Kodak's community-which boasts over 2,600 members to date-has been effective in combining quantitative and qualitative research initiatives, resulting in a more comprehensive understanding of consumer behavior, trends, and demand, which the company continues to use to its advantage. In addition to evaluating existing products and marketing initiatives, it has helped to identify new product and marketing opportunities through analysis of how members shop.
KODAK CASE STUDY
HOW KODAK LEVERAGED THE POWER OF COMMUNITY published on 5/20/2008 at MarketingProfs.com by Kimberly Smith
When it chose to enter the saturated inkjet market 20 years late, Eastman Kodak had a few surprises up its sleeve: half-priced ink cartridges and prints that retain their bright colors more than 600 times longer than competitor brands. Still, in a world where more-tantalizing gadgets such as ultra-thin laptops and digital cameras often take center stage, the company found it also needed a little ingenuity on the marketing side if it was to merit the attention it needed to gain market share. Proven advertising techniques were set in motion and a special promotion with NBC's Celebrity Apprentice was launched; nevertheless, questions remained about how effective those were in luring the target market. So company Research Analyst Aprille Byam quickly set out to get a better feel for market perceptions and behavior, hoping she might also generate excitement around the new technology. Aspiring to bridge the gap between quantitative and qualitative research, she worked with online panel management provider Vision Critical in 2007 to create Print Rave, a fusion of Web-based panel and online community that allowed the company to both directly communicate with users and moderate member-to-member interactions. That combination allowed Eastman Kodak to delve into the hard questions and keep users engaged so that it could gather the insight needed to forge ahead in the inkjet space. The Challenge: When Eastman Kodak broke onto the consumer inkjet scene in February 2007, leading competitor Hewlett-Packard had already secured a strong reputation for reliable products, a loyal customer base, and a 33% global market share. To acquire its own piece of the pie, Eastman Kodak needed to build excitement around a product that, although innovative in its own right, lacked the sex-appeal to automatically turn heads and generate buzz. So, in hopes of sparking interest and perfecting its marketing message, Aprille Byam, Research Analyst for Eastman Kodak's Consumer Digital Group, set out that same month to connect with the company's inkjet target market and find out what really makes them tick. KODAK CASE STUDY
The Campaign: Byam teamed with Vancouver-based Vision Critical to create Print Rave, an online destination that integrated user communities into Vision Critical's proprietary Panel+ technology, a Web 2.0 system used to conduct real-time online research. Community members, whose eligibility requirements included ownership of any brand of inkjet printer, were recruited by Vision Critical's services team through a mix of media sources that lead to a profiling questionnaire to qualify respondents. The first survey under the new program was launched in May 2007; thereafter, surveys were released once a month on average. Questions covered a range of topics, from how members use their printers or relate to their work space, to marketing- and brand-related probes, and fun, off-the-wall queries simply designed to keep things interesting and encourage continued participation. Byam was also interested in gathering more qualitative analysis to create a more complete picture. The community portal, which she described as "a place for them to play and engage, to be creative and to show who they are," permitted exactly that by providing activities and a forum for members to directly interact with one another and share their thoughts and creations. "We wanted a space for them to talk to each other, where we could listen in and find out what they're saying," said Byam. In addition to accessing and completing surveys, the community gave members the opportunity to... o Create and update their user profiles o Upload and share pictures and video· o Create photo-essays and photo-diaries o Post links o Participate in forum discussions o Ask Kodak or the community printer-related questions o View past survey results o Win shirts, hats and other "tribal" gear
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In response to member feedback saying "I really want to participate" and "let me do more," Kodak also launched special activities to further spur engagement: o Mentor connections, which matched some of the more experienced inkjet users with newbies looking for advice. o Community moderators-particularly active members who were appointed to post the... [download for more]
