This week’s word -given the start of a new year – seems very appropriate: Relevance.

I was shocked and a bit sad to hear this morning on NPR that the grand old brand KODAK was notified by the New York Stock Exchange that they are in danger of being de-listed, unless they can get their stock price consistently above…$1.

“You’ve got to be kidding!” I thought.  Surely they have struggled through the digital age, but I was shocked because I clearly have not been keeping up with this brand, and didn’t realize what a beating they’ve taken.

I was sad, because I grew up with this brand and had great affection for it.  In fact, many regarded it as a great, iconic brand of the 70′s and 80′s.
Do you remember the bright yellow and red boxes of their striking packaging and those emotional, Hallmark-like commercials that would run on major events like the Olympics and Super Bowl?  They were warm and sweet and made me snap a lot of photos, for fear I’d miss out on capturing key “moments of our lives”.

So what does this have to do with the word relevance?

Everything.

Kodak  is a walking morality tale, showing us what happens to a brand, when they don’t stay relevant to their customers.
Part of the problem clearly was they did not make the technology turn in the harbor fast enough to be as competitive as they could be for the advent of digital cameras in the 90′s.

But why didn’t this brand that had an original tagline of “You press the button, we do the rest” tap into the goodwill and positive brand equity it had with customers to forge a stronger bond?

Kodak was the brand we should have turned to first when we wanted to take digital photos or videos.

I think the company spent so much time trying to launch new PRODUCTS to remain competitive, that it lost track of what its BRAND meant and could mean to new generations of customers.

In order to stay relevant in any category, brands need to stay close to their customers, by constantly reaching out to hear what they want and how they want it.
Between the vast array  of research options available to marketers, not to mention the continuous feedback loop from social media, there just isn’t any excuse for a brand to be out of touch with the culture, the market and most importantly, its customers.

So in week one of the new year, let’s all firmly resolve to be the voice of the customer and stay focused on what they want.

If not, be prepared to go the way of the dinosaur, like Kodak.

Topics: branding, Camera, Kodak, Relevance