KODAK HOPES TO HEAT UP SALES WITH REBATES

JOEL ELSON

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Eastman Kodak here is planning a concentrated series of summer promotions for its Kodak Gold 100- and 200-speed films, single-use cameras and Kodak Premium Processing in a move to boost film sales and halt further market-share inroads by competitors.

While Kodak has run similar promotions in the past, "they were not as aggressive as they will be this summer," said Lori Manning, vice president and general manager of consumer imaging, food channel. The goal, she added, is to "stem the sales loss."

"So far as I know, Kodak hasn't had any similar discounts on its 100- and 200-speed films," said Claude Millet, general merchandise buyer for Associated Grocers, Baton Rouge, La. "Kodak needs to do something -- Fuji's prices have been about 10% lower, without any pricing reductions."

Millet said Fuji accounts for 60% of Associated's film sales, with 20% to 25% going to Kodak and the balance generated by private-label products.

"Kodak needs to get the word about their product changes out to the consumer, and I think they are making an effort to do that very thing using promotions, ads and coupons, and through a whole lot of changes in their packaging that make picking the type of film to use for different conditions easier to understand," said Dave Lynam, nonfood buyer for Harding's Friendly Markets, Plainwell, Mich.

"We are very actively involved in resetting a lot of our film racks and taking advantage of their point-of-sale materials," he said.

Manning said this summer's film and one-time-use camera promotions, slated to run from June through August, will be based on efforts last year that were successful in driving category consumption. This time around, however, the promotions will rely more heavily on in-ad coupons, on-pack instant coupons and tear-off rebate pads.

Film promotions will focus on four-roll multipacks -- buy three, get one free -- of Gold 100 and 200, "which most supermarkets have," she noted.

This month, tear-off pads of $4 mail-in rebates will be posted in stores for use with Kodak Premium Processing.

While Kodak is "essentially running the same types of promotion events in food, drug, mass merchants and photo-specialty stores, we're not lowering the price or taking a price discount across the U.S.," Manning said.

Rather than simply cutting prices, Kodak "will instead try many other things that have proven to be successful and build traffic," explained a company spokesman.

"We'll look at an awful lot of strategies to gain market share. It won't be just a simple 'Let's cut a roll of film by X percent.' It's going to be much more of a flexible response to the market and our competitors."

Promoting Kodak Gold 100 and 200, for example, targets the 30% of consumers that buy film based strictly on price, Manning said.

Multipacks of Gold 100 and 200 speeds will carry $1 and $2 instant redeemable coupons and will also be promoted in newspaper ads with $2 to $2.50 coupons. Instant $2.50 rebate coupons toward Kodak's new sport and panoramic cameras were slated to break Memorial Day, said Manning.