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R. Narayanan

The photography sector needs to zoom in on what the customer wants. It needs to click on innovation. How about, for instance, a `photo taxi' service?

IN the first three articles of this series on the photography industry (which appeared in eWorld dated April 11, 18 and 25), we looked at evolving trends, the digital camera versus the analogue one, and the still more disruptive technology brought in by the camera phone.

So, what do we have now? On the one hand, we have an industry with low entry barriers. It appears to be driven through newer and newer models. This will result in increased fragmentation of the market, while players offer more models more rapidly.

It is threatened by disruptive technology in the form of the camera phone. There will obviously be an inexorable downward pressure on prices.

Will disruptive technology really disrupt the industry? Will it be 10 years before the analogue industry is truly defunct or 40? How much does one invest in brand building under such uncertain conditions?

Surely, these must be the thoughts plaguing major players and entrants in this industry.

Is there a service model available here that can enable self-financing brand-building? The camera industry needs to look at alternate revenue models by targeting the underserved customer at the bottom of the pyramid. It could come up with a service model that increases the number of users, and simultaneously builds brand equity for existing or new players.

For this, we'll have to take a look at what the customer really wants.

The customer did not want a camera in the first place. He wanted to 'capture the moment,' preserve, share and retrieve it. The camera is a mere enabler. So instead of addressing the `enabler' market, what happens if we address the 'capture the moment' market?

Let us look at the demand side instead of the supply side. One of the biggest problems is that when I want to `capture the moment,' often (though not always) I want to capture myself in the photo but am unable to. Mostly because I need somebody to do that 'click'.

How about removing the 'click' from the owner of the camera and making the service available at an `impulse' price? It is worth looking at whether such a service would build brand equity for an existing player or even a new one in a cost-effective manner.

Hey Guys! We're having a wonderful time!

Talking of capturing the moment, think of other opportunities — such as a couple honeymooning at a resort or some get-together that you want to capture and share with others in real time.

In this context, one can bring in the concept of a branded photo taxi service. Much as one calls a taxi to take a ride, a photo taxi doubles up as a mobile photographer to capture those special moments.

At every resort, one can have a `photo taxi stand'. A photo taxi comes equipped with a camera phone that is GPRS-enabled, or CDMA-connectable. The taxi operator films the scene you want captured.

After the shoot comes the photo selection. The photo taxi operator has a photo viewer that enables you to view the photos shot and select what you want. You can mark the size specifications. The viewer has a touch-sensitive screen that enables you to annotate the selected photograph. This enables you to personalise your message.

The system is battery-operated and also portable. The GPRS-enabled camera phone enables the photo taxi operator to send the pictures he shot to your e-mail ID or to your cell-phone through MMS.

So, what more do you want? Once you get the pictures, edited and sized as you want them, you can send an MMS to your friend or Mom right now. Or just e-mail the selection.

Not only do you capture the moment but you also manage to communicate it. You can date it. You can make your indexing easier.

In a country like ours, employment is a perennial problem. A lot of employment generation can come through the photo taxi service.

Of course, the photo taxi already exists in an unbranded form, thanks to the entrepreneurial efforts of amateur and professional photographers at major tourist spots.

Here is an opportunity for an incumbent to capture this already existing business model and make a mass-market service out of it. Prices can be standardised and distribution becomes key.

The incumbent makes a digital print facility available in every city, for those diehards who still insist on a print.

Such a service also seeks to publicise the device itself. In fact, such a service may well bring about a huge market for the viewing device.

Now imagine that this service is available at every get-together, outside every bar (all you have to do is to ask the steward for a photo taxi to come in and take a few photographs of you and your friends), outside every place where people go to have a good time.

Perhaps it was ideas like this that C.K. Prahlad was talking about when he wrote his book on fortune at the bottom of the pyramid.

More photographs, more employment, more clicks, more broadband usage, more memories. Just about everyone wins!

And who knows, maybe more service tax as well on this service once it gains momentum.

Concluded

Picture by Shashi Ashiwal

(The author is a strategic marketing consultant and can be reached at rnaru@nett10.com)

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