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A Brand By Any Other Name

By: Kaitlin T. Gallucci

As we saw, Prophet released the results of a survey in which 5,000 U.S. consumers chose the brands they expect will no longer exist by the year 2015 — Eastman Kodak topped the list, with 27% of those surveyed believing the brand will disappear in the next three years, citing “bad product development, not forward-looking, and not adapting to change” as a few of the reasons. But wait a minute…

As strategist Al Ries graciously points out, Eastman Kodak invented the digital camera in 1976. The brand developed the world’s first megapixel digital sensor small enough for a handheld camera in 1986, and introduced the first under-$1000 digital camera in 1994. Kodak holds more than a thousand patents related to digital photography! This is not the track record of a brand that is “not forward thinking” and has “bad product development,” but Kodak has indeed gone bankrupt. What really happened?

As Ries explains, the problem could be that consumers associate Kodak by name with film. “Kodak means ‘film’ photography. Kodak doesn't mean ‘digital’ photography… the only thing that could have saved the company was a second brand. Kodak should have given its digital brand a different name than its film brand.”

Some argue that this is not entirely true considering that Fujifilm has found success in the digital age. Still, it raises an interesting point — that of an innovative brand having a reputation that could not evolve with it.

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About the Author

Kaitlin T. Gallucci is a marketing strategist, copywriter, and blogger located in New York. Get in touch by visiting her website or following her Twitter.

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