New Canon UK&I head targets broadcast as growth area

Recently appointed Canon UK & Ireland country director Tracey Fielden has revealed the company is targeting broadcast as an important area for growth.

To this end, Canon is looking to improve its offering technologically, as well as broaden its products for use across the industry. This has already begun with the release of a large range of cameras earlier this month.

Fielden became country director earlier this year, having previously been marketing director for the region for the past four years and originally joining Canon as a product manager in 2001.

Speaking to Broadcast Tech, she revealed broadcast is, “one of our core areas, it’s one we want to grow.”

However, this will involve improving its technological offering, and looking to grow Canon’s popularity beyond lenses to a broader industry-wide approach.

Fielden explained: “We were a follower quite a long time, and we could be a late entrant in some of the technology stakes, so we’re in a catch-up position.

“The rise in streaming platforms unlocked a lot of opportunities for us. If you look at some of the newer technologies we’ve launched with smaller form factors, more portability, etc. We want to capitalise on that.

She continued: “We’ve got emerging technologies like pan tilt zoom, for example, remote operated cameras and some of the controllers that we’ve launched. Some of the new displays that we’ve launched for broadcast are really important to us. It’s one of the lesser areas of the business and when people talk about Canon, they don’t think about display, and that’s one of the areas of focus we need to look at.”

Another area is greater integration for an industry that is moving towards more remote or hybrid production: “We’re really keen on trying to look at a seamless integration between technologies. I mean, our glass has been put on competitor bodies for years, and that is still a core focus for us as well, you know, it’s not that we want to capitalise on Canon only.”

“We want to be your player across the ecosystem,” she later added. “Rather than just be known for the lenses that we have. That have historically been a part of competitor bodies.”

Remote production is one of the drivers of this innovation, but not the only part: “The pandemic kind of exacerbated the need for that (remote production), and fortunately, we have the technology to be able to enable that to happen.

“However, it’s not that we’re just hell bent on going down the remote-controlled operator route. Actually, there’s still a place for handheld devices, if that’s what a particular audience needs, or a particular customer needs. So for us, we need the breadth.”

Indeed, according to Fielden, customers are looking to be “agile”, and a mix of remote and on-prem production is looking like the future - with Canon looking to keep up with these latest trends and grow the popularity of its products beyond its traditional strongholds.