Kodak is one of those brand names which had an incredible cache with folks of a certain age… Kodak Moments were synonymous with bright colourful memories that we wanted to share.

From 2012 the name Kodak may well become the the brand which reminds us all of the need to ‘keep in touch’ with consumer needs.

As many of you will have heard the photography brand leader has filed for protection against bankruptcy in order to restructure its business.

CNN – IBN Live reports that :-

Major entertainment companies are listed among Kodak’s top 50 unsecured creditors include Sony (6758.T), owed $16.7 million; Time Warner’s (TWX.N) Warner Brothers, due $14.2 million; Comcast (CMCSA.O) NBC Universal, short $9.3 million; Viacom’s (VIAB.O) Paramount Studios, owed $6.8 million; and Walt Disney (DIS.N) Studios, $4.2 million.

It is further reported that …

Two sources with knowledge of the contracts say most of these debts are related to film rebates owed to the studios who buy film from Kodak on a picture-by-picture basis. The price of film varies and often drops as a studio uses more, which is why they are often owed rebates.

(source IBN Live)

During the 80′s and 90′s Kodak led the field in film, photographic processing and related media but a failure to recognise the changing patterns of consumer requirement led to an almost ‘head in the sand’  attitude to the development of digital cameras. This in itself is odd since Kodak did develop some of the earliest digital cameras and apparently hold some of the patents for the early technology. For some reason, however, the company did not build on this lead, unlike Fuji who rode the wave of technology, and only produced ‘high end’, ‘professional cameras’.

The lesson for ALL businesses here is about finding ways to ensure that your product or service is relevant to your customers. Seems such a simple idea and one which is sometimes overlooked by the emotional hooks business people and entrepreneurs have for the products they develop.

Zeitgeist – know it, feel it, anticipate it  or suffer the consequences.

Alan

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