Sales & Marketing Management - November/December 2008 - (Page 18) cover story traditional technology. Now, that traditional technology’s still good today—it’s just that not as many people use it. A real pendulum shift had to occur.” Predating Hayzlett’s tenure with the company, that shift already had been set into motion. In an effort to transition from a film- to a digital-based business model, Kodak was in the process of reducing its workforce more than 50% worldwide and closing a number of its existing facilities. At the same time, it also was acquiring companies that ultimately would allow it to refocus its offerings in the digital imaging and printing realms. Prior to joining Kodak in 2006, Hayzlett had operated his own private business development and public relations firm—Hayzlett & Associates, Inc.—specializing in the technology and visual communications industries.“I’ve had a long connection with Kodak, for about 20 to 25 years,” he recounts.“During that transition, I was representing Kodak at some of the companies Kodak a Glance bought. And so it was natural for Eastman me to come onboard and help out. Kodak Company “On top of that, it’s probably Founded: 1888 one of the most iconic companies in the world, and if you’re a marNYSE Stock Symbol: EK keter, to be able to work with a Revenues: In excess of brand name like Kodak is a dream $10.3 billion (2007) come true.” Global Headquarters: Initially, Hayzlett was named Rochester, N.Y. chief marketing officer and vice Employees: 26,900 president for the company’s Graphic #238 on 2008 Fortune Communications Group. “This 500 list was a new division,” he explains. “We spent about $3 billion purchasing companies in that particular area to build up that piece of the business, which is now about onethird of the total business revenue for Kodak and a strategic part of our go-to-market activity today.” Rest assured, he’s not overstating the strategic importance aspect. “We have roughly 19 products, 11 of which account for about 70% of our total product base,” Hayzlett says. “Half of our product lines didn’t even exist four years ago.” In line with those rollouts, Kodak increasingly has shifted its focus from the consumer to the business-to-business sector (some 60% of Kodak’s business worldwide is now B2B). In late 2007, Hayzlett assumed the newly established position of chief business development officer. “I think a lot of people call it the CMO on steroids,” he jokes. “It has the components of business development, as well as marketing. In addition to that, we also have 18 public affairs and corporate communications.” Elaborating further: “In part of the transformation, each group was focused on the things it did well. And so, we needed to bring in someone who took a more holistic and broader view, in addition to our executive leadership for the company. “Some 60% of the people who are with us today weren’t with us four years ago,” he continues. “One of the things we’ve done to anticipate that growth is to put forth some operating principles that lots of new people can understand—and lots of the folks who have been here, who built the company to where it was as these new people stepped in—so we could all start to work together with a common language. We call that FAST, which stands for focus, accountability, simplicity and trust.” What’s in a name? Whereas the Kodak name and brand essentially stood alone in the pre-digital era, it now has to stake its place alongside other established tech players. Which raises one very good question: Just what defines and differentiates the Kodak brand in 2008? “It’s a trusted brand—it’s a quality brand,” Hayzlett responds. “At the same time, you have to make that brand more relevant for today. That’s a big part of what we’re doing. “We’re taking it back to the original premise of what company founder George Eastman said when he brought out the first mass-market camera: ‘You press the button, we do the rest.’ Well, that’s the way in which we want you to view our products. All you need to do is trust Kodak, and Kodak will take you to this digital age.” As part of the company’s strategy for reconnecting with those customers, Hayzlett recently created two new positions of note: a director of convergence media and a chief blogger. The former is responsible for integrating traditional and digital marketing activities into a comprehensive strategy, as opposed to merely repurposing print content for the Web. “You need someone who’s concentrating on that convergence of various media,” says Hayzlett. “And then, how do you take your key messages in your campaigns and utilize those in a very efficient manner? That’s a great way to leverage the fewer and fewer dollars marketers have available to them today.” The chief blogger administers three official Kodak blogs—most notably, the award-winning A Thousand Words, in which employees share posts on all things imaging-related with the public.“We put together a chief blogger much like we would do a chief editor in a newspaper,” says Hayzlett. “This is someone we wanted www.salesandmarketing.com www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com SALES &MARKETING MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008 http://www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com
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