Marketing 2.0

Kodak: R.I.P.

The latest news out of Rochester suggests that Kodak will be filing for banruptcy shortly. This will mark a sad end to an iconic American company. We all grew up with our "Kodak moments" and preserved our memories in photo albums and frames. I still sit down and look through my family's albums occasionally and these photos represent the only record I have of relatives and friends who've passed on. Kodak and its products have been an important part of my life.

What went wrong? The short answer is digital disruption. Digital cameras have now completely replaced traditional film technology. Kodak was a company built on market leadership in film. It simply has not been able to adapt to the world of digital imaging.

The irony is that a Kodak engineer, Steve Sasson, invented the diigital camera in 1975. You can read about it over at Fast Company Design. Here's a short video of Sasson created by David Friedman:

Inventor Portrait: Steven Sasson from David Friedman on Vimeo.

So why didn't Kodak dominate digital imaging the way it did film photography? I don't know the answer to this but I suspect a number of factors. The first is complacency. When you are literally printing money from film products, why jeopardize earnings by leading the way with a new technology? As we now see, product life cycles have shrunk in the digital age. In order to succeed, companies must be willing to kill off their popular products and introduce something new every 6-12 months. Look at the many iterations of Apple's iPod and iPhone. 

There are other reasons. Digital imaging opened the market up to new competitors like Sony. Major camera companies like Nikon, Canon, and Olympus provided stiff competition as they moved into the new technology. Kodak was not really successful in developing new products or services to replace film sales. This is the real digital disruption that Kodak could not overcome. Revenues from film, processing and printing essentially disappeared when people began using their digital cameras. Consumers usually don't print their digital images at all, meaning that Kodak had to live or die with its digital cameras in a field crowded with strong competitors. They didn't make it.

How to gain new business in a bad economy

I came across this article in Fast Company and thought it provided really good advice. A couple of the steps they recommended hit home with me. Here's my take.

• Don't go for everything at once - clients are very cautious these days about making purchase commitments. You might need to start with a small order or even a trial purchase. 
• Be prepared for long delays - hurry up and wait seems to be the operative phrase when converting a new account these days.
• Always have a next step in mind - too many sales people don't conclude a client     meeting with a commitment to the next step. 

A bad economy can offer a great opportunity to win new business. Everyone is under pressure and clients are more likely to be looking for vendors who can provide cost savings or performance improvements. You need to have a positive attitude and believe that your product or service can truly help a client. That genuine belief will come across and help you build trust. In times of uncertainty trust is paramount in gaining and retaining customers.

7 Steps To Scoring New Business In A Bad Economy | Fast Company.

Who owns your Twitter followers?

Here's an interesting legal case. Who owns the followers you attract to your Twitter feeds? In this instance an employee built a Twitter account on behalf of his employer. After leaving the company, he changed his username on the Twitter account but retained the followers. Now, the company is suing him. According to the company, Phonedog Media, "We intend to aggressively protect our customer lists and confidential information, intellectual property, trademark and brands."

This points out the need to have a clear policy within organizations on the use of social media. I know that any and all intellectual content, products, or creative ideas that you generate for your employer become their property unless you have an employment agreement that stipulates other. A Twitter following isn't the same as a customer list but it can be interpreted as a list of brand followers or prospective customers.

Lawsuit Claims Twitter Followers Belong To Company, Not Employee | LinkedIn.

Ten great free iOS apps

Were you one of the lucky kids who got a new iPad or iPhone for Christmas? There are hundreds of thousands of apps for your shiny new toy, but where to start? Here's a list of 10 free apps compiled by the people over at Macworld. It's a good place to start.

Ten great free iOS apps | Macworld.

We have a winner - ICO logo contest

Here is the new logo for Italian Carry out designed by the students in Prof. Adam Peruta's Brand Design class. Congratulations to everyone for doing great work on this project. Enjoy the pizza.

Are the 4 P's still relevant?

Here's a controversial article from Fast Company claiming that three of the classic 4 P's of marketing are dead. Oops, just when my students memorized them! According to the author only product matters in today's world. Place is irrelevant with e-commerce, many companies have succeeded with little or no promotion, and pricing is now transparent and driven by market forces. Well, I guess that's going to make it easier for me to teach Principles of Marketing.

Like most grand pronouncements, this one has some validity but limited applicability. Not every company is a pure-play, technology startup with a unique product developed by brilliant programmers working 23 hours a day. Some people are still opening pizzerias, bars, accounting firms, or trying to get established as independent consultants. Do they need to focus on all 4 P's? You bet they do.

Why Do B-Schools Still Teach The Famed 4P's Of Marketing, When Three Are Dead? | Co. Design.

Customer lifetime value

Over on Seth Godin's blog there's a good post on customer acquisition cost and lifetime value. The Internet makes it much cheaper to acquire customers. Meanwhile, customer lifetime value can also be small if companies like Facebook or Twitter spend virtually nothing to get you there in the first place. The payoff can come later when the company figures out how to monetize the traffic.

Seth's Blog: Lifetime value of a customer/cost per customer.

Italian Carry Out Logo Competition

Students have submitted their logo designs for Italian Carry Out. I have also included a couple of design treatments that I worked on when I first met with Tyler Salino, before he decided to set up the student competition. I'm posting all of the concepts here and encouraging feedback from everyone. You can leave a comment at the bottom of the post.

 

 

 

 

Dialogue on Design

I'm passionate about design and hoping to share that with students at Ithaca College. I'm working on a new course for the Ithaca Seminar program that will launch in Fall 2012. Here's a description and slideshow to preview the content.

This course explores how design informs the products we buy, the environment we live in, and the dialogue we create with other human beings. It focuses on an appreciation of modern design in the fields of architecture, industrial design, and graphic design.  More a dialogue than dissertation, we will explore the creative process through the work of iconic designers such as Louis Kahn, Richard Neutra, Dieter Rams, Steve Jobs, Paul Rand, and Milton Glaser.  We will learn about their principles of good design, reflecting on how these principles and processes can be applied in our lives to achieve our creative potential. We will understand that design encompasses both the aesthetic and the functional, connecting art and commerce, and elevating the human spirit along with the bottom line. Finally, we will look to connect our appreciation of design to our chosen academic discipline. 

Dialogue on Design from Kurt Komaromi on Vimeo.

 

 

 

 

 

Steve Jobs Day

Today, you can dress like Steve to honor his memory or better yet, make a donation to cancer research. As a country we spend so much money in other areas that it's mind boggling. Billions and trillions of dollars. Why can't we cure this disease that takes so many people before their time?

Studiocom Try to Instate Steve Jobs Day.