Canon launches new branding initiative

Office World News, Nov 1999

PHILADELPHIA-Canon Digital Solutions Forum, Canon U.S.A. announced the launch of a long-term corporate brand communications effort uniting all Canon lines of business-- from corporate imaging and document management to consumer photography, industrial products, and SOHO solutions-under one comprehensive brand umbrella: CANON KNOW HOW

"Canon's Brand is without a doubt one of the more recognizable names in the market today, and is surely one of our most valuable assets," said Kinya Uchida, president and CEO of Canon U.S.A.

The Know How campaign will launch through a series of print and broadcast advertisements designed to give both consumers and business audiences a look at the wide span of Canon's product portfolio, which includes not only cameras and camcorders but also networked office equipment, medical and industrial products. semiconductor and manufacturing equipment, and broadcast lenses. The campaign unifies these products under a common user benefit: Canon makes advanced technology usable.

"Just as often as it has simplified our lives, technology has in some ways made them more complex. Consumers and businesspeople alike feel overwhelmed by products that are difficult to use and manuals that are difficult to understand," said Tim Andree, vice president and general manager of Canon's Corporate Communications Group. "The Canon Know How campaign reinforces that our approach is different. Through the intentional double entendre, Canon Know How makes the claim that we excel at making the most advanced technology accessible and intuitive, empowering our customers to give full expression to their ideas-to say I Know How."

The advertising will launch with a heavy schedule during the holiday period and well into the first quarter of the year 2000. The print schedule includes business publications such as Business Week and Fortune and a broad list of news weeklies and trade publications.

Over the course of the coming year, the company's line of business advertising will evolve under this strategy as its total advertising expenditure becomes concentrated under the Know How umbrella. Canon projects to increase FY 2000 ad spending by 30 to 40 percent over 1999.

"Canon Know How is more than just advertising." said Andree. "It is an integrated communications program that will guide Canon's fundamental identity, internally and externally. It is not just slogan, but rather represents a fundamental truth that is bound up in the essence of our brand. As Canon brings new technologies and new business models to market, our core Know How values, built around our technological capabilities, will be embedded in everything we do."

Canon's leadership in imaging, optical, and document management technology is based in large part on the thousands of patents the company has secured throughout its history. Canon Inc. has held the second-highest number of patents worldwide for five consecutive years. and in 1998 was awarded more than 1.928 patents, the highest number in its 60-year history.

"One of Canon's top priorities is the development of robust technologies, and the translation of those technologies into practical. easy-to-use products." concluded Uchida. "Research and development is the foundation of the company and the driving force behind its growth, and we will maintain this focus in the years ahead. using it as the core intelligence behind our marketing and sales activities."