The Venerable Polaroid Instant Photo System Soared before It Sunk

by: Geoff Ficke

In 1937, the venerable inventor and scientist Edwin Land, founded the Polaroid Corporation. His business served to introduce the world to the first instant film camera in 1948. For almost four decades the Polaroid Land Camera was ubiquitous at christenings, parties, graduations and weddings as families so loved the speed the system provided to see images almost immediately.new channels of distribution, new product applications and novel, fresh features and benefits are essential to avoid slow demise and ultimate extinction.

Polaroid grew to be one of the most recognizable products and brands in the world. Mr. Land enjoyed tremendous fame and wealth during his distinguished life and career. He expanded his product offering to include polarized sunglasses and enjoyed significant success in that category.

With the advent of digital photography in the 1980’s Polaroid was presented with a most vexing problem. The success the Company had enjoyed in instant photography was obviously conflicted by the improved image quality of digitally produced photographs. Polaroid did make a fleeting effort to pioneer a digital product when it introduced the PDC 2000 in 1996. However, Kodak and other German and Japanese manufacturers, who had never been players in instant photography, were aggressively promoting digital photo quality and the low cost of reproducing prints, thus seizing the lead in the space. Polaroid never recovered.

Since the beginning of the 21st century the fate of Polaroid has been a sad tale of court fights, asset squabbles and bankruptcy filings. The famous Polaroid Camera has suffered the indignity of seeing production halted completely.

This is a case study in a corporation that lost its way. Milking the instant photography segment for many years was not at all wrong, however, the old adage that “you are never the greatest, only the latest” was never more applicable. Market leaders, those that stay market leaders at least, are always seeking to expand their range, offer product improvements or leap to new markets with existing products.

For years a hobby/craft use for the Polaroid Land Camera and instant film was a real option that the firm’s management reviewed but dismissed. The Monet Miracle is one of the most clever and useful artisan applications for an existing product that has ever been created. The Money Miracle enables the user to manipulate the chemicals inside the envelope of the individual Polaroid instant film photos, while the chemicals are developing the image is distorted to provide an artisan, high quality and hugely satisfying “Monet-like” image. This simple artesian distortion is accomplished by utilizing a stylized implement.

Claude Monet is considered one of the great “impressionist” painters of all time. His romantic, soft, hazy images are hugely valuable to art collectors and patrons to this day and many museums relentlessly seek to acquire Money’s works to enhance their collections. The “Monet Miracle” technique, possible to achieve only when utilizing Polaroid technology, could have been one lifeline for the great old brand.

There was a budding community of devotees to the Monet Miracle style of creating modernist art from contemporary images. The images were highly desirable and provided a unique medium for artists. A number of attempts were made to interest Polaroid management in marketing product specifically to the hobby class. The process was amazingly simple and highly individualized. However, there was almost no interest shown by company officials in pursuing a relationship with Monet Miracle enthusiasts.

Polaroid is virtually gone. Monet Miracle practitioners were forced to scrounge instant film and rare Polaroid cameras. There is actually a boom in prices for Polaroid products and eBay does a brisk business in these items. Many people, when exposed to Monet Miracle art are amazed at the originality, the creativity and the romance of the images that the style creates. The obvious benefits of pursuing a Monet Miracle relationship were clearly missed by Polaroid.

Studebaker, Montgomery Ward, Beeman’s Gum, TWA and Polaroid are just a few examples of great brands and businesses that have gone the way of the dodo bird. Successful businesses, those with long term growth and future upside, constantly strive to reinvent themselves. New products,

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About the Author

Geoff Ficke has been a serial entrepreneur for almost 50 years. As a small boy, earning his spending money doing odd jobs in the neighborhood, he learned the value of selling himself, offering service and value for money.

After putting himself through the University of Kentucky (B.A. Broadcast Journalism, 1969) and serving in the United States Marine Corp, Mr. Ficke commenced a career in the cosmetic industry. After rising to National Sales Manager for Vidal Sassoon Hair Care at age 28, he then launched a number of ventures, including Rubigo Cosmetics, Parfums Pierre Wulff Paris, Le Bain Couture and Fashion Fragrance.

Geoff Ficke and his consulting firm, Duquesa Marketing, Inc. (www.duquesamarketing.com) has assisted businesses large and small, domestic and international, entrepreneurs, inventors and students in new product development, capital formation, licensing, marketing, sales and business plans and successful implementation of his customized strategies. He is a Senior Fellow at the Page Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Business School, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

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