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Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Gen X Mom is photo industry's new target
ORLANDO, Fla. -- The photo industry is in "Mom Mode."
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 | David Badders / P-I | |
The design of new digital cameras heavily emphasizes women's preferences. The marketing aims at women as the family memory keeper. And local photo stores are undergoing makeovers to become more family-friendly.
"The Gen X Mom -- we fondly call her Jennifer -- is the most powerful customer shopping your store and services," reads promotional material for an exhibit called the Complete Picture Inspiration Center at a recent Photo Marketing Association International trade show.
Women became the majority of primary digital camera users in 2004. A survey by the Consumer Electronics Association showed 56 percent of women as the main photographer and they became the majority (53 percent) of digital camera buyers in 2005, according to the NPD Group, which also says women buy 59 percent of photo paper for printers.
Indeed, women have a long history of being important photo consumers, said Liz Cutting, an analyst with the NPD Group research firm. "It's only now that they're owning the entire process," she said.
Women like shinier, more stylish cameras, said Lesley Marangola, a worldwide marketing manager for Kodak. Men like black. And Kodak's promotional materials put the print size that a camera can produce ahead of the geekier specs men like, such as megapixels (resolution) and zoom.
These preferences are trickling down to the local camera stores as well. Stylish areas with countertops, children's play areas and coffee bars that house kiosks where Mom can print while keeping an eye on the kids are starting to emerge.
"My system better be easy to use, warm and friendly," said Dawn Hickman, manager of Lake Shore Camera Exchange in Palm Harbor, Fla., which plans a renovation to add space and a play area this spring.
Dan's Camera City in Allentown, Pa., has already remade its store, which Steve Olock, its director of imaging services, described in a presentation in Orlando.
Among other things, Dan's included a changing station in the women's restroom. But a funny thing happened, Olock said: The men asked for one to be put in their restroom, too.
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