Kodak also wanted to be certain that they could find a slate of artists that would have equal appeal across all of the various countries that make up their regions, which includes the U.S., Canada, Central and South America. “Beyond the four artists that you’re most familiar with, we expanded our slate of artists for the other regions, which includes Emmanuel Horvilleur in South America,” said Young.
The SoKodak campaign officially launched this past October.
Senior digital strategist for Syndicate Media Group, Mike Street, commends Kodak on their choice to partner with Trey Songz, Pitbull, Drake and Rihanna. “As someone who has worked in the urban marketing space for years and has seen budgets for African-American marketing get drastically cut, it was refreshing to see a major company like Kodak tap this new breed of young talent,” he said.
However, Street is apprehensive that using celebrity endorsers will translate into sales for Kodak. “While the campaign is great, celebrities have lost their mojo when it comes to moving the needle on sales,” he explained. “Just because Drake is holding a camera doesn’t make me want to rush out and buy a camera.”
Grant Powell, founder of POM8, a digital media network agency that provides brand development, creative services and social media solutions, concurs. “There is a lot of question these days about the true efficacy of celebrity endorsements,” he said. “Some people simply do not value these endorsements as they do not appear ‘authentic.’”
“Kodak may be a little too late considering that competitors have already grabbed the larger share of market for digital,” added Powell. “Hopefully, this campaign will help position them as more of a digital player from the consumer point. It may also transition them to being perceived as more of a commodity than a standard in photography, which is a dramatic brand positioning change.”
TAP asked Young for Kodak’s return on investment with the campaign. Though he declined to offer any specific numbers or percentages because the company does not publicize the financial results of their marketing campaigns, he did say that there has been a noticeable increase in the frequency and tone of Kodak mentions across a variety of social media and general press arenas. “Our sales rates have been significantly better in the major markets where the campaign received our full support,” said Young.
Kodak plans to follow up on the excitement of the SoKodak campaign by expanding the number of sharing destinations to include communities such as Twitter. Also, they will continue to push their sharing value proposition, not only for their traditional point and shoot cameras, but for their high definition pocket video cameras. “This campaign reminded us of the power of social media as a way to get the word out and allow people to connect [with us].”
