• by Aaron Baar , October 8, 2014

With a host of products and services tied to digital imaging, Canon USA wants its customers to do more than visualize success. Rather, it wants them to “See Impossible.”

The venerable brand has introduced a new platform, developed by Grey New York, that brings together all of its products and services under one line, “Canon See Impossible.” With the new platform, the company is rolling out a new logo that uses a 3-D visual of an expanding box (with light coming from the inside) to emphasize how Canon’s products and services enable their customers to unleash unlimited potential, and an Internet hub to showcase customer success stories.

“We produce great technology and tools, and we’ve looked at the potential of machines. But we haven’t really communicated the partnership and potential of our customers,” Michael Duffett, vice president and general manager of ITCG marketing, tells Marketing Daily. “This is not an ad campaign. This is a platform for our company to have a true engagement with our partners.”

The initiative includes a new digital hub that will house stories of consumer, professional and commercial inspiration and imagination, curated along the lines of “Create,” “Solve,” “Diagnose” and “Ignite.” The stories will highlight how Canon’s technology — combined with their customers’ creativity — break new ground and how together, they can provide a roadmap to the future of imaging technology and service development.

“We want to be the ones enabling that creative spirit with our customers. We’re realizing the creative side of our company to unleash the creativity within our customers,” Duffett says.

The effort to unite the disparate areas of Canon’s overall business under one brand platform is partly an acknowledgement of how both the company and consumer expectations have shifted over the years. While many may be familiar with the company’s copiers, printers and camera, many may not be aware of other digital imaging products (like eye care and digital radiography systems) and business-support services. 

“[In the past,] we talked about how smart we were,” Duffett says. “That’s great for the 1990s, but with the changing times, we need to change. We need to be more customer-centric.”

“This gives us a chance to build awareness of our products, and lets people know of places [where] we’ve been involved that people might not know about,” Duffett says. The initiative will also include print, digital media, live events and video on various platforms during the fourth quarter of 2014, extending into a multi-year commitment to the effort by Canon, Duffett says.