The perils of failing to act on customer insight

Another iconic consumer brand could disappear from the marketplace as the challenging economic environment continues to hit retailers hard.

Kodak – which claimed to invent the world’s first digital camera in 1975 – will file for bankruptcy over the coming weeks unless it can secure some last minute funds.

Kodak’s fall from grace is a textbook example of a company that anticipated consumer trends but failed to act on them. The company held off launching its digital camera for years, for fear of cannibalizing its lucrative print sales. In the 1980s and 1990s, Kodak was attacked on both fronts as foreign competitors undercut its film prices and others introduced digital cameras, creating a viable alternative to film.

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