Canon fails to understand blogging and new media (revisited)

From "not getting" the Fake Chuck Westfall blog, to trying to shutdown CanonRumors.com, it seems the "Big Iron" frozen-in-Web-1.0 marketing people at Canon are just not getting "it". Another case in point is this new blog post at Thomas Hawk's Digital Connection, explaining why he covers the Canon logos on his camera gear.

Now please keep in mind, this is not against the actual Canon cameras and lenses, or the hard-working Canon engineers who design and produce the gear despite the existence of marketing.

Canon is in the majority, most camera manufacturers are clearly LOST in Web 2.0. Even the monthly Chuck Westfall Tech Tips are posted like a printed-magazine, once a month and without any interaction. Sony and Samsung are trying by launching different blogs, but they don't really have an organic feel to them. Nikon has launched podcasts and D-Town and those are nice, but they are published on a schedule, again, the magazine one-way direction approach. Asthon Coolpixtcher is good marketing for the average consumer but he's not going to provide any insights to advanced/professional photographers.

Tamron has started an organic blog, showcasing real-world photography and that is definitely a step in the right direction, and they are ahead of most of the other manufacturers. However, it has a Web 1.5 feel to it - and it would probably be a good idea to add the blog to their own domain to prevent any confusion as to who owns the blog and such. Not to mention take advantage of the webmastery benefits of doing so.

Of all the things we have seen (and we haven't seen everything, so we could have missed some), there are two that seem to get it. RED is at the forefront, announcing their new products in phases in the RED forums, with the RED CEO frequently leading the teasing and grabbing complainers by the ear if they complain too much. Sounds like a "Rebel CEO", not to be confused with Richard Branson, the "Rebel Billionaire"!

The other company that is providing some organic communication with its users is Pentax, with Ned Bunnell often posting timely information about their cameras on his own blog. Case in point, the K7 brochure copy, K7 teasers, sample pictures taken with new lenses, and things like that.

So, camera manufacturers, we are providing you with free advice here, but if you want to learn more, *grabby-hand Colbert-style* (picture) consulting fees please - we tell you how to create blog ;-)

What I forgot to mention
Also forgot to mention the Kodak blogs, which we were reminded in the comments, along with the busy Twittering. The issue of course here is that Kodak is no longer making any digital cameras above the mid-range of the market, and even the most exciting blog in the world can't help them overcome the lack of beyond mid-range digital cameras.

A number of camera companies have at various times had representatives "visit" various photography forums and try to answer questions and help resolve issues. For example, Panasonic used to have a "Panasonic Guy" in the dpreview forums trying to answer questions from various photographers and help resolve problems or issues. This was good while it lasted, but the aggressive nature of some forum members created a "scorched earth" type of an environment and caused the experiment to end.

Then there's the Twittering, where the designated Olympus Twittered even joined in the rumoralia. See his twits where he encourages people to sign up for their email lists if they want to learn more about the Micro Four Thirds revolution. Is there an email leak coming? :)