Say cheese’ is what the key players are saying to consumers in the Rs 800 crore Indian photofilm market. The target is to gain a share of the amateur market pie and the strategies are varied — while Jindal Photo Films Limited (JPFL) promises a dreamdate with Aishwarya Rai, Kodak will launch an amateur camera to increase film consumption via a growth in camera usage.

Sample some more figures. Five years ago the professional category comprised 80 per cent share of the total film market and the rest belonged to the amateur segment.

Cut to the present. The professional segment share has dropped to 55 per cent while the amateur has gone upto 45 per cent. Industry sources predict that three years down the line the scenario is going to be radically different with the amateur segment growing to 60 per cent.

The Rs 428-crore Jindal Photo Films Limited (JPFL) has definitely seen the writing on the wall and is aggressively trying to grow its share in the amateur segment. JPFL has a technical and marketing tie-up with Fuji Photo Films Co. Ltd., Japan, and markets its products under the brand name Fujifilm.

“In terms of the total film market we have a 35-36 per cent market share today. We are stronger in the professional segment however the area of growth lies in the amateur segment, which is why we will focus on this category,” says Vimal Khemka, managing director, JPFL. The company is aiming to acquire 25-30 per cent market share in this segment in three years.

JPFL has definitely revved up its activities to get to these figures. It cashed in on the popularity of Aishwarya Rai and made her its brand ambassador for its campaign last year.

The company is also conducting a promo for Fujicolor Crystal film, ‘dream-date with Aishwarya’ till 15 March. This ‘scratch and win’ contest offers 15 lakh prizes besides the date. “Depending on the response, we plan to have more such promos this year. We also plan to do special promos and direct mailers targeted at the retailers,” says Khemka.

JPFL is going to take the other route too, that is to increase camera penetration and thereby increase film consumption. The logic: according to industry estimates if one has a camera one takes 75-80 pictures per year as opposed to three-four without one.

Also the camera penetration is about nine per cent, which has to be increased if the amateur film market has to be grown further. JPFL is planning to launch the Fujifilm Instax camera (an instant camera) and re-launch another model soon. To test the market, it is offering Instax as a prize in the scratch and win contest.

Kodak India Ltd is in total agreement with this strategy. “We want to increase the amateur market growth to 20 per cent and increasing camera penetration seems the best route,” says Kodak business manager (South-West Asia) Richard Fleming. Thus, Kodak is all set to launch a camera for amateurs this month.

It claims to be the market leader in this segment with a market share of 60 per cent. As far as advertising is concerned the company claims that it is the leader too. Last year, it had an advertising spend of Rs 15 crore, which forms 80 per cent of the total advertising spend of the photography industry.

This year it will increase its ad budgets with a new campaign expected to break in the second quarter of 2002. It will also undertake direct marketing activities though Fleming refused to divulge details.

The third player in the film market is also not far behind. H. Eguchi, general manager, Konica Corporations says that his company is focussing on the amateur segment for the last two years. The company conducted a promotional activity for its Centuria range of films, targeted at this segment, in December 2001. It plans to break a new television campaign in April or May this year.

The camera penetration route, feels Eguchi, will also be a strategy that the company will look at. The company launched its Centuria 20 brand of cameras in the market last year. There are six variants of this brand, which may be launched depending on the distribution network.

With the archlights on, only time will tell if the consumers will oblige with a photogenic smile.