Okay, maybe that’s not the best idea as there may be compatibility issues, but as I sit down to write the last PB editorial of 2007, it’s hard not to look ahead to 2008.
Where do you start when trying to recap a year that saw so much innovation in an industry that, at times, barely seems ready for it?
Well, we’ll start with the 2007 retail printing market, as that is where so many industry conversations have revolved around this year. While the numbers are up (almost 50% of all prints made are now made at retail), there are still staggering numbers of images that are landing in the cyber version of the roach motel – computer hard drives. While the photo gifting market is getting many of those images off drives and into photo books, calendars and the like, the lack of an easy solution for consumers to organize and retrieve their images is keeping the aforementioned hotel at full capacity.
Can’t imagine that there isn’t a way for Joe and Jane Foto to be able to instantly have images organized into named, dated folders immediately after uploading and have the images retrievable with a few keystrokes. We have all been bombarded with this “instant gratification” phrase when it comes to digital imaging – but how many of your customers have complained about spending hours trying to find an image they shot just a few months ago?
Can’t look back on 2007 without mentioning the DSLR market and the dramatic changes we have seen transpire here. The category is undergoing a sea change of design and innovation and as a result, the demographic of the customer buying product within this category is changing radically as well.
We are seeing feature sets in today’s consumer-level DSLRs that only a year ago weren’t expected in a camera body that would sell for much less than $1500. The industry is now placing professional-level imaging capabilities in the hands of mainstream picture-takers for less than $600 – it’s truly remarkable.
Add to this madness the fact that scores of casual snap-shooters are becoming increasingly frustrated with the shutter-lag problems that persist in the point-and-shoot world and are beginning to take a more serious look at the budget DSLR category. As you can see, a category that was once dominated by 30-something males is now making room for a much broader audience. The aforementioned Soccer Moms and NASCAR Dads are looking to upgrade and take their picture-taking experiences to another level. The spin-off effect this will undoubtedly have on the retail print market should be dramatic. From what little we know about what’s in store for 2008, the madness in the DSLR market may have just begun.
Lastly, you can’t begin to recap 2007 without chatting about what is happening to the retail landscape. The Internet, has of course, changed everything and today’s consumer walks into retail with a much better idea of exactly what they want and why they want it. The tools for marketing and catering to your customers today are also far different than the methods of yesteryear. With the continued proliferation of cell phones in the U.S., the mobile marketing arena promises to turn retail on its ear as we move through the rest of this decade. To a lesser extent, e-mail marketing is changing the rules of how we speak to our customers as well.
Wireless technology in general is constantly creating new habits and lifestyles and will surely continue to have a dramatic effect on the imaging industry in the weeks and months ahead.
As the saying goes, the only constant is change and I suppose those that stay on top of those changes will show the rest of us where to go. I’ll be in a lounge chair sipping a margarita at the beach…text me.
