Kodak’s CMO, Jeff Hayzlett, has managed to attract considerable attention to his company through his extensive use of various social media tools like Twitter, Facebook etc. The company was once a colossus in the photography industry, but missed the digital revolution boat and was left floundering. According to Hayzlett, the company has now reinvented itself as a B2B company and stays in touch with its customers via its social media strategy, Convergence Ripcurl. It has attracted a lot of attention through its consumer contest to name its HD video camera, and its blog “a Thousand Words” has won awards. One point I found interesting was that it has a ‘Chief Listening Officer’ to review all social media comments – shows that it is serious about listening to the market.
The brand strategy is paying off: Kodak has reduced its product-to-market cycle to five months, and 13 of their products rank #1, #2, or #3 in their respective categories, half of which didn’t exist two years ago. One product was launched solely using Twitter at a $70 higher price point and there’s a waiting list to purchase. (Brand Strategy – Reinventing Kodak, Nicolette Beard).
However, share prices are still falling, so it will be interesting to see if the new marketing strategy will help the company in the long run.
Popularity: 11% [?]
A Chief Listening Officer- that’s an interesting way forward. More and more companies might start having a CLO, to make effective use of the Social Media Platform.
Analyzing customer feedback on social media platforms is becoming increasingly critical for companies. There is a proliferation in tools available for doing such analysis too. On the other hand, companies also need to be very careful on how they react after listening. I recently read about Nestle’s gaffe on facebook: http://blogs.bnet.com/businesstips/?p=6786
I guess those that understand that social media platforms are about conversations and learn how to mine them will succeed, like Kodak.