​​​​​​​Putting The Fun Back In Prints

Fujifilm plans to tap India’s thriving wedding photo album market and capitalise on the popularity of instant cameras.

- Arnika Thakur

TECH  IN HIS BOOK IGNORANCE, Czechoslovakia-born Milan Kundera explains: “The Greek word for ‘return’ is nostos. Algos means ‘suffering’. So nostalgia is the suffering caused by an unappeased yearning to return.” But nostalgia isn’t just an overpowering emotion, it is also one of the favourite tools of marketers across the world. Most recently, it was the driving force behind people buying Saregama’s retro-looking digital radio, Carvaan, for its library of old Hindi movie music, or the appeal of traditional Paper Boat drinks such as Kala Khatta.

But perhaps nothing says nostalgia more than a photo album. And that’s what 84-year-old Japanese photography and imaging company Fujifilm is capitalising on as it tries to sneak photo albums back into our lives. The company—one of the world’s largest instant camera sellers—plans to tap India’s thriving wedding photo album market and the growing retro appeal of instant photography in the world. “We are trying to introduce the fun of printing. The important thing is experience, and we want the customer to experience the ‘wow’ factor,” Fujifilm India managing director Haruto Iwata tells Fortune India. “Fujifilm’s desire is to increase the joy of photos.”