It's Sad to See Some Go...

During one summer night when I was walking on Bowery Street in lower Manhattan, I realized that the man walking right in front of me was Mike Myers! (Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Fat B*stard, and among other characters) I quickly opened my purse, grabbed my digital camera and snapped a couple of paparazzi shots of him… well actually of his back. Living in the city, everyday is a possibility of running into celebrities, encountering once in a life time moments or just capturing priceless memories. Digital cameras have certainly made our lives much easier. In this era, companies are continuously improving their products and services to meet the technological demands of consumers. However, certain companies are not catching up …

“Shake it, shake it like a Polaroid Picture, shake it, shake it” – Outkast, “Hey Yall”

Polaroid is a company well known for manufacturing instant cameras that print out “Polaroid” shots right after you capture a picture. It was introduced in 1948 and became the first instant camera and film to the public. Polaroid became such a household name that it became part of the American culture (shaking the “Polaroid”). Although it had such a big influence in the photography industry, Polaroid was unable to keep up with the evolving technology. One of the symptoms that indicated they were experiencing a strategic problem is:

They are slow to introduce new products-

In this fast paced world, Polaroid needs to change and be in sync with their consumers. Socio-cultural changes have revolutionized the way people take pictures. Consumers are no longer lugging around cameras that run on film, but rather using digital cameras. As digital technology replaced instant photographs, their market for instant photographs was lost. Although Polaroid entered the digital camera industry around 2001, they are considered late entrants into this market. While other companies such as Canon were re-inventing their company by changing their strategic plan to move along with changing consumer demands, Polaroid were implementing poor management strategies.

Another symptom...
They have outmoded, depreciated technology and experienced debt-

According to an article in The Boston Globe, in February 2008, Polaroid shut down 2 of their remaining film manufacturing facilities in Massachusetts. Their instant photography products made them successful in the years after World War II. However, in the 1980’s the company was in debt to prevent a hostile takeover from another company. Rather than investing their financial and human capital in the digital camera market, they were wasting their money on products that failed. Because they were late entrants into the digital technology, they did not have the right manufacturing facilities to accommodate for the production of digital cameras. As a result, they were forced to close their instant film manufacturing facilities that made them successful. In 2001, Polaroid was forced to declare bankruptcy. In 2005, Petters Group Worldwide of Minnetonka bought Polaroid’s remaining assets. With the shut down of their two big facilities, 150 employees were laid off and they relocated 150 executive and administrative employees to their headquarters. By doing this, they hope to shift their focus from outdated print photography to more modern day technology such as digital camera printers, digital cameras, etc.

These symptoms have caused major strategic problems for Polaroid. This is pretty sad because they are considered a part of the American culture with their instant Polaroids. I also remember having a Polaroid i-Zone pocket film camera 9 years ago (boy, time flies by fast). It worked like a Polaroid camera, but the photos were stickers when you printed it out! How cool was that? (Well, at least back then it was cool) The bad thing about it was that the film was extremely expensive, around $20 for a pack of 10 sticker films. It is sad to see Polaroid struggling, some things are inevitable, but they should have implemented a better strategic plan in the beginning.