Another Thought on Relevance

The issue of relevance is on my mind again this week as the world prepares for the summer Olympic Games in Beijing. If you scan through the list of corporate sponsors of the Olympics you’ll see the venerable name of Kodak. What you may not know is that last October the company whose name was once synonymous with film and cameras announced that it was ending its role as a top corporate sponsor of the Olympics after this summer's games – an ongoing sponsor relationship that began over 100 years ago with the first modern games in 1896.

At the time of the announcement, Elizabeth Noonan, Kodak's director of brand management, stated "As we complete the transformation of Kodak, it makes sense for us to take a new direction." What she didn’t say was that Kodak hasn’t transformed its business model as fast as the changes in related technology or consumer expectation. They simply didn’t adjust to the transition from film photography to digital photography as it was happening. When was the last time you dropped off a roll of film for developing? Professional and amateur photographers alike have numerous options today including digital cameras, digital printing and online photo management applications like Flickr. As Kodak scrambles to compete, they have experienced massive net losses and its workforce has dropped to half what it was in 2003.

What can the financial services industry learn from this example? A great deal! Look at how new technology within this industry has already changed consumer behaviors across the demographic spectrum. By paying close attention to the shifts in your industry and your market, and proactively adapting to those changes, you have a greater likelihood of remaining relevant to your customer and avoiding the same fate as Kodak.