Figuring out how to leverage social networks as marketing tools is top priority for many businesses. PhotoWorks Inc., Seattle, Wash., has implemented several social networks of its own, and is successfully using them to increase sales to existing and new customers. In today's DIMAcast, Jeffrey Few, technical product manager for PhotoWorks, tells Digital Imaging Digest editor Jennifer Kruger all about PhotoWorks' strategy.

  This is the final episode of DIMAcast for 2007. Please rejoin us on Jan. 7, when retail guru Bill McCurry will present another new "McCurry Marketing Idea Exchange" on the DIMAcast.

  There are also more than 70 past podcasts available for download at DIMAcast.com. You can listen to the current week's show directly on the DIMAcast site, or have it sent to your mobile phone.
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In an interview in the January Conde Nast Portfolio, columnist Kevin Maney discusses with Antonio Perez, chairman and CEO of Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N.Y., the transition from an analog business -- with 14 film factories and 60,000 employees -- to digital business with multiple printing platforms with 40,000 employees.

  "The banner that was spread in my office read 'Expand the Benefits of Film,'" said Perez. "That was the first thing that I took down. Kodak had 14 factories dedicated to film. We had to close 11 of them in the past three and a half years."

  Perez says the company has completed its necessary restructuring: "We're finished with the restructuring -- no more layoffs. Now we're going to grow our properties as fast as we can. I want Kodak to be, and I think Kodak will be, the leading imaging company in the world. We are right in the intersection of material science and digital imaging. That's the space where we have more of the intellectual property and where the brand is the strongest."

  He also spoke with respect for the legacy technologies that he had to decide to de-emphasize.

  "If you go to Kodak Park and see how we make film, you're going to see a machine tool that is about 50 feet long," he said. "It has a piece of plastic that is about 6 feet wide, running at incredible speed. And then you're going to have 18 different coatings that are falling onto the piece of plastic moving at that speed. The purpose of the exercise is to locate the right amount of each of the 18 coatings in the right place on the plastic. That's all. To make it more interesting, you have to do it in the dark, because it's photosensitive."

  It was the legacy of analog film manufacturing technology that allowed the company to transition to digital printing systems. Perez observed: "I remember saying that I thought we should be the best commercial printer in the world. Because instead of 18 coatings, we're going to use six inks. Instead of plastic, we're going to use paper, which is a much nicer recipient. And we're going to switch on the lights. We had a lot of the technology in color management, and sure enough, we now have a $3.6 billion business growing 9 percent in the last quarter and doing very well. So there's a lot of the past that can be applicable."

LifePics, Boulder, Colo., is now the online digital imaging solutions provider for Brookshire Grocery Co., a Tyler, Texas-based supermarket chain. Using the LifePics solution, Brookshire's will now offer its customers a range of prints and photo products. LifePics will also provide the company with digital photography-related educational consumer e-mailswritten by professional photographers and tailored for the average photo enthusiast. The e-mails are sent directly to consumers who elect to receive them, and provide photography tips for various topics. Consumers are encouraged to branch out from basic photography techniques and explore other methods used by professional photographers, says the company. The consumer e-mails are branded with Brookshire Grocery Co.'s logo and custom advertisements.

CompUSA, which was sold to Gordon Brothers Group LLC earlier this month, provided a website for consumers on Friday with details about the impact of its sale on customer programs and policies, reports Reuters. The website, www.compusaconsumerhelp.com, offers details on the electronics retailer's policies on extended warranties, gift cards, rebates and other service programs. CompUSA said it would update the site regularly and provide relevant telephone numbers and Web links to assist with customer inquiries.

  The Dallas, Texas-based company said it would keep its stores open during the holiday season, offering "attractive bargains" on computers and electronics. All sales after Dec. 12 in its stores would be final, CompUSA said, adding it had posted signs announcing the policy to its customers.

  CompUSA, once controlled by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, was sold to Gordon Brothers, a Boston, Mass.-based restructuring and real estate firm earlier this month, reports Reuters. Gordon Brothers has started closing its retail stores, and is in discussions with various parties to sell some of its assets, CompUSA said.

After today, there are seven shopping days until Christmas, but the number of shipping days varies depending on who is doing the shipping, says a USA Today article, and how much consumers are willing to spend.

  "Consumers continue to buy online later and later," says Lauren Freedman, president of The E-tailing Group, an online retail consultancy. "So merchants keep extending their deadlines to get as much of the pie as possible."

  This week, more packages will be shipped than any week of the year, says Susan Rosenberg, UPS spokeswoman. More packages, cards and letters will be mailed at the post office today -- roughly 1 billion -- than any day of the year, says Joanne Veto, spokeswoman for the United States Postal Service (USPS).

  A holiday shipping update:

·         UPS: The company's busiest day will be Wednesday, when it expects to ship 22 million packages, says Rosenberg. Its 2007 ground fuel surcharge is 3.5 percent and air fuel surcharge is 11.5 percent.

·         USPS: Monday is the last day to send domestic mail for arrival before Christmas, says Veto. Express Mail sent by Saturday comes with a guarantee for arrival by Christmas. Express Mail is delivered on Christmas Day, she notes.

·         FedEx: Monday will be FedEx's busiest day of the year, and it expects to ship 11.3 million packages, says spokesman Howard Clabo. Saturday is the last day to ship in time for Christmas arrival.

·         Wal-Mart.com: Wal-Mart's standard shipping window expires Tuesday at 11:30 p.m. PST, says spokesman Ravi Jariwala.

·         Amazon.com: Monday is its deadline for free shipping for most orders of $25 or more, says Amazon spokesman Craig Berman. Tuesday is the deadline for standard shipping orders to arrive by Christmas Day.

·         BestBuy.com: The electronics retailer's standard shipping deadline for Christmas is Thursday at 11 a.m. EST, says Chap Achen, director of Best Buy's order management. "The longer we can extend the cut-off date, the more likely consumers are to shop with us."

·         CircuitCity.com: The company is offering free shipping for any order over $24. The last day for standard shipping is by 1 p.m. EST Wednesday, says Mark Oldani, vice president of Circuit City Direct. The company is offering 10 percent off any order purchased online but picked up at the store by Saturday.

comScore Inc., Reston, Va., reports holiday season e-commerce spending for Nov. 1 through Dec. 14 has increased. More than $22 billion has been spent online during the season-to-date, showing an 18-percent gain versus last year. Dec. 10 reached $881 million in sales, up 33 percent versus last year, registering as the heaviest online spending day of the season and the heaviest online spending day on record, says comScore.

  Online spending by household income shows slower growth among lower income households. Households earning at least $100,000 a year have increased online spending 28 percent versus 2006, and households making less than $50,000 have increased their spending by 10 percent.

  While online sales are up, retailers are hiring fewer seasonal in-store workers, reports a Fortune magazine article. Around 509,000 retail jobs were created in October and November, a 9 percent decrease from 2006, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a Chicago,Ill.-based staffing firm. The last temporary sales help decline occurred following Sept. 11, 2001, dropping 26 percent to 585,000 workers, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Current economic conditions have led lower income shoppers to be more conservative in their spending, and retailers looking to cut expenses have hired fewer seasonal employees, says Fortune.

  In light of the dwindling amount of seasonal workers, a record number of shoppers said they walked out of stores recently, because they couldn't find a sales clerk to help them, said Brit Beemer, founder of America's Research Group. Nearly one-quarter of those surveyed said they walked out of a store without buying anything, because there was no one to help them, up from 22 percent who said so last year, says Fortune.

The new SensorLoupe 7X, a Visible Dust product available from Amplis Foto Inc., Markam, Ontario, Canada, uses patent-pending features such as BriteVue XL technology with K9 optical glass, known for its high resolution and clarity, Amplis says. In addition, the SensorLoupe 7X has six super-bright LEDs with vari-angled orientation to help create a 3-D image of dust particles, similar to how satellites capture stereoscopic images. It also makes it possible to locate the smallest dust particles that can ruin ultra-high resolution images.

  The optical glass is coated with MgF2 for sharp, clear image in order to reduce chromatic aberrations and to achieve the highest optical resolution possible. The BriteVue XL design aids to spot the smallest dust particles on the sensor. Other uses for the SensorLoupe 7X include inspecting the chamber of the DSLR camera or analyzing negatives from film cameras.

Dave Goward

David Goward has been named president and CEO of Roland DGA Corp., Irvine, Calif., a leading provider of wide-format inkjet printers and other technologies. Goward succeeds Bob Curtis, who has served as president and CEO since 1997 and has been named chairman of the Roland DGA Board of Directors. The announcement comes as the U.S.-based company, which serves customers in North and South America, celebrates a fifth consecutive year of record sales. 

  As president and CEO of Roland DGA Corp., Goward is responsible for managing the strategic direction of the company which markets and supports a line of technologies including wide- and grand-format inkjet printers, vinyl cutters, engravers, 3-D scanning and milling devices, and photo impact printers. Goward brings to the position more than 30 years of senior-level management experience primarily in the signage and graphic arts industries, including 13 years with Roland DGA Corp.  Most recently, he served the company as executive vice president and chief operating officer, responsible for the company's sales, marketing, distribution, service, and support organizations. 

  In addition, Goward is a member of the Roland DGA Corp. Board of Directors, serves on the Global Executive Committee for parent company Roland DG Corp. of Hamamatsu, Japan, and is also a board member for the North American Specialty Printing Manufacturers Association (NASMA).

  

Bob Curtis

In his new role, Curtis will continue to drive Roland strategic initiatives both across the Americas and worldwide, serving as chairman of Roland DGA Corp. and reporting to the board of directors of parent company Roland DG Corp. as an executive officer. Curtis joined Roland in 1987 as vice president and general manager of the U.S.-based organization and was named president and CEO of Roland DGA Corp. in 1997. His background includes more than 35 years of senior-level management experience in the technology and electronics industries. 

With digital cameras present in more than half of U.S. households in 2006, it is not surprising that many consumers are choosing to keep their images digital, reports PMA Marketing Research. Ninety-eight percent of digital camera households store images and there are a multitude of storage options available. Digital methods appear to be among the most popular, according to the 2007 PMA US Consumer Photo Buying Report. The top storage method for 2006 was the computer hard drive, holding fairly steady over the past few years. The percentage of households using the digital camera memory card for storage increased significantly to 53 percent in 2006, up from only 38 percent in 2005. In 2004, only 19 percent of households stored images on the memory card. This may be the result of larger memory cards now being offered at lower prices.

  In times where film cameras were the primary picture taking devices, printing was the main method of storage. With the emergence of digital cameras, however, consumers no longer had to print their images in order to have them readily available. In 2004, 19 percent of digital camera users used prints as a way to store images; in 2005, it was 33 percent. In 2006, printing for storage made a surprising comeback, with 52 percent of digital households storing images in the form of prints. This is a substantial increase compared to the earlier years when digital printing was more dramatically overshadowed by digital methods. CDs as a method of storage had become more common than prints for some time, but in 2006 printing for storage appeared to rise above CD storage.

  This is beneficial to photo retailers who were expecting the decrease in printing to accelerate with the evolution of digital cameras and accessories. In addition, consumers also continue to print for reasons other than storage, such as gifting and displaying photos in various ways around the home, making it evident that prints will remain important to consumers in a digital world.

--By Kristy Clairmont

PMA Marketing Research Analyst