If you were the CEO of Leica what would be your Business Plan?

although Marc Williams said it in a different way than I was thinking when I first saw the title to this thread, I tend to agree. Give all the M8 owners a very big apology....and fix the thing for real....and give them free any new technology Leica has developed since the release of the M8.

 

But, also develop a truely competitive DSLR to just blow Nikon and Canon out of the water. This is the real money. if Leica can edge Canon and Nikon out of the Red Carpet, Fashion, photojournalist, Wedding, etc arena.........they will make money. Those people know cameras...they know Leica, but right now they use Canon or Nikon. If Leica put out a product that met their needs, they WOULD use it.

With great respect most of these are product plans not business plans. Financials are the most important starting point upon which you can impose market targets which in turn are supported by product plans.

Not a business plan - you've only just offered me an invitation to interview and I haven't yet received a full financial and management briefing - but there are some first steps:

 

Re-connect with customers (actual and prospective) and, as Puts says, disconnect from the vociferous chat-room product champions who have been pushing their unrealistic agendas for many years.

 

Give everyone in Leica Camera AG "the same 'hymn sheet' and singing lessons". At the core, there seems to me to be some fundamental, possibly philosophical, differences between Leica's R&D, manufacturing and marketing departments. These department often appear to be moving in different directions, or are out of step with each other in other ways. These differences may account for Leica's lack of product innovation and strange marketing, etc. Leica appears to me to be a company run by engineers, but not necessarily in the way that engineers have been integrated into both product development and marketing in Japanese manufacturing.

 

Hence, re-structure the company's product design, development, manufacuring and marketing departments in accordance with best practice in, say, Japan.

 

As for strategic aims, partnering other companies, such as Panasonic, who can deliver a wider spectrum of Leica-derived or Leica-branded products, such as digital compacts, to global higher-end consumer markets makes business sense. This can be done in tandem with the traditional, specialist, niche-market products without undue risk of damaging the brand identity and values. Establishing joint manufacturing and marketing links with other major, mass-market photo-optical companies like Canon (or Nikon) and developing compatible products would/should give better access to markets and hence more (and more profitable) customers. This will start to prescribe the product lines needed in order for the company to survive. The ultimate question for a business is not "what can we make?" it is "what can we sell?" Leica could make reproduction IIIf and IIIg cameras and classic lenses, but they really could not sell them, not in the real world. It's fantasy-land users who myopically think that the first question provides the business direction.

 

Obviously all of the products (new and traditional, consumer and 'professional') have to be good, as does the marketing. The corollary of this is that if things go wrong, fix them quickly: something Leica hasn't always done. The last thing in a business network - or the first depending on your perspective - are customers, so making Leica more customer-aware and customer-facing is one of the highest priorities.

 

To be fair, I may not be interested in the job as I like long holidays and an easy life.

 

AC

Adapt and change, new ideas, new quality products, energy efficiency, provide the best warranty and service in the industry. Drop outdated products that are losing money. Do not move into the sweatshop anti-environmental method of manufacturing and advertise about their commitment to wages, job safety, and employee satisfaction, energy efficiency and high level of green manufacturing. Make sure that when advertising all this that it is the truth. Put some camera's into the hands of high level pro's to get the images and camera's in the magazines. An example is the National Geographic photographers should be using Leica. Pay them if necessary to use the Leica line. Then advertise about how great they are and how only Leica can make it happen.

First I'd read this forum.<br>Next, I'd try to form a strategic partnership with my brothers

and sisters at Mercedes Benz. Let's face it, when you describe a Leica to those who don't

know you describe it as the Mercedes Benz of cameras. Yet, do you think of the SmartCars

and rubbish trucks that Mercedes makes? No, you're thinking of the Mercedes McLaren

SLR that Roger Penske and Paris Hilton drive. Mercedes makes almost every vehicle

possible for the road yet no one refers to them as the maker of garbage trucks and taxi

cabs. Leica could use some help from Mercedes. Perhaps everyone of the Mercedes

McLarens could come with a Hermes-like M8. BTW, where are any "special" editions of the

M8? What's up with that? <br>Really, there are a lot of good ideas in this thread...way to

go!

With great regret, exit the consumer camera market.

What Clay Harmon said.

Reduce the price of the M8 & future bodies. They need to be priced in line with the D300 and similar models.

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The $5000.00-$6000.00 price tag is outrageous for the lack of features offered, along with the mediocre image quality.

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Lower priced bodies would sell more Leica lenses, which are the real jewels of their product line.

I'd do what I think he's doing: License the red dot, fire almost everybody, terminate production.

 

It was a *profoundly dumb* idea to target M8 to an installed base that inherently didn't want to buy new lenses.

 

As well, since Leica-users are evidently mostly elderly, it's an astoundingly dumb idea to sell something that doesn't auto-focus and, in film versions, lacks a hinge back.

 

As well, since most Leicas shoot film, Leica should process Kodachrome and E6 from centers in Europe (Pathe'), the US (Dallas), and Singapore.

"if Leica can edge Canon and Nikon out of the Red Carpet, Fashion, photojournalist,

Wedding, etc arena"

 

They would have to have AF lenses to make a serious dent in that market. And, Sony is the

next big player there -?depending, of course, on the viability of the 24MP camera to come

this year.

 

I don't think Leica can succeed in SLRs without a major revamp of the R-line. I used to

own an R8, after initially decrying it as a hideous monstrosity. But, after actually holding

one, i bought one. But, it still wasn't a practical camera. It's unnecessarily large, and

should have a built-in winder. The ergonomics are functional, but don't appear to be so.

Kinda like those ugly Olympus digitals... they may feel good, but the appearance puts

people off, so they're not given a chance. Lastly, the R lenses just weren't better than my

Canon lenses - at least, not the three i had.

 

Leica has to recognize that it has to sell to people between 25 and 40 years old. Now. And,

soon, they're going to have to sell to people who have NEVER known film. That's going to

require an overhaul of policy and model.

Two words: Leica lenses for Canon/Nikon/Sony/etc. All primes, at f2 or larger.

Who will buy them? I think, Canon and Nikon make much more sophisticated lenses that Leica can not even dream about.

 

Leica could never even make a shift lens for its own R line, for example.

Deigner colors and fancy leather coverings. Oh, that's already been done.

 

I'd leverage Leica's capabilities in optical design and make lenses in Nikon and Canon mounts. Autofocus with outstanding optics at a reasonable premium.

 

I'd also try to sell the company to someone with deep expertise in digital design. Sony, perhaps. Or Panasonic.

Concentrate on the essentials!

 

1) Introduce a new, but more compact version of the Leica Digilux 2. Keep it ultra simple.

 

2) Maintain Leica M, all current models.

 

3) Keep producing brilliant lenses.

 

4) Introduce a digital SLR.

 

5) Drop me-too point and shoots (the "Panaleicas".) Not distinctive enough.

"Leica glass is the envy of most other camera users" G. Hodges.

 

Really!!!

Sophisticated isn't my idea Vivek. Leica has tremendous respect and prestige and even envy among Nikon & Canon users. But it isn't a practical camera to own in today's world, esp at the asking prices.

 

But I think you could offer a manual focus, single focal length f2, 1.4 or esp. a 1.0 lens that works with the metering systems of an EOS or a Nikon. You're selling simplicity and optical/mechanical perfection. Isn't that what Leica has to offer?

 

It might be attractive to established pros or moneyed amateurs.

1. Make R lenses available in Canon, Nikon, Pentax, and Minolta (Sony) lens mounts.

 

2. Continue developing the full frame R10, and make it weather sealed.

 

3. Make two P&S cameras with APS-C sensors from Sony. Model one after the Contax T3

(35/2.8 equiv., smaller viewfinder, shallow grip, fully retracting lens), the other after the

Konica Hexar AF (35/2 equiv., M quality viewfinder, deep grip, non-retracting lens). Both

with titanium covers, image stabilization, and field corrected brightline frames.

 

4. Full frame M9. Drop the blue dot sensor...ewww.

 

And hire persnickety old ME to consult on the industrial design.

I don't give them much chance to stay afloat in this rapidly changing world. But, they

could surprise me. I believe all of the premier German companies are struggling with the

same issues; poor economy, reliance on bygone "German" engineering superiority,

ignorance of current and future trends, antiquated manufacturing processes, and - weirdly

enough - attempting to grow too quickly without a workable plan installed throughout the

company. I think Leica can continue to do fine by becoming smaller, similar to Alpa, and

only making specialized highest-quality cameras. I won't be able to afford them, but

there's always Cosina. By being small they can focus on limited issue cameras and lenses

and not worry so much about making lots of money. As a way to raise cash and keep the

name visible they definitely should partner with Cosina, whose CEO would jump at such an

idea, to create a new series of cameras in the same vein as the Zeiss Ikon. They should

call it the Leicina (Leica/Cosina), which is a brand name they already own.

I think they should go back into the Hermes stores. Having a Leica displayed next to a $975 beach towel says it all.

At this moment after the events of this week? Short-sell my options.

<i>Leica has tremendous respect and prestige and even envy among Nikon & Canon users.</i>

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Jack, Whatever Leica has among the Canon/Nikon users would not translate to purchases and actual use.

On second thoughts, I'd sell the whole caboodle to Canon. They have experience with rangefinders, digital compacts, film and digital slrs, plus a lot more items that the Leica brand name could be applied to.

Normally a CEO should watch the ball; watch the cash flows and avoid reckless investments. The return on inevestment of future projects needs to be studied; deadwood and dumb expenses halted. Alot of cool things being mentioned on this thread are possible; but will they pan out as an decent investment? Often its wise not to leap into the quicksand like a dumb cluck; but study and not burn cash until things are abit clearer.

They need a rational CEO without the whusy leming DNA; one that does things for longterm; not shortterm; one without an institional imperative to "do something now" even its it a popular irrational trend walking blindly into the mire.

Kelly Flanigan: <i>"They need a rational CEO without the whusy leming DNA; one that does things for longterm; not shortterm; one without an institional imperative to "do something now" even its it a popular irrational trend walking blindly into the mire."</i>

<p>You just described Steven K. Lee. Maybe they should acknowledge they made a mistake, and they will win a lot of respect from the public.

<p>Also, if they want to go for the pro market, they should think of fitting in another card writer into the camera. Having two card writers in the camera is done with all top level pro DSLRs.