Clicks and Cliques
Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, NY, and teen site Bolt.com, New York City, in May launched a co-branded photo service for Bolt’s four million members (aged 15 to 24).
At Bolt.com’s Photo Channel, members can add photos to their profiles or to Bolt’s photo files for other members to use via Kodak Picture Ready service. Bolt also seeds digital photo tools throughout the site, and members can get custom versions of Kodak software such as PictureThis Postcard and Picture Puzzle to create photo puzzles and add special effects.
In exchange, Kodak gets feedback from focus group panelists at Bolt Lab via custom polls, message boards, and member-created clubs. Kodak likes reaching “tech-savvy teens who are the early adopters of digital technology,” says Jude Rake, vp-general manager of marketing for consumer imaging. “Introducing teens to digital pictures will help us build a loyal customer base.”
Adds Bolt ceo Dan Pelson: “Pictures hold an important role in teen expression and interaction, making our partnership beneficial for members as it introduces them to Kodak’s leading products and services.”
Kodak’s and Bolt’s businesses intersect in the $225 billion “info-imaging” industry that lets consumers communicate via images. (Think of snapshots attached to e-mail, or photos posted on home pages, and it’s clear that business is booming.)
In the first week of the partnership, Kodak hosted a poll on Bolt’s Photo Channel asking what kids like to photograph. Most — 58 percent — said friends and family; 12 percent shoot landscapes; 11 percent take candid shots of strangers; and eight percent snap animals.
