Kodak’s Brand Development Strategies and How the Company Can Remain as a Global Brand
BRAND AUDIT FINAL PAPERS
You will act as a “brand management team” to conduct a brand audit for the course project. The idea behind the brand audit is to have you conduct an in-depth examination of a major brand to assess its sources of brand equity and suggest ways to improve and leverage its brand equity.
To assess sources of brand equity, it is necessary to profile consumer’s brand knowledge structures. A variety of sources of information can be used to assemble this profile. You can consult trade magazines and business publications, conduct your own survey, or consult with company sources. After detailing the profile of brand elements/marketing programs/brand associations/knowledge (in terms of brand awareness and image), your next task is to provide recommendations concerning how the brand should be managed. How can brand equity be improved and how can it be effectively leveraged into new product categories to maximize profits? To answer this question, you should critically analyze current marketing programs and make suggestions for new marketing programs.
It should be double spaced, in text citations and references should all be in MLA or APA (be consistent), and should be in the ballpark of 8-10 pages.
Final Brand Audit Report: The final report should include at minimum the following components.
Executive Summary
Introduction:
Profile of the brand elements for your brand (e.g., name, logo, characteristics, packaging, slogans, overall aesthetics etc.)
Also provide a history of your brand and the objective and scope of the audit.
Current Analysis of Brand:
Parts of Brand: Significant secondary brand associations for your brand (include analysis of the brand hierarchy), brand portfolio, brand equity
Competitor Analysis: List and talk about the competitors of your brand and why they indeed are competitors
Marketing Strategies: Discuss the current ways and methods that your brand markets its current product line
Case studies/Anecdotes supporting the current brand problems
Recommendations concerning how to improve and manage equity for your brand and possible brand extension plans (i.e., creative and relevant directions to fortify and leverage your brand).
Conclusions: Summarize your report and provide the reader with “something more.”
Appendices: Any tables, visuals, or supplemental pieces of information from your report.
Kodak Brand Audit and Repositioning Recommendations
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Kodak Brand Audit and Repositioning Recommendations
Executive Summary
In 2012, when Kodak filed for bankruptcy, its future as a global brand was bleak. However, the organization has survived through a change of strategy that involved a shift in products and services combined with innovation, pricing, and promotion strategies. It continues to produce competitive products in the printing and publishing industry.
Given the dynamic nature of the market, consumer behavior, and technological development, and the emergence of issues such as climate change and global warming, Kodak may struggle to remain sustainable in the near future. A key way of avoiding this is through the repositioning of its brand.
The current analysis recommends that since Kodak is already a global brand name, its status can be retained if the organization is actively involved in social change. The issue of environmental conservation, in particular, is a core problem in the printing and publishing industry. By aligning its brand to a key social issue, Kodak can retain its former global brand status.
Introduction
In January 2012, with $5.1 billion in assets against $6.75 billion in liabilities, Kodak filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. This came following a decade-long burden of pension costs and delays in embracing the then-emerging digital technology. Within a decade, Kodak went from being a global brand with over 200,000 employees globally into a bankrupt organization in need of a new strategy and rebranding. Today, while Kodak still exits, the current business strategy focuses on motion picture and print products, including materials and chemicals (Kodak, 2021). With the advancement in technology and changes in consumer behavior and business environment, Kodak may have opportunities to re-establish its brand and, once again, enjoy the status it held two decades ago. The current paper is a brand audit of Kodak and a list of recommendations that can help the organization retain its historical global status and influence.
Objective and Scope of Brand Audit
The purpose of the current paper is to examine Kodak’s current and past brand development strategies and determine how the company can remain competitive today as a global brand. In essence, the paper will investigate Kodak's sources of brand equity and how they can be leveraged and improved in the current and future market environments. Therefore, the key objective is to develop and brand audit of Kodak to assist in brand repositioning. The brand audit results combined with current and emerging market trends in the industry will shape some of the recommendations that Kodak can implement to remain competitive. Branding is a marketing process in which an organization creates a unique image of its products or services in the mind of the consumer with a focus on retaining customer loyalty. Branding helps consumers to understand why an organization is different and what it offers. Thus, the scope of the current project encompasses a brief history of Kodak, an analysis of the current brand against current and emerging competition, an overview of the current marketing strategy, and a list of recommendations stipulating potential courses of action.
Kodak’s Brand History
The Eastman Kodak Company (Kodak) was founded in 1888 by George Eastman and is incorporated in New Jersey, in the United States. The company is famous for the development of amateur photography and for pioneering the technology that paved the way for the film industry. Eastman's business model can be described as the razor and blade strategy: where customers had access to inexpensive cameras while accessories like chemicals, paper, and film were relied upon to generate massive profits. An important aspect of Kodak's history is the choice of the brand name. According to Eastman, he wanted a short, distinct, and easy-to-pronounce name (1ink, 2017). All of Kodak's products, including cameras, film, and paper, held and still have this brand name. In 1935, Kodak produced the first successful color film that came in various formats to satisfy the increasingly diverse market. The organization also ventured into printing photographs through film development, leading to increased profits.
In the 1960s, the Kodak brand was not only a global brand but a universal brand as well. As a universal brand, Kodak was responsible for John Glenn's film of the orbit of the earth and the first-ever photograph of the earth taken from space. The Kodak brand was further strengthened by the release of the Kodamatic instant picture camera, which drastically changed the amount of time consumers needed to wait for the development of films in the laboratory. At its peak, Kodak was a household name due to the popularity of photographs, a mainstay in key economic, political, and social events and functions. By 1976, Kodak commanded 90% and 85% of the American camera film and camera sales, respectively. However, while digital photography was beginning to take shape and disrupt the market, Kodak chose to hold onto its analogue products, marking the beginning of its problems, culminating in filing bankruptcy protection in 2012.
In 2012, Kodak announced that it would cease the production of digital picture frames, digital cameras, and pocket video cameras. With a new strategy, Kodak opted to focus on the digital printing market. Thus, Kodaks brand has evolved from the image capturing as the primary mission to the production of high-speed commercial inkjet presses, home photo printers, and workflow software. Further, as a brand, Kodak is no longer a household name, but its visibility in offices has increased because its current products are primarily focused on commercial productions.
Profile of Brand Elements
Brand elements are trademark-able devices that serve to identify and differentiate one brand from another in a competitive market environment. In a world of increasing information clutter, the need to capture the attention of consumers requires organizations to think hard about their brand elements. This is because brand elements are part and parcel of any organization’s visibility in a dynamic and competitive modern market environment. The key brand elements at Kodak include the logo, choice of colors, and choice of font.
Kodak Colors
Throughout the evolution of the Kodak logo, yellow and red have been the main colors, with some elements of black in some of the designs. In this strategic color scheme, red (the most dominant color) is intended to evoke emotions, optimism, passion, happiness, and love consistent with the popular consumption of photography through the 20th century. Yellow, on the other hand, represents sunshine and hope. Sunshine is necessary for the capture of bright imagery but dangerous when films are exposed.
Kodak Logo
The letter K or the name Kodak has been persistent throughout history in the ever-evolving Kodak logo designs. The letter can be presumed to represent the name Kodak. The name Kodak was chosen because there were no sim...