The Fuji brand has long been synonymous with high quality film and imaging products, essential to conventional photography. However, with the advent of digital photography, Fuji has been left behind as brands such as Sony, Canon and Panasonic proved faster on the uptake with the phasing out of film. In short, the boom in digital cameras has left traditional film manufacturers such as Fuji, Konica Minolta and Kodak struggling to catch up.
Fuji's 2004 adspend of only US$23.8 million is limited even when compared to Sony's $142.5 million for its entire portfolio and when paired with having no regular creative or media agencies, Fuji has in some ways failed to keep its brand promise of delivering solutions to meet the imaging and information needs of retailers, consumers, professionals and business customers.
It has had to adapt its product offering to focus more on developing photocopying and printing sub-brands. However, the brand has maintained some of its status in developing markets, including Indonesia, the Philippines and China.
Fuji hasn't given up the fight easily. In past ad campaigns, it enlisted Asian superstars like Aaron Kwok, Miriam Yeung and Norika Fujiwara to market the product to a new generation of young photographers.
In China, the battle with its traditional competitor Kodak is still in full force, with both brands opening several stores on a daily basis across the country.
Despite this expansion, the fact that one in three Asia consumers now owns a digital camera indicates that the brand is perhaps travelling to a dead end.
Whether or not the brand can reinvent itself for a digital age is debatable and some brand experts believe that Fuji can do it by finding a new niche in the camera and film market if it is ever to win the battle against the pending obsolescence of its current products.
The green, red and white Fuji logo still carries considerable prestige in the professional world of photography and its solid industry reputation plus aspirational qualities mean that the Fuji can and should be able to remain as a marketable brand -- but only if it reinvents itself with a single minded focus.