EOS Branding in US/JPN

[liberace]

Not sure what the Americans and Japanese think - but being part of the market where Canon sell their DSLRs as EOS x[..]D across the board, I have to say I find the Rebel and Kiss brands a little stupid.

The consistent naming / branding scheme seems to just feel more complete. What are everyone else's thoughts? Are the Rebel and Kiss brands a positive or a negative for the cameras that receive that label?

 

[ronderick]

While the kiss/rebel branding is a pain for those who look up info regularly across the different markets, it does make sense for the entry level consumers. It's probably easier for mainstream consumers to remember "Kiss" or "Rebel" than "EOS 500D", which might get confused with the 50D.

btw, there's also the branding difference of the ELPH/IXUS/IXY series too...

 

[zerotiu]

I think there's a difference. I have rebel T2i and my friend has Kiss version of T2i. The color of Kiss is more vivid than mine. I don't have any pictures to proof it, or maybe I have a bad copy of 550d? (I don't know) and the price is cheaper than the rebel version (here at Asia)

 

[motorhead]

I tend to agree with the OP. Car manufacturers the world over are constantly making schoolboy errors when naming products and the same with boat names*. Uusing a numbering system, like Porsche and many others, makes a lot of sense.

*Embarrasing example: I once owned a small Caravela 25 sailing cruiser, coloured black and cream. I chose to use the Name "Pintado", which is a breed of Cape Petrel, as the colouring was similar and used an outline of the bird on the hull. Sadly I had not done enough homework: In at least one culture it was the name for chicken, in another wallpaper and there was even a rather famous "courtisan" by that name.

There have been dozens of cases like this due to marketing departments mess ups. I see no reason to tempt providence when a simple numbering arragement is so simple.

 

[traveller]

I can't see what's wrong with a pure numbers system, it doesn't seem to do any of the other manufacturers any harm (or perhaps it does, as Canon is still number 1 ) )

Nikon has recently moved to simplify its naming scheme, but it's still more complex than Canon's logical progression (Rebel/Kiss aside).

 

[NormanBates]

how is a consumer supposed to know which one is better, a rebel xti or a rebel xsi? or a t1i?

so my guess is that it is just evil tactics to try to get rid of old inventory without lowering prices too much

and we europeans are smarter and wouldn't be fooled by such a scheme, so there's no point in even trying

 

[unfocused]

I've always hated the "Rebel" designation. I think it cheapens the brand. Andre Agassi retired the mullet years ago (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMHH_AGCv-4).

Time for Canon to retire the Rebel designation too.

 

[distant.star]

Are the Rebel and Kiss brands a positive or a negative for the cameras that receive that label?

Outside of the Canon marketing department there probably is no answer. (And I suspect there may not be any logical answer there either.) Although they do seem to sell all they can make so it would be hard to argue for the negative. Personally, I despise the "Rebel" name on my T2i. The only thing worse, I guess, would be KISS -- hell, I'd have my acetone out getting that off the nameplate. But these names come from a culture that was wildly successful branding a line of products "Hello Kitty."

The annals of marketing are chockablock with great stories, from inane to loony, about product naming. Edsel comes first to mind. If you've never seen it, the correspondence between Ford and the poet Marianne Moore is worth reading just for the tickle. They had contracted her to suggest potential names for the Edsel. The Edsel name itself is thought to have been part of the reason for its failure. She did not suggest Edsel!

Toyota got into a long and intense legal battle with the Lexis database folks when they launched their new brand "Lexus." And I can't imagine how much money it cost to change the whole Datsun line over to Nissan; I always admired them for the courage that took.

Anyway, this is another reason I'm looking forward to the 5D3. Then I can tell people it's named for the Fifth Dimension and the camera is a hallmark of the age of Aquarius.

Okay, back to LR3. Thanks for asking.

 

[7enderbender]

I've always hated the "Rebel" designation. I think it cheapens the brand. Andre Agassi retired the mullet years ago (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMHH_AGCv-4).

Time for Canon to retire the Rebel designation too.

Totally agree. It's hard to argue that Canon's marketing department is doing a bad job given that they made and maintained market leadership. However, my guess is that they could sell even more Rebels/Kiss cameras (which seems to be one of their big money makers) and kits if they chose styling and name branding that was more "professional". Not as much as that they'd be confused with the upscale models but you know what I mean.

Not that "coolpix" is all that cool though...

 

[unfocused]

The annals of marketing are chockablock with great stories, from inane to loony, about product naming.

Don't forget Chevy's famous fiasco with Spanish-speaking customers and the "no va."

 

[7enderbender]

The annals of marketing are chockablock with great stories, from inane to loony, about product naming.

Don't forget Chevy's famous fiasco with Spanish-speaking customers and the "no va."

Toyota's experience in France with the little "MR2" comes to mind...