Research into the
Client/Subject Area
Research

Canon
Purpose/History
Canon began in 1933 in Tokyo, Japan originally under the
name Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory. The
company would actually not be called ‘Canon’ until after
the second world war in 1947. The first camera that the
company made was in 1934 and was also Japan's first
shutter camera and you can see it on the left of this slide
it was called ‘Kwanon’ and it led the way in designs for
the modern day camera. Still to this day, the company lay
at the forefront of technology not just in cameras but in
other fields of tech too. Canon describe themselves as a
company that are dedicated to “pushing boundaries” and
helping people reimagine things that are possible which
is true as some of Canon’s products are so advanced
they are used for the filming of movies and professional
photography. Canon talk about their philosophy of
“Kyosei” which is the want to see people regardless of
customs or culture living harmoniously together in
happiness. Along with this company philosophy they also
have a company spirit called “San-ji” or the three spirits
which are Self Motivation, Self Management and Self
Awareness.
Sources:
The History of
Canon 1933-
1961 | Canon
global
All about
Canon - Canon
UK
Corporate

Previous
Campaigns
Over the years Canon have partaken in many different
Advertising Campaigns to help sell their products. Some
of these campaigns have been more elaborate than
others for example the ‘See Impossible’ campaign in
2014 was started by Canon making a website with a
countdown which lead consumers to theorise what the
website was counting down to. Was it a new product?
Was the company expanding to a new technological
field? What it was actually counting down to was the
beginning of the advertising campaign which required
interacting with canon customers and their stories as
they would use videos from users of their products
about what they’ve captured in their lives using Canon.
The same is said for their other campaign ‘Make
Photography New Again” which again invited consumers
to experiment with Canon cameras, specifically their
new products at the time the EOS 5D Mark II and EOS
50D. Canon mainly wanted too see experiments with
light and motion and natural settings with no post
production of the photos being allowed to capture what
the camera is capable of on its own. This is not to say
that Canon have not done more conventional
advertisements such as their ‘Winners pick a winner’
adverts in the 70s. These adverts included sports stars
Sources:
Canon's New
Advertising
Campaign:
There's More
to the Image
Than Just the
Gear
(nofilmschool.c
om)
Canon
advertising
campaign |
ePHOTOzine

Canon/Ideas Foundation:
Journeys
Sources:
Canon | Ideas
Foundation
Canon boosts
creative learning
with the Ideas
Foundation |
Ideas Foundation
In July of 2020 the Ideas Foundation and Canon came
together to help promote to young people photography and
digital storytelling as well as creating a toolkit to help
create visuals stories they believe can “change the world” .
This fits in with one of the objectives for the advertisement
as Canon want to create a brand loyalty with young people,
specifically the audience for this specific project are 15-25s.
With the subject being about journeys and the audience
being so young I think it would be a better idea to go with
the idea of a metaphorical journey as this age group are
going through formative years and if I were to strike an
emotional chord with the target audience than there will be
more likelihood of creating a brand loyalty. Another reason
to go for this idea is that many young people probably
haven’t travelled a lot so to take “Journeys” literally
probably isn’t the best option. In Canon’s advertisements
they normally do not cater to a social group such as religion
or sexuality as they are more focused on convincing the
consumer with the visuals that the product can produce but
I think it may be worth thinking about taking the advert from
this angle, like I previously mentioned the aim is to connect
with the with the consumer so perhaps taking on these

Previous
Adverts
This first advert while
seeming pretty simple it is
actually very interesting as
the advert puts you in the
perspective of the person in
it which is very
unconventional for
advertisements and the
colouration and positioning
and font are very attention
grabbing. The background is
coloured red which invokes
excitement and urgency so
the audience pays attention
Sources:
Using Red in
Advertising - New
Design Group Inc.
This advert is much more
conventional with the
product and company name
being more in the forefront
of the image with pictures of
the model above in this case
being Ben Crenshaw. All of
this information popping out
of the image would entice
the audience into reading
The final advert example
utilises faces to help attract
the audience more specifically
the eyes as the advert actually
directly makes eye contact with
who ever look sat it pulling
whoever is looking at it in as it
is staring. Directly underneath
the eyes is the product which is
strategically placed and
intentionally placed there by
they editor to make sure the
product is observed. Again
there is a description
underneath the two pictures to
display information about
Canon’s camera the lack of
colour maybe the only thing that
this advert does wrong as it
does look pretty plain without
the pictures as there is nothing