Olympus, a leading camera brand, has moved forward to serve the market growth in Thailand with Consumer Experience as its key strategy, forming a partnership with Big Camera Corporation, a major camera distributor and supplier in Thailand and Southeast Asia to launch “OLYMPUS Store by BIG CAMERA, Southeast Asia’s first flagship store under the Olympus brand. The store is located in the heart of Bangkok. Under the concept “Experience with Olympus”, the store will become a community for photography enthusiasts and serve as a space for customers who want to gain new experiences through products and services made available exclusively for the digital camera lovers. The store is now open.
Mr. Michihiro Tanaka, Director and Division Manager of Imaging Products at Olympus (Thailand) Co., Ltd. said, “In the overview of the Olympus brand in Thailand since the beginning of the year, its growth rate is consistent with the direction of the market. The most popular product in digital cameras market is Mirrorless segment, in which Olympus is ranked No.3 in market share. Meanwhile, professional digital cameras are winning more popularity, according to different factors such as the influence by some influencers and thought leaders in the community that prompt beginners to start looking for cameras at higher quality level. The expansion of the smart phone market also contributes to the market expansion because people are more interested in taking photos when compared to the past. These consumers are increasingly interested in developing their skills in digital photography. In addition, the consumers are not only considering the features of digital cameras, but also look for added value that a brand can offer before making a purchase decision.
Therefore, Olympus has prepared a marketing plan to support the growth of the consumers whose buying behavior has changed. Under its “Consumer Experience”, new experiences are key to deliver to consumers, in addition to special features of the products. In cooperation with its partner Big Camera Corporation Public Company Limited, a major digital camera distributor and supplier in Thailand and Southeast Asia. OLYMPUS Store by BIG CAMERA is the first Olympus flagship store in Southeast Asia, located in the heart of Bangkok with the investment of over 15 million Baht, operated under the concept "Experience with Olympus", considered to be a new business model created for the community of photography lovers to gain new experiences together. The store also has cameras, accessories and other products under the Olympus brand available. It has already opened at the 4th floor of Central World.
"Olympus Store By Big Camera" combines Big Camera’s expertise and knowledge in the field of services and products to offer consumers as a one stop service. On “Products”, the store prepares all of Olympus’ line-ups such as film cameras, digital binoculars, limited edition for example Olympus PEN E-PL9 Denim Blue and lenses and many accessories such as leather cases, camera straps, batteries and applications, as well as digital audio recorders for consumers.
Specialist Service is set to provide customers with staff who are specialists in photography and products. They can help customers by recommending which camera fit their lifestyle and provide after sales service to facilitate customers who need repair and maintenance, in addition to firmware updating service. Specialist Service is available at the opening and closing times of the shopping center. The specialist staff can also help initially estimate the damage, the expense, and advise on the date for repair finish.
In addition, the store is set to provide special areas for Olympus’s customers to work together. For example, Gallery Zone features a monthly rotation of inspiration photography from noted photographers and the work of Olympus’s customers; Education and Inspiration Center provides workshops for customers on different topics including using a camera, photographic techniques by famous photographers, how to be inspired to enjoy more photography, and many more on diverse lifestyles to best serve the customers' interests; Olympus History tells its stories from the past to present and stages Olympus cameras from different eras, including the popular model: Olympus Film Cameras.
The company believes that opening the store will serve as a central space to create a positive experience for Olympus customers. It will be the brand's strength in helping consumers make more informed choices about Olympus products. More than 20,000 customers are expected to visit the store in a year and Olympus will see its sales grow by more than 20 per cent per year.
Mr. Thanasith Theinkanchanawong, Business Development Director at Big Camera Corporation Public Company Limited, said, "Since the beginning of this year, our executed marketing plan on creating exclusive experiences for customers in terms of products, services, and special events has been well received among consumers whose behavior has been shifted to focus on the specialty of the product and how after-sales services are offered in helping them gain more experience in taking photos.
“Olympus Store by Big Cameras" is thus a business model created to fulfill the requirements of the customers by providing an exceptional customer experience as consumers are looking for new lifestyles from using products. In this collaboration, Big Camera will implement the model with Olympus, a digital camera brand which is gaining more popularity among consumers. Olympus is also a unique brand with a huge fan base in the online world. Big Camera will play a major role in bringing its 42 years of experience in operating the retail business for digital cameras to help Olympus in terms of marketing and communication.
In the collaboration, Big Camera is enabled to expand its market base to serve new customers from Olympus. As a new dimension of the brand collaboration, customers will appreciate the brands in their efforts to help them enhance their experience in taking photos. In addition, Big Camera has set its sight to expand the model to collaborate with other digital camera brands in the next 1-3 years. "
