Ted’s Cameras celebrates its 40th birthday this year after Ted Todd opened his first Ted’s Camera’s store on Elizabeth Street, Melbourne in 1970, surviving the ‘digital revolution’ to still be retailing in Australia 40 years later.
Polaroid cameras were cutting edge technology when Ted Todd’s friendly face promised the ‘best bargains at the lowest prices’ in the “We’re not even open yet sale” in The Herald Sun.
Richard Robertson, Managing Director of Ted’s Cameras, who has been with the company for 39 years, believes Ted came into the market with a unique value proposition that addressed a need within the market.
“Before Ted’s came along, there was a noticeable gap when it came to providing exceptional value for customers in the retail camera market. People needed great deals and the service to match, and our focus from day one was to provide this in every way we could,” he said.
Ted’s Cameras was one of the first in Australia to intriduce the “off-airport duty free stores”, which further enhanced Ted’s value proposition and delivered on the retailers core strengths.
From day one, Ted’s ‘value’ philosophy was combined with innovative marketing ideas that meant the company rapidly gained a loyal customer base.
“We introduced themed dress-up sale events in the Elizabeth Street store as a way to promote the deals and grab customers’ attention. Pirate Days, Ted’s Gone Nuts and Friday the Thirteenth to mention a few – it didn’t matter the occasion, we’d find a reason to dress up and offer big discounts. In fact, our stores still host the dress-up sales today,” said Robertson.
According to Robertson, today the key to future expansion is in the digital space.
“There’s no arguing that the digital revolution has shaken up the photographic industry in the past decade. Social networking and photo sharing sites like Facebook and Flickr have radically impacted how consumers use photography – leading to a change in the way images are used and shared, and a massive increase in the number of images taken,” he said.
“This, combined with an increasing number of big retailers introducing cheap digital print services, has provided us with the push we needed to explore new avenues,” he added.
