of the Major Camera brands were very well represented with Fuji, Olympus, Panasonic, Canon, Nikon, Kodak and Samsung all featuring heavily. Product showcases aside it immediately struck me that there was considerable attention to 3d Products from a number of suppliers including Fuji and Samsung. Barrie Parsons wrote a great article on it here. I did also notice that Sony did not have a stand and they have obviously chosen to take another path for their marketing initiatives which seems strange for an emerging force in the Photo and Imaging arena that had been so prevalent in previous years.
Major Print and Product suppliers like HP, our friends at PhotoCreate, Epson and Asuka Books made up the bulk of the other major displays that were inter dispersed with a huge range of other smaller B2B businesses and key Industry representatives like the AIPP and the ACMP.
Some of the highlight of the day for me were:
- Samsungs Dancing Robots - that were synched to dance with some real dancers – Not sure about the relevance to photography but it was great technology
- Olympus’ Tap Dancing brigade – designed to prove just how tough the Tough range really is.
- Nikons impressive showcase of Ambassadors talks including sports Photographer and Red Bull extremist Mark Watson, Wedding Photographer of the Year Rocco Ancora and the illustrious chair of the ACMP – talented Corporate Photographer Gavin Blue all of whom gave insightful and impressive talks at the Nikon Stand.
- The intense judging and high quality of work on display at the show for the Professional Photographer of the Year which was won by Peter Coulson whose work you just have to check out.
- Meeting with some great corporate customers to talk about our unique Social Imagery Platform that allows businesses to run great Photo Competition and Promotions
There was heaps to do and see at the Expo as the record 20,000 strong attendees would testify. It was also really great to check out the latest gear, catch up with industry leaders and enjoy from great coffee being served at the Fujjifilm Stand that overlooked the entire show.
So its onwards and upwards for the Photo and Imaging industry, more technology, more enthusiasts and back to Sydney for next year’s event !
Cheers for now
Coppo
PS The announcement of the PICA Dealer of the Year was also made at the show and we think there was no better winner than the Team at DCW < who we have the pleasure of working with on their Solitude Photo Competition at this time too. So well done TEAM DCW !!!
