Good Ad???

'Stress - free' to me just means I'm a little less worried about scrambling in panic to throw the camera back into the bag or get to cover. If the weather's packing in it's rarely conducive to good photography anyway, so you'll be packing up anyway in most cases.

Its just a bonus and gives that little bit extra time to get yourself sorted out - that's how I see it.

David, this is my personal opinion.... so... IMHO that is the point, in the ad they are trying to differentiate from "others" and state that one difference is that you do not have to worry about the weather.... When one (1) user reports a problem, they behave like any other manufacturer. After spending millions in ads, they have one (1) case worth a few hundred euros and instead then showing they are different and care about the average consumer who want to use the cameral in the rain, they are just like any other one......

In the era of social media, the way you respond to customer issues is at least as important at your advertising. So if you wanted to show that you can buy a Pentax camera and not care about the weather, the best thing you can do is follow up and make it very public..... Normally people trust users feedback more than marketing

I have to agree.

Both Nikon and Canon have cameras with some degree of weather sealing but if you read their literature all you get is a passing mention whereas Pentax really do like to ram the point home. If you are going to make it a major plus point then you should stand by the statement if a camera is affected by water getting into the electronics.

The fact so many people go out into the pouring rain or whatever and suffer no problems would seem to indicate that the few that do suffer are probably not assembled correctly to begin with. I doubt it would cost Pentax much to replace them once they have cannibalised the damaged camera for parts and it would certainly show they are standing by their product.

+1

Pentax versus Brand A and Brand B ???

Sounds like some cheesy 1960s washing up liquid advert

To be honest from a company of Ricoh size I was expecting a bit more professional looking marketing for pushing their imagining line of business. Lame spelling mistakes on their most bold statement, comparison with brand A and B (what the hell are these), English site leading to Japanese product descriptions. Sadly not looking good at all.

They have to bring their advantages to the masses in a better way. There is a real uniqueness and specific quality in the face of their lineup but no one really knows about it.

Thats kinda how I look at it too, positive signs around, all the negativity in the Pentax web world. Noted a lavish and large ad (good to see ) in a an American mag the other day for the K50, proudly displaying it's a Ricoh in bold at the top of the page and a little footnote stating that Pentax was a Ricoh brand at the bottom, apart from it saying Pentax on the Camera that was the only mention of Pentax anywhere.
I like the fact that they are starting to realise they have to market "Pentax" (TM :wink as something unique but perhaps they have not got it quite right?
They are going to want to stamp their mark here and tell the world who the daddy is in this uneven marriage, I suppose thats a given, after all it's theirs now. Of the five reasons stated as those to buy a Pentax no4 (Colours) is the weakest/most subjective? Colour however does go down well in the Asian marets where Pentax have been doing nearly 90% of their business, Ricoh probably want to keep up that momentum.
I would have liked to see them make more of pentax ergonomic design, which I feel is one of the major pluses to the system, and what brought me back to the fold, I just missed "Holding a Pentax"! Thats my big worry that somehow Ricoh manage to stuff that one up, which would leave me not holding a Pentax. (again:shock Much play is made about Pentax and legacy glass on the "other" site but why should Ricoh tout that at all, they don't make any of it and didn't make that much when they leased the Pentax mount the first time around? There's just no profit in second hand glass for them, it's all to do with the profit after all, which Ricoh must see the possibilities of, or they would not have bought Pentax off Hoya in the first place. What Ricoh haven't done and seriously need to soon, is produce something new with the Pentax monika on it! (Not a re-vamp or a place holding re-hash) The roadmap lenses need to appear and so does the fabled K3 (Which as usual I won't be able to afford ). 645 Users face a lot of uncertainty too, there were supposed to be three Lens releases for the 645 upcoming, no word on that, the silence is deafening, come on Ricoh, action is required!
There are now a lot of Pentax users who are dual system users (Me included), who don't want to leave but have had to find other solutions to their photographic desires, that Ricoh have not yet provided. They won't stay for ever and need something competitive with the market leaders, (No I don't mean Full Frame either! However I would like to see them eventually offer something in most formats.) it's doable but takes time, time which is starting to run out?/has already?

Quote abridged to summarise all the very good main points with which I agree.

Positive things are happening - let's assume that will continue.

Philip

P.S. Despite having firmly English roots, I will admit to liking the colour options.

No, it is their Japanese site.

625 views and only eight votes, politics eh, sheesh
Guess who doesn't really like opinion poles then?
What a miserable lot!

I voted!

Yeah I agree with what they were trying to achieve, but the bad layout, confusing wording, and typos really let that bit of marketing down. Presume they asked the intern to do it or something. Embarrassing!

It's alright. It is pretty badly written but I think it summarises most of the Pentax advantages quite well and the visuals are good. I don't care much for the gadzillion colours, I think harping on about that lessens the seriousness of the cameras as photographic tools. But then the market positioning seems to be firmly mainstream amateur/enthusiast.

I'm not racist, I haven't a problem with them

Congratulations Jules You seem to have incereasesd the voting rate.
Now 14 votes in 757 views.

Nice to see Pentax/Ricoh giving thought to their marketing. It matters.

There is a rich culture of marketing in Pentax, and doing so with humour. Try Googling 'Pentax Advertising' with an image search or better still look up link. My fav's are the red pages with text like the one about LBA or the other where Pentax state 'We're lousy at marketing...' There are at least four of them, but I also enjoy 'Bank Raid'.

Be interesting...........