Re: [Leica] Talk to your favourite camera maker

[Andrew Schroter <schroter@optonline.net>]

Perhaps if a consensus on an English language photo trip was achieved
through LUG, Solms may respond with sponsoring an English language photo
trip.

> Pascal wrote:
>
> "I find it hard to believe how they can organize and find participants for
> all their photo trips in German. There must be fewer German users than
> foreign users of Leica gear and the prices of the trips are quite
> expensive so in any case only a fraction of all current Leica users
> worldwide could be interested."
>
> Pascal
>
> I gave up trying to understand the workings of Leica's marketing people,
and
> attempting to determine any signs of a coherent *strategy* a *long* time
> ago. :-)
>
> The Akademie has some excellent English speakers, two of whom expressed
> considerable enthusiasm for the task of running English language photo
> trips.
>
> However this is a circular problem: while there aren't enough takers for
the
> courses that the Akademie offers in English, it won't extend English
> language coverage, as long as the English courses offered are just those
> aimed at beginners, there won't be a strong take-up (how many established
M
> users have the humility - or indeed the need - to attend a beginners
> course). And round we go.
>
> However I feel the answer lies in communication; there seems to be an odd
> reluctance among many Leica aficionados to *talk* to the folk at Leica.
It's
> almost as if many of Leica's customers regard the company - and its
staff -
> as distant Gods, designing and making the equipment *they* want to make on
> some Olympian mount far away, and deigning to send down the fruits of
their
> labours to the humble acolytes assembled meekly below.
>
> This isn't true. Leica *wants* to be a commercially responsive, customer
> driven business, because the management know *perfectly well* that this is
> what's needed if the company is to survive in the modern world.
>
> If there's something you want, try asking for it. No there's no guarantee
> you will get what you want in the short term, nor even at all, but Leica
is
> a commercial business, and like *any* business it stands or falls on the
> insight it can gain into the requirements of its customers. Why do you
think
> they're LUG subscribers, and significant (I stress significant) messages
> posted here find their way to the staff at Solms who're responsible for
the
> topics covered? I know some here claim this doesn't happen but Leica's own
> staff say otherwise.
>
>
> --
> David Morton
> dmorton@journalist.co.uk
>