Toner News Mobile › Forums › Toner News Main Forums › KODAK TAKES ON HP & EPSON WITH NEW AD CAMPAIGN
- This topic has 0 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 9 years, 8 months ago by Anonymous.
-
AuthorPosts
-
AnonymousInactivehttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aw6Pp.i9Ug.Y&refer=japan
Kodak Takes on H-P, Seiko Epson With New Ad Campaign
March
09 — Eastman Kodak Co. has started a new global marketing campaign
emphasizing the low ink costs associated with its consumer printers,
taking on rivals such as Hewlett-Packard Co. and Seiko Epson Corp.The
“Print and Prosper” campaign, begun yesterday in the U.S. and Canada,
will use television, newspapers and the Internet to try to convince
consumers to switch to Kodak printers, the Rochester, New York-based
company said in a statement. Kodak will start marketing in other
countries in coming months.Chief Executive Officer Antonio
Perez, who spent 25 years at Hewlett-Packard helping develop its
printers, has pegged the devices as one of Kodak’s three “core
investments.” The company’s printers sell for 15 percent to 35 percent
more than those from rivals including Hewlett-Packard, Seiko Epson,
Lexmark International Inc. and Canon Inc., while ink costs about half
as much, allowing customers to save an average of $110 on ink a year,
according to Kodak.“George Eastman wanted to make photography
affordable for everyone,” Kodak Chief Marketing Officer Jeffrey
Hayzlett said in an interview today, referring to the camera pioneer
who founded the company in 1880. “Now we’re trying to make printing
affordable for everyone.”Sales have declined since 2006 at Kodak, which
has forecast a fourth straight annual revenue drop for 2009. The
company introduced its consumer-inkjet printers in 2007, the year it
concluded a $3.4 billion restructuring that eliminated 28,000 jobs in
an effort to shift its focus to digital products from traditional film.‘People Who Print’
With
the new campaign, Kodak is targeting “high ink- burners,” or people who
print a lot, Hayzlett said. The company set up a Web site where
consumers can calculate the difference in ink costs if they switched to
a Kodak printer. It’s also using blogs and social-networking sites to
spread awareness.More than a million consumers are using Kodak’s
printers, and the company is aiming to double that number this year, it
said. Advertising agency Deutsch Inc. developed the campaign for Kodak,
which didn’t disclose exactly how much the marketing would cost.Spending Millions
“We’re
spending a significant amount,” Hayzlett said. “It’s in the many
millions of dollars.”Cross Research analyst Shannon Cross estimated in
February that the consumer-inkjet business costs Kodak more than $300
million a year, and said abandoning the venture would help conserve
cash. Cross cut her price target on Kodak’s stock to $1 from $6 at the
time, and said the company may announce a restructuring in 2010 to
follow one this year. Kodak said in January it will eliminate as many
as 4,500 jobs in a 2009 overhaul that may cost as much as $300
million.Canon will “keep developing and selling products to meet our
customers’ needs,” the Tokyo-based company, Japan’s largest maker of
office equipment, said in an e-mailed response to Kodak’s campaign.
Kenkichi Shibata, a spokesman for Seiko Epson in Tokyo, declined to
comment. Calls placed to Hewlett-Packard and Lexmark weren’t returned. -
AuthorMarch 31, 2009 at 11:48 AM
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.