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Video Camera Marketing Armor Before you even embark on the journey of selecting a camera suitable to your needs you need to arm yourself in preparation for the battle that is about to occur. This is no ordinary battle because it is one you and your friends lose on an everyday basis in a million little ways. Probably the reason you constantly lose this battle is because you are not even aware you are in it in the first place! When people think of marketing they tend to think of advertising or promotion or a range of other vague ideas centered on the subject of trying to get you to buy something. Here's a definition straight out of Wikipedia and remember, if it's on Wikipedia it must be true! "Marketing is communicating the value of a product, service or brand to customers, for the purpose of promoting or selling that product, service, or brand." Sound pretty harmless really! In reality, even though that is probably the definition most people would assume to be correct; it in no way reflects the real actions of marketing in the real world. Here's my definition of Marketing: "Marketing: The Creation of Desire." In the real world what that translates to is any action that anyone can dream up to somehow manipulate your emotions so that your desire for a product overwhelms your analytical or critical thinking. The goal is to get you to a point where you blindly (or semi-blindly) purchase whatever product is in front of you. You will do this because that's the one that made you "feel" good or the one that happens to be there when you are so confused, you just point and click to end the agony! It is as ruthless as it sounds and when it comes to the consumer electronics category, all the stops are pulled out to get that sale. Worried? You should be! After you read this report and you are armed with everything you need to know, at some point you are going to begin researching individual products. At that point it is very easy to get lulled into the marketing hype of camera manufacturers and camera sellers. The main ways in which they will try to seduce you are: Features that sound awesome even though you don't really know what they are or what they do or if you would ever need them. Features that are presented in an "everyone knows" way so that you assume they are vital and do not investigate further for fear of feeling stupid. Images specifically chosen to be appealing on a whole range of emotional levels to distract you from the actual product. Those images are designed so that you respond to them emotionally and want them or want to be able to reproduce them or want the life or activities they portray. They become in your mind, "connected" to the product so that you buy into the idea that by purchasing the product you will somehow get what is in the picture. Text or advertising copy that seems to promise something emotionally rewarding that really makes no sense at all except... you want it! Here are some examples taken from real websites and brochures: "The Freedom of High Resolution." "You can tell your story in dramatic fashion" "The limitations of what's possible seem to have vanished." "You've never had such visionary freedom." * Note the use of emotional terms such as "freedom" and "dramatic." Apparently you have "limitations" which have now "vanished," because of owning that camera and you also get "visionary freedom" into the bargain! (Whatever that is!) Now I could go on for ages about the various tricks that are used by just about all marketing departments to separate you from your hard earned cash. However the only way that having any of this knowledge is of any use is if from it, we can develop and adopt a strategy to minimize the effect and keep you on the correct path. So, in light of that here is how to completely nullify the effects of the marketing game. Do not get into that game in the first place! Now you may be thinking that is easier said than done especially when it is inevitable that you are going to have to go near that entire mess at some point in time. The key is in understanding what resources are useful for what information and ONLY that information. Next in the series: Beware the Internet! Back to: A Guide to Choosing the Right Video Camera

Classics

Video Camera and Camcorder Marketing Tricks

Getting the Right Video Camera Information

Decide on the Purpose of Your Video Camera First

Understanding Video Camera Sensors and Controls

Lenses, Low Light, Optical vs. Digital Zoom

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