Fuji adds quality seal to film battle with Kodak

The seal is printed on U.S. packages of Fuji film, but not on Kodak’s film boxes – news reports say Kodak “feels its name already epitomizes the attributes of the seal”.

Reports say Fuji now has more than 20 percent of the U.S. film market, a significant increase from its

13-15 percent level of several years ago. Fuji has also done well in winning contracts for digital minilabs at large retail chains such as Wal-Mart.

Other marketing moves by Fuji U.S.A. include

new advertisements and television commercials, expanding its sports sponsorships, and redesigning its film packaging to attract younger shoppers. In sports, Fuji now sponsors auto racing teams in both NASCAR and the Indy Racing League, as well as sponsoring special “Photo Days” at all 30 Major League Baseball parks.

For its part, Kodak’s marketing includes being a major sponsor of the Olympic Games since the outset, as well as holding the photo products franchise at the Walt Disney Corp. theme parks and other major attractions that include the New York Yankees baseball team and California’s annual Tournament of Roses.

The Kodak vs. Fuji Film Battle may eventually be considered a classic marketing struggle, like Coke vs. Pepsi. Jack Trout, president of Trout & Partners Ltd., told the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle that the competition “may get nastier as the film market shrinks”, adding that in that case, Kodak should assert itself the way Hertz, the leading car rental company, did with Avis. Trout said, “One day Hertz stood up and said, ’For years, Avis has been telling you (in their advertising) they’re No. 2. Now we’re going to show you why’ – My view is, Kodak should do the same thing.”