December 30, 2004

Click Strategies

Ten years ago, Kodak launched the first digital camera for consumers (the $749 QuickTake 100 from Apple) but by 2000 Sony had become the leading digital camera maker and Kodak was dropped to 5 percent of the market while the film business was drying up.

Kodak called in anthropologists and other social scientists, who observed camera users in an effort to learn how taking and printing pictures fit into their daily lives. They also followed prospective camera buyers into stores to understand how they chose certain models from the crowded shelves.

The research was part of Kodak’s effort to reorganize its digital camera product line by transforming product design, manufacturing and marketing, the New York Times reports. The company’s big decision was to focus on low-priced, easy-to-use cameras that would appeal to women, who take the majority of snapshots, rather than Sony’s forte of shiny toys for gadget-loving men.

That strategy paid off as digital cameras moved into the mass market. This year, Kodak’s EasyShare brand has almost 19 percent of digital camera sales in the United States, a very close second to Sony and ahead of Canon, according to IDC, a technology research firm.