What happened? What happened to two of the arguably largest companies ever to offer simple consumer friendly products and in the case of KODAK, film developing and printing services.?
Digital photography.
The digital camera age started in 1975. It was bulky, cumbersome - the image took forever to be recorded on a cassette tape - and poor quality, but it worked and just as the Box Brownie and Polaroid before it, the digital camera literally captured the hearts, minds and wallets of millions.
According to a recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald, 'the company's story has become a popular business school case study of failure to adapt to change.'
Bryan Lukas, a professor of marketing at the University of Melbourne told the paper. ''What you have is a classic example of what is referred to as marketing myopia. 'They were focused on the things they were doing at the time … Kodak said 'we make films', rather than saying 'we create storage possibilities for memories.' ''
So as you can see, this is a story about the ability to survive by adapting to change. There are some strong messages here for all of us who wish to survive.
If everyone is literally 'going online' to sell products and services, should we all follow? Or can we do both successfully - literally hedging our bets both ways?
A veterinarian can offer (and they do!) advice services online for a small per minute fee - but they can't see, touch and feel the animal. Yet!
A groomer can offer tips about grooming but someone still has to trim the toenails, cut the hair, wash the body and do all that brushing.
But watch this space, some clever person will one day come up with 'robotic arms 'that connect to your computer allowing your to remotely groom Fido or Fifi.
A pet retailer is probably the one to gain most out of making changes to the way they trade initially. But it's a crowded marketplace already for veterinary and pet supplies online.
The challenge is to be different. To think differently. As sales and marketing guru Siimon Reynolds say's to "ZIG when everybody else is ZAGGING!"
So what about you and your business? You may not be the size of KODAK or Polaroid, but the principles are the same - Don't let 'marketing myopia' be the end of you. Take 15 to 30 minutes each day to do some basic research on what is happening in your particular area of the pet industry. At the same time try and visualise how and where your business might be in the next 1, 5 and 10 years from now.
If you still love what you do it's sink or swim time... and I love swimming :-)