KODAK

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Project Background and Challenge

Kodak, is an American technology company focused on imaging solutions and services for businesses. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, United States and incorporated in New Jersey. It was founded by George Eastman in 1888. Kodak provides packaging, functional printing, graphic communications and professional services for businesses around the world. Its main business segments are Digital Printing & Enterprise and Graphics, Entertainment & Commercial Films.  Kodak was the leader and innovator in the photography field. Kodak began to struggle financially in the late 1990s as a result of the decline in sales of photographic film and its slow transition to digital photography, despite having invented the core technology used in current digital cameras. Given that 2007 was the most recent year in which the company made a profit we were tasked to create a business and brand strategy for Kodak to make a turnaround. 

Insight

Innovation is at Kodak’s core and Kodak needs to leverage it.

Solutions

Our business strategy focused on B2B (Commercial and Functional Printing),  while maintaining B2C products (film,paper and chemicals ). We discovered that Kodak culture was not set up for the drastic change that Kodak needed for a comeback. We proposed that Kodak institute a “Bus Stop” strategy by asking its employees to commit or leave the company voluntarily. With fully committed employees, the restructuring of the company would begin. Kodak would be divided into three departments: Legacy, Business and Licensing, with Innovation running through all departments. In order to harvest the culture of "Innovation at Kodak", we proposed a new initiative of establishing “think-tanks" and “Fishbowls", where employees can devote part of their time to generate ideas and work on personal projects that could benefit Kodak long term. In order to launch the new business and brand strategy, we suggested that Kodak would need to employ a new field sales team.  

Team: Lana Molodtsova Ugurtas, Marissa Betley, Allison Braun, Kyle Rajaniemi 

Class: Brand and Business Strategy, Masters in Branding at School of Visual Arts

Instructor: Bret Sanford