I was recently invited to a seminar hosted by the Chicago Tribune in which the guest speaker was Jeff Hayzlett, the Chief Marketing Officer for Kodak. Jeff gave a very energetic and insightful talk on how Kodak has used social marketing for the last five years in regards to new product development.

In 2005, Kodak has dropped from a $15 billion dollar company to a $200 million dollar company in revenues. In the last 5 years Kodak has undergone massive turnover and product re-invention. They now have 19 brand new products on the market, with 60% of their business now being B to B. Today they are a $10 billion dollar company based on all new products and they solely marketed these products using social marketing.

Kodak is the 3rd largest social network in the world. They offer many online services to consumers including photo storage capabilities all in high resolution at no charge.

From a marketing standpoint, Kodak using the 4 E’s philosophy in social media:

1. Engage: be a part of the conversation because it is going on with or without you.
2. Educate: customers educate us and we educate them.
3. Excite: do different things to excite your audience which in return will create #4
4. Evangelize: work to have consumers will become brand ambassadors and spread the word about what you are doing.

I think the Kodak story is a good example of how social media can make a strong difference in your brand awareness and how consumers engage with your brand.

One of the most unique changes that Kodak has partaken in for 2010 is the change in their website. The main page of Kodak.com now has an ‘iconic photo’ on display with tells a ‘Kodak Moment’. Jeff says to be sure to check out the website on April 1st – it will give you something to tweet about.

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