Good books about Canon and Nikon's history, marketing, etc?

Shima

Hey there it's me again talking about my research project once again.

Thanks again to all who filled out my survey, it's now up to 280 responses!! This well overdid my highest expectations.

Today I am posting to find out if anyone has good recommendations for books or scholarly articles I can read which discuss the history, marketing, advertising, etc ploys of Canon and Nikon throughout the years. I am not looking to compare who makes the better camera, but rather how they target their audiences, work with brand loyalty, market, grow their customer base, etc.

NOTE: if you know of any good books COMPARING the two companies, I am lacking in this area (which on the plus side makes my paper all the more interesting since it has not been done before it seems) and would love books discussing this specifically.

Below I am pasting the bibliography I have so far, so as to hopefully prevent recommendations I'm already aware of. Any books / articles you can suggest would be great appreciated. Thanks!

Adamson, Allen. Brand Simple: How the Best Brands Keep it Simple and Succeed. Palgrave Macmillan: First Edition, August 7th, 2007. Pages 92-96.

Alexander, Jeff. Nikon and the Sponsorship of Japan's Optical Industry by the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1917-1945. Japanese Studies, Vol 22, No. 1, 2002.

Alhabeeb, M.J. On Consumer Trust and Product Loyalty. International Journal of Consumer Studies, Vol. 31, Issue 6, November 2007. Pages 609-612.

Brander, James and Eaton, Jonathan. Product Line Rivalry. The American Economic Review: June 1984. Pages 323-334.

Condax, Phillip. Evolution of the Japanese Camera. International Museum of Photography: June 1984.

Finnerty, Thomas. Kodak vs. Fuji: The Battle for Global Market Share. Pace University: New York, 2000.

Johnston, William. A review of "The History of Japanese Photograpy" by Anne Wilkes Tucker. Journal of Japanese Studies: 31:1 (2005). Pages 248-252

Junji, Xiao. The Effect of Ease of Use on Market Demand: The Case of Digital Cameras. Second Year Paper: April 2004

Long, Brian. Nikon: A Celebration. The Crowood Press: 2006.

Morris, Evan. From Altoids to Zima: The Surprising Stories Behind 125 Famous Brand Names. Fireside: November 2, 2004. Pages 100, 111-112, 148-149.

Nikkei. How Canon Got Its Flash Back: The Innovative Turnaround Tactics of Fujio Mitarai. Wiley: May 21st, 2004

ziggy53

A few more to explore:

*The Nikon Camera in America, 1946-1953
by Michael Wescott Loder
"This work examines the roles that American businesses and photojournalists played in the early overseas marketing of the Japanese-built Nikon camera and its Nikkor optics between 1946 and 1951."

*Managing Imitation Strategies
by Steven P. Schnaars
(ziggy note: See page 48, discussion of Nikon and Canon "copycat" strategies.)

Discovering Cameras 1945-1965
by Robert White

(* denotes a likely "Shima" source.)

Shima

ziggy53 wrote:

A few more to explore:

*The Nikon Camera in America, 1946-1953
by Michael Wescott Loder
"This work examines the roles that American businesses and photojournalists played in the early overseas marketing of the Japanese-built Nikon camera and its Nikkor optics between 1946 and 1951."

*Managing Imitation Strategies
by Steven P. Schnaars
(ziggy note: See page 48, discussion of Nikon and Canon "copycat" strategies.)

Discovering Cameras 1945-1965
by Robert White

(* denotes a likely "Shima" source.)

Much appreciated! I will definitely look into these.

Shima

:: bump ::

Any other recommendations for things to read?

billg71

Stafford, Hillebrand and Hauschild, The New Nikon Compendium.

Good coverage of the Nikon line up through the D70/D2HS period.

Bill

Shima

ziggy53 wrote:

*The Nikon Camera in America, 1946-1953
by Michael Wescott Loder
"This work examines the roles that American businesses and photojournalists played in the early overseas marketing of the Japanese-built Nikon camera and its Nikkor optics between 1946 and 1951."

Inter Library Loan rejected my request for this book saying they've exhausted their requests for it from other libraries Ah well... I've still got others to request

rpcrowe

An older book covering manual focus Canons
How to Select and Use Canon SLR Cameras
Carl Shipman
HPBooks, Los Angeles, 1987

Covers:
T90, T80, T70, T50, F-1, A-1, AE-1, AE-1P and lenses and accessories.

I really have no use for my copy and I will send it to you if you think you can use it.

Shima

rpcrowe wrote:

How to Select and Use Canon SLR Cameras
Carl Shipman
HPBooks, Los Angeles, 1987

Covers:
T90, T80, T70, T50, F-1, A-1, AE-1, AE-1P and lenses and accessories.

I really have no use for my copy and I will send it to you if you think you can use it.

I'm not looking to say who makes a better camera, rather analyze marketing, evolution, brand loyalty and such of the two giants (Canon and Nikon) so if you think this might be useful for that reason, I will gladly take the book off your hands. Let me know

Miguel Delinquento

Matanle
This was a great find on a remainder table in B&N several years ago:
Collecting and Using Classic SLRs by Ivor Matanle

Great overview of the history of all the major brands, with chapters dedicated to Nikon, Canon, Pentax and Leica. I pick this up to check some odd question out every month or so. Highly recommended, even without a research project to do.

M

Shima

Miguel Delinquento wrote:

This was a great find on a remainder table in B&N several years ago:
Collecting and Using Classic SLRs by Ivor Matanle

Great overview of the history of all the major brands, with chapters dedicated to Nikon, Canon, Pentax and Leica. I pick this up to check some odd question out every month or so. Highly recommended, even without a research project to do.

M

Thanks I'll look into getting a copy of this (perhaps through inter library loan).