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Eastman Kodak Company
New Kodak Select Series Targets Special Needs Of Photo Enthusiasts
Series Brings Demanding Consumers A Wide Choice Of High-Performance Films, New Packaging That Makes It Easier To Identify And Manage Their Rolls
NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 12 (SPRING PMA '98)—Photo enthusiasts will find it easier to choose and use the best Kodak films for their picture-taking needs, as Eastman Kodak Company today unveiled a new product series with new packaging for creative or demanding picture-takers.
The Kodak Select series unites three families of high-performance films that target photo enthusiasts and serious snapshooters— Kodak Royal Gold films, Kodachrome films and Kodak Elite chrome films—including the new Kodak Elite chrome 200 film introduced here at the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) show. The Select series gives these demanding photographers a wide array of film types and speeds for special picture-taking applications, all of which provide outstanding image detail for digitizing, enlarging and projecting their pictures.
The films in the series will feature new packaging to help photo enthusiasts more easily identify and manage their rolls. The film management system includes color-coded boxes and film magazines, translucent canisters and note-taking areas on each magazine and the canister lid.
"Virtually all the films in Kodak's consumer line have been improved or replaced during the past 18 months. No other photographic company can match Kodak for the pace of innovation or the commitment to continuously improving our products," said Pierre Cohade, vice president and general manager, consumer film business, Consumer Imaging division, Kodak. "Just as Kodak demonstrates fast-paced technology innovation in developing our products, we're committed to innovative marketing approaches for bringing products to consumers. The Select series delivers value to consumers by helping them identify the right film for their photographic needs. It benefits retailers by making it easier to reach a high-value customer set, and to sell those customers exceptional products that will keep them coming back."
Select Series Products
The Kodak Select series includes 11 Kodak 35 mm film products that are popular with photo enthusiasts.
Kodak Royal Gold films. Available at 100-, 200-, 400- and 1000-speed points, the award-winning Kodak Royal Gold films serve as Kodak's premium color print films for consumers. Kodak Royal Gold films are known for their natural colors and excellent skin tones. In addition, the fine grain and excellent tone scale of Kodak Royal Gold films make them ideal for enlargements and digital utilization. Kodak Royal Gold 1000 film is Kodak's fastest color print film, and was designed for low-light, non-flash picture-taking conditions or for subjects that require higher shutter speeds to stop action.
Kodak Elite chrome films. These slide films are available in 100-, 200- and 400-speeds, as well as a 160T film for indoor pictures shot under tungsten light. Delivering both saturated colors and natural skin tones, the Elite chrome products are Kodak's most versatile family of slide films for capturing a variety of images under different lighting conditions.
Elite chrome 200 film is newly introduced at PMA this year. Its fine grain approaches that of a 100-speed color slide film—making it the finest grain 200-speed consumer color slide film in the world. Elite chrome 100 film was introduced in early 1996, and is recognized for its vivid colors and natural skin tones. Since its introduction, it has been further improved for even better skin-tone and neutral scale rendition. Elite chrome 400 film provides high speed in order to capture pictures in low-light or in fast-action environments. This film is the same formula as Ektachrome Elite II 400 film, renamed for easier identification.
Kodachrome films. Available in 25-, 64- and 200-speeds, these renowned color slide films feature natural color rendition and superior sharpness. Kodachrome films also have outstanding archival features because of their unique processing and film design. At PMA '97, Kodak introduced a new minilab for Kodachrome films—the Kodak K-Lab processing system—which is currently being deployed in markets in the U.S. and overseas.
Cohade said that additional products will be added to the Select series as the company develops new high-performance films for photo enthusiasts. "No company offers photo enthusiasts a wider selection of high-performance films for capturing the creative images they envision when they press the shutter—or innovates more rapidly to improve those products," Cohade said. "In addition to helping people capture the scenes they want, our Select series films provide the outstanding image detail they need to 'Take Pictures. Further.' after processing."
Film Management System
Each of these films will feature new packaging that clearly identifies it as a Kodak Select series product. Along with a consistent visual look, the Select series packaging includes product descriptors to help photographers select the right product for each picture-taking need.
Several other packaging improvements are part of a film management system that helps photographers to identify and organize their rolls more easily.
- Color-coded boxes and film magazines (the light-tight metal shells that hold the film) enable fast recognition of film types. The colors are red for Kodachrome films, blue for the new Elite chrome films and black for Royal Gold films.
- A white rectangular area on film magazines enables photographers to make notes indicating locations, dates, exposure levels or other information. This area (14 mm x 42 mm) has been designed with a matte finish to accept notes made with a pencil, solvent-based marker or high-quality ball-point pen.
- A translucent film canister lets people instantly see the 35 mm film magazine inside (including the white writable area), and see if the film leader is inside or outside the magazine—which indicates whether the roll has been exposed. The magazine graphics have also been optimized so that the film type, speed and number of exposures are readily visible through the translucent can. Along with easier identification, the translucent canisters can provide a benefit at airport security checkpoints, allowing visual inspection without opening each canister or passing the film through X-ray equipment.
- The cap on each Kodak Select series film canister contains a paper label for additional photographer's notes.
Like their black predecessors, the new translucent film canisters are 100 percent recyclable. Their high-density polyethylene construction still provides the same physical protection, including being as moisture-tight and crush-resistant as the previous canisters. And since the magazine must be light-tight to enable the film to be handled under normal conditions—loading and unloading a camera and processing—the new Select series film management system will continue to afford the same level of protection for users' pictures.
"We know that many photo enthusiasts—whether they enjoy the creative or technical aspects of photography, or both—like to use different films for different subjects," said Larry Morgan, worldwide marketing director, consumer film business, Consumer Imaging division, Kodak. "The new packaging features on Kodak Select series films will give people fast recognition of specific films, and easy ways to mark their films for convenient identification, organization and retrieval later."
Voice Of The Consumer
Kodak developed the Select series based on numerous "voice of the consumer" studies, focus groups and retail visits worldwide.
The company's research indicates that photo enthusiasts and serious snapshooters are concerned with quality, and want to choose the best film for specific applications. The research also shows that these selective photographers find the wide array of film names and package types available at retail confusing, and would like help in conveniently making the right purchase decisions.
The film management system was developed based on interviews with hundreds of enthusiastic photographers, who tend to carry multiple types and speeds of film in their camera bags. Many of the interviewees shared their own methods for managing and organizing film rolls, and suggested specific packaging improvements.
"The high-performance films and packaging features in the Kodak Select series were deliberately and carefully combined to serve photographers who demand more from their film," Morgan said. "We're confident that by giving photo enthusiasts better ways to work with their pictures, they'll enjoy their pictures even more and take more pictures as a result."
Availability
Kodak Select series packaged films will be available to be shipped to retailers in the U.S. in the second quarter of 1998. Consumers will learn of the advantages of the Kodak Select series through a broad range of marketing support, including point-of-sale display materials, merchandisers and consumer advertising.
(Kodak, Kodak Select, Royal Gold, Elite, Kodachrome, K-Lab and Take Pictures. Further. are trademarks.)
1998
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