A brand new 40 second TV spot in the UK highlights just how hard-wearing the Olympus Mju 790SW camera is. Mark Thackara , General Manager Consumer Marketing, comments “What is the point in having a camera if you are afraid to take it out in many classic photo situations in case it gets damaged? The Tough is a product that looks great, can take excellent photographs but can also take life’s knocks.” London agency, The Red Brick Road, spent two freezing autumn days in glamorous Epping Forest shooting the ad, which you can watch at http://tinyurl.com/35q4gv

Olympus UK Press Release

There are around 400 different digital cameras on sale in this country so how do you make yours stand out from the crowd? Olympus have come up with some memorable and effective campaigns over the years and 2007 looks set to continue the trend with a brand new 40 second TV spot from top London agency, The Red Brick Road, on screen in the run up to Christmas starting on December 3rd.

Mark Thackara , General Manager Consumer Marketing, provides the background: “We have a new concept in compact camera design - the Mju 790SW “Tough”. It is an extension to the classic best selling Mju range. What is the point in having a camera if you are afraid to take it out in many classic photo situations in case it gets damaged? The Tough is a product that looks great (high up on most purchasers lists), can take excellent photographs but can also take life’s knocks. The idea is that you will even feel confident enough to trust it to your children. Going back to the original Trip concept - this should be the camera of choice for everyone. The challenge then was to put this across in a way that would really stand out in this very crowded market”

Rather than only position this as niche product for extreme sports enthusiasts as might have seemed obvious, Olympus took the decision to target families - if a small child could use it then anyone could. An extensive brief included much background history about previous work as Olympus has been particularly successful in the UK market in the 30 plus years since original press advertising started with CDP. After considering various directions the company settled on an initial idea from The Red Brick Road.

Graeme Chapman, Managing Director of Olympus UK: “We have worked with some of the founders on and off for many years and knew they would produce something that felt right for Olympus. The brand has a unique feel in the UK and while we wanted to refresh our approach it needed handling sensitively. If we had any doubt about creative inspiration it evaporated when we had Paul Weinberger drop the camera in front of creative partner, Justin Tindall. The look on his face said it all - here was a product crying out for a classic demonstration and one they could have some fun with.”

“Toddler” is the result visualised and shot brilliantly by director Dougal Wilson on two glorious but freezing autumn days in glamorous Epping Forest. Thanks to Producer Matthew Fone and production company Blink for realising what seemed simply on paper and you should rethink what they say about working with children and animals. Tough but worth it.

Please see the new ad on: http://downloads.olympus-europa.com/consumer/viral/Toddler_40sec.mpg

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